Selected quad for the lemma: duty_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
duty_n	law_n	obedience_n	require_v	3,312	5	7.2188	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A70553	The thoughts of a private person, about the justice of the gentlemens undertaking at York, Nov. 1688 wherein is shewed, that it is neither against scripture, nor moral honesty, to defend their just and legal rights, against the illegal invaders of them : occasioned then by some private debates, and now submitted to better judgments.	Leeds, Thomas Osborne, Duke of, 1631-1712.	1689 (1689)	Wing L923A; ESTC R15799	20,236	31

rests but the Power like the Soul of Man is in the whole Body though most eminently in the Head. The Parliament have their Existence but not their Essence from him When they are called together they Act by a proper and inherent Right of their own and not by the King's Commission and Direction It may be good Manners to fall upon what he directs them to first but if any thing of greater Moment require dispatch they must wave a Complement to do a real Kindness to the publick Interest which they could not do were they his Commissioners and received their power to Act by from him It is unnatural for the Stream to stop the Fountain head But seeing they Act by their own inherent Power when met they can restrain in the King that he cannot make a Law without them or give such an interpation of any either by himself or his Judges as shall bind the Subjects to follow or is not Reversible in Parliament for such Interpretation is part of the Legislative Power and that rests in the King and Subjects Conjunctim Had the King Authority to bind his Interpretations for Law upon the Subject he might at Pleasure elude any Law and Law would be but a Sconce for Arbitrary Power The Opinion indeed of the Judges is reverend but not irreversible None can finally bind an Interpretation on the Subject but those that can make Law Therefore if the King and Parliament differ about the sense of a Law it is not legally decided till both agree in one sense But that sense that is really for the Publick Good has the Right of a Law though not the Form and they that justifie such an Interpretation are justifiable by the Law of Nature for though it transcend the Process of Courts and cannot have the force of a political Law yet Reason Mankinds prime Law justifies Men to prefer a publick Good before a private Interest and what is for the Publick Good they that feel are best able to Judge Obj. 14. But it is Disobedience Answ Disobedience to a Lawful Command is a Grievous Crime and a great Sin but it may be a great duty to disobey an unlawful Command Obedience is due as far as the Law requires and something farther a particular Person must suffer rather than the Honour and Majesty of the Prince should be brought into Contempt for though the Law does not bind to this yet Conscience and Reason do the publick Interest must be promoted Scandal prevented and the Government secured from Contempt though it prejudice some particular Person for such Contempt may arise from a just refusal of Obedience in some small and single Instances and may be of worse consequence to the Publick than a private Injury but if the thing commanded tend to destroy the Government or introduce a general Calamity Disobedience becomes a Duty and such commands in this Government are Morally Politically and Divinely Powerless and the Disobedient in such a Case does the King as good Service as he that discovers Treason for he gives him Notice that his Foot is entering into a Snare and that his Preservation stands in desisting and repenting if he would but heed it And if the Disobedience be once Good the higher it goes the better it is continuing still Good it is absurd to go from Good to Worse extensively Disobedience that is Good is still better as it is more likely to prevent the Evil And then Disobedience Defensive is doubtless better than Passive for that would introduce the Evil Voluntarily that is they that were not willing to do it themselves were yet willing to let others do it and how far that can clear them I see not For though it is not a downright consenting to subvert the Government yet it is a consenting that it shall be done rather than they will run the hazard to defend it or prevent it which is but Pilate-like to wash the Hands of what their Hearts tell them they are Accessary to Obj. 15. But War is hurtful to the State. Answ The Arm that is broke cannot set it self nor can he that sets it set it by any Natural Power derived from the Spirit but by a Violent disturbing them again the Bone-setter is often forced to pull them further asunder ere he can joyn them well and so it is when Wicked Men have disjoynted and broken the Bones of State the languishing Law cannot restore it self nor can those that seek to restore it restore it without doing Violence to its broken part but it is better to do that Violence than to let them grow Crooked or Gangreen He that has taken Poyson must suffer the Violence of a Vomit and they that are Sick must be made Sicker oft before they can be made Well The prejudice therefore the Government receives by those that go about to restore it does no more denominate them Enemies to the State than the little griping of Physick can denominate Physicians Enemies to Nature The Evil proceeds from the Disease not the Remedy and the Guilt is upon them that gave the Wound not those that drest it all the Anguish and Smart that follows the Skilful Chirurgeons Hand is not to be attributed to the Chirurgeon but to the Wicked Assasline and therefore though this Restoration have the Evil of a Civil War yet the Guilt of all that Evil lies upon the Causers Men are not bound to lose their Right for fear of harming Wicked Men nor to save a less Good by loosing a greater a short Evil is to be chosen rather than a perpetual one Men had better drudge to preserve their own Freedom than to enter into Bondage to drudge for others and the Patriots of our Country do well to bear the Burthen of a War rather than to become Slaves themselves and leave Popery Beggery and Slavery to their Posterity Obj. 16. But it is an unsafe and dangerous Medicine it opens a gap to the People to rebel at Pleasure and may indanger the change of the Government Answ A desperate Disease must have a desperate Cure but doing right can no way open to do wrong resisting illegal Forces is hedging up a Gap not making one Raising of Men to take a Fellon will not excite the same Men to rise and seize an honest Man We must not therefore forbear to take up Arms in a just Cause lest it should incourage others to take up Arms in a bad Cause for then some that were breaking the Peace and would not be quieted with Words might not be resisted lest it should teach the People to break the Peace but Blows bestowed on such Malefactors is no breach of Peace and therefore can teach the People no such thing if they do ill by that Example it is not long of the Copy but of those that do not heed to write by it 2. I know Men in Passion and heightned with Success and back'd with Strength are apt to soar with high and fall in love with new

THE THOUGHTS OF A Private Person About the JUSTICE OF THE Gentlemens Undertaking AT YORK Nov. 1688. Wherein is shewed That it is neither against Scripture nor Moral honesty to defend their Just and Legal Rights against the Illegal Invaders of them Occasioned then by some Private Debates and now submitted to better Judgments Printed in the Year 1689. The present Undertaking of the Gentlemen at YORK Nov. 88. taken into Consideration wherein is shewed That it is neither against Scripture nor moral Honesty to defend their Just and Legal Rights against the Illegal and Unjust Invaders of them by way of Objection and Answer FIrst That it is not against Scripture is shewed Obj. 1 2 3. 2. That it is not inconsistent with the Frame of the Government in General Obj. 4. 3. Not against the Law but the Law-breakers Obj. 5. 4. Not Rebellion Obj. 6. 5. No Vsurpation of the Power of the Sword Obj. 7. 6. No unlawful Act in a moral Sense Obj. 8. 7. Not against true Allegiance Obj. 9. 8. Not against the Declaration in a Legal Sense Obj. 10. 9. Not against Political Power but Force without Political Power Obj. 11. 10. Not against any Royal Prerogative in general Obj. 12. 11. Not against the Supremacy Obj. 13. 12. Not Criminal Disobedience Obj. 14. 13. Not incommodious or unsafe for the Publick in respect of the present and approaching Evils in removes Obj. 15 16. 14. No disparagement to the Frame of the Government that cannot otherwise decide at obstinate difference between King and People Obj. 17. Lastly The Conclusion shewing That Non-resistance of illegal Force does in effect make all Monarchs Arbitrary and the People Slaves The Thoughts of a Private Person c. MEN have three Rules to walk by which we may call Laws that is Nature Reason and Religion and and answerable to these three a Christian hath three Principles that is Sensitive Rational and Spiritual which I take to be the distinction that St. Paul makes 1 Thes 5.23 I pray God your whole Spirit Soul and Body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ Nature considers all Men as single Persons and directs them to Self-interest and Self-preservation as the chief end Reason considers Men as sociable Creatures and directs them to unite the Government for the publick Good inclusive of their own Safety as the chief End. And the Spirit considers Men as Candidates for Heaven and directs them to live according to the Word of God that they may attain Eternal Happiness the chief End of Man. All these have the divine Warrant and are of force where the Lower is not superseded by the Higher A single Person is not to expose himself to ruin unless it be for the Publick good and the Publick are not to expose themselves to Beggary and Slavery unless it be for the Kingdom of Heaven Now though these Rules may be considered separate and apart yet they all ought to be in a Christian Government Laws for the publick Good do not destroy the Law of Nature but supersede it for a greater Good and the Laws of God do not destroy the Law of Reason but supersede it for a higher end and so makes it still more Reasonable to do so Nothing therefore can justifie a Private Injury but the Publick Good and nothing can hinder the Publick Good for being carried on but Sin. For these Laws are not destructive but supportive of one another and all supportive of Man. When a Man cannot defend himself by the Method and Measures of the Publick as in case of sudden Assaults he may by the Law of Nature break the Peace and smite his Adversary to save his own life because humane Laws can reward no Person 's obedience with so good a thing as life and therefore the publick good excepted his life is to be preferred before all forms of Law. But it is not so with the Laws of God for if I be urged to deny my Faith or dye I must dye rather than break God's Law because God will give me a better Life and an infinite Reward Necessity can suspend a positive Law of Man that is merely such but it cannot supersede what is established by God or Nature an Act therefore that is civilly Unlawful may notwithstanding be Lawful because it is not Lawless but under a more extensive Law. If it be according to the Laws of God or sound Reason the Conscience is safe and the Act commendable before God and good Men though it be against the form of Political Law For though it be against the Form it is not against the Reason of that Law and the Form not being extensive enough of Man's safety it must give place to necessity and absolve him of his duty when his duty would destroy him The Safety of Man shows us both the Necessity and End of humane Government for when private Persons found they could not be Safe they were willing to enter into Compacts and Associations and reposite their private Safety in the publick Interest And therefore if after this Association some of their Fellows will break the Covenants and go about to destroy the Rest it is lawful both by the Laws of God and Man for the injured to defend themselves and by the Laws and Compacts by them made and consented to on both sides for the publick Good. Otherwise it would be unlawful to resist Injustice and consequently a Thief or a Robber Objets 1. But you will say in all Governments there are Superiours and Inferiours and God has made Obedience a part of Religion and consequently conducive to a higher end than the Publick Good and therefore if the Governours break the Laws and introduce a Publick Evil for a Private Interest they must not be resisted upon pain of Damnation Answ This were a good Plea if it were true but God is not the Patron of Injustice and therefore he gives no Prince or Potentate more Authority over the People than the Tables of the Government express and of these there are diverse degrees Those that are Govern'd by the Will of their Prince whose Word is a Law if he command their Persons for Slaves or their Estates to serve his Ambition they must obey and God requires it of them because it is the Prince's Right Arbitrary Princes have a Political Power to treat a Subject cruelly and inhumanely their Immortality is an offence against God not in justice to the Subject who had given himself up to be used at their discretion But those that are to rule by Laws made for the Publick Good and such as render the Subjects Freemen not Slaves such as secures their Religion Liberty and Property if these Princes contrary to Law imprison their Persons or seize their Estates they do it unjustly without God's Warrant or any Political Authority and may be resisted or else we might not resist the Devil should he creep into the Court in a Jesuits habit and Haman-like get a Commission

Practice of the Jews and the Primitive Christians and the Subjection of Servants but nothing to the purpose for their Case is not ours more than their frame of Government is ours their Servants were Slaves and their Kings and Emperours Wills were their Laws their People had no Magna Chartaes to show nor Fundamental Compacts and so could plead no injustice in any command the frame of the Government Warranted all those commands that had the Royal pleasure Their Political Power was more extensive than their Moral Power The People were wholly at the Mercy of the Prince All their Laws were Acts of Grace not fundamental Reserves and inherent Rights and therefore in Spirituals they had no Cause to resist and in Temporals they might not as was observed above If they had been under limitted Governments as we are we might have heard of Blows as well as Words St. Paul was never so virulent with his Tongue as when he was smitten contrary to Law. Obj. 3. But the Person of the King is Sacred and must not be touched Answ I say so too but it is his just Power that makes him so And therefore in dangerous times he is to be counselled and perswaded to secure himself by keeping within the Sanctuary of the Laws and holding them forth for the Publick Good by gaining the Affections of the People and being content with that measure of Power that is proper to the Government For if he do not Right may and ought to be defended and resistance for the Publick Good of Illegal Commission'd Forces is not resisting the King's Person but his Forces not his Power but his Force without Power If none would execute the King's contradictory Commands none would resist and if he will against all Justice Prudence and Perswasions joys with wicked Men and wilfully expose himself to the mercy of blind Bullets charge is to be given to all that none kill him wittingly or wilfully the hand that lifted him up may not pull him down God forbid that any should think of killing him de industriâ or despair of his repentance before God does nothing past can prejudice a Penitent before God and I hope not before Men thus the King's Person and Power will be safe in the midst of a Civil War not so safe as in peaceable times but as safe as can consist with the Subjects Right when their Religion and Laws Liberty and Property are Violently invaded And therefore if any thing befall his Person by their hands it is but a chance and accidental thing which may happen also in peaceable times This shows that Resisting the King 's illegal commission'd Forces in defence of their own Rights is not Resisting the Ordinance of God and consequently no Sin and then the Conscience is not tyed otherwise than the Laws of the Land and the particular Frame of the Government tyes it Obj. 4. But to resist the King or his Commissioners is against the Frame of the Government it being a Monarchy and against the Laws and Statutes of the Realm Answ If it be so it is a great Sin but as it is certain this is a Monarchy so it is certain that it is limited in the Foundation otherwise the King would have all the Legislative Power and the Parliament no Authority or Right but derived from him and then he must be Arbitrary and we Slaves and all our Laws must be Acts of Grace not Fundamental Rights Not from any inherent Power refereed at the Institution to our selves and never submitted to the Prince but from the Gracious condescention of an Absolute Monarch which is contrary to the Story of all times which shows that the People ever claimed Liberty and Property according to their Ancient Laws and Customs not as a Gift but as a Right inherent in themselves and never Transferred Aliened or Conveyed to any King but Declared Recognized and Confirmed to them by many I shall therefore suppose what I thick none can upon sufficient grounds deny that the King is bound by all the sacred Tyes of God and Man to Govern by the Laws and not otherwise neither by a Foreign Law nor by one of his own framing nor by any Word or Will contrary to Law seeing nothing can have the force of Law here but what has the joynt Consent of King and Parliament and that in a Parliamentary way and this shows us in Terms of Submission that are sworn to on both sides The King and the People by a joynt consent makes Laws and make them the common Rule betwixt them the King swears to observe the Laws and the People swear to obey the King and to leave the Execution of the Laws to the King to be managed for the publick good Therefore as long as he Governs by Law he and all his Ministers are safe enough from Resistance the Resister being lyable to be punished both by God and Man and the sole administration being left to the King Subjects all but himself to Criminal Process and even himself to Civil but his Person and Power are safe in both he may be severe in the Execution of the Laws many times but not unjust As if he will not suspend a Burthensom Law or Revive an Antiquated one when the Publick good requires it This may render him uncharitable or imprudent but he is safe yet For though he be bound to proceed according to Law yet he is not tyed to proceed always according to the best Methods when there are diverse But if he stop the Courts of Justice erect new ones or proceed contrary to Law he Acts without Authority and against his own Authority and puts on a kind of a Vizard that his Subjects can neither know him nor their Duty for it is the Laws that direct them to the Person of the King and their own Duty without which they could know neither And if the End be not the Publick Good it is downright Injustice as well as politically Powerless Necessity indeed may justifie a Political unlawful Act for the Publick Good. As in case of an Invasion to burn a Garrison rather than it should be a refuge for the Enemy or to open Sluces and to drown a part of the Country for though these things have not the form of Law they have the reason and that is Publick Good And therefore it is not Law but Necessity not the King's Command but Publick Good that warrants these Acts. And when Peace returns the Injured are to have satisfaction made by the Publick not as of Charity but as of Justice which shows that the Law looks upon it as a Trespass justified only by Necessity and the Publick Good. And the particular Persons here have reason to be quiet and make no resistance because they shall reap double benefit by it one in the Publick Good and another from the Publick Treasure But it does not follow that if the King in an angry mood should command his Guards to fire Newmarket because he had lost an

must be proportioned to the Frame of the Government and the end of that Frame Therefore if the Frame be to restrain Arbitrary Power the Subject cannot owe Arbitrary Allegiance Allegiance is more in some places and less in others but no Man can owe so much Duty to his Prince as not to have a Salvo for God and his Life and here we can owe none that is against our Laws and the Publick Good for that would destroy the Government Our Allegiance therefore must be bounded by our Laws and not by the King's Word or Will No Man can swear to obey the King's Word or Will simply but according to Law. It would be Sin to tye our selves to think or speak or do what he would have us at large Our Allegiance therefore must be such as will consist with the Frame of our Government and that must be such as is couched in the Body of our Laws Other Allegiance there can be none but what is wrapt up in Courtesies and Formalities For it seems the King as well as the People is under the Law in some Sense under the direction of it though not under the constraint and therefore at his Coronation he does a kind of Fealty to the Laws and Government and swears Allegiance to them as to a Supream Lord. The Oath is not only Will you grant the Laws but will you grant and keep the Laws and Customs of England and the Answer is I grant and promise to keep them It is certain therefore no Allegiance to the King can be against Law to which he himself owes Allegiance The Case being thus far clear That the Allegiance sworn to is no other but our Legal Duty it does not hinder but that we may resist Illegal Force When the King of the Scots swore Allegiance to our King it did not deprive him of a just defence of his just Right by taking up Arms if he were opprest And the King of England when he swore Allegiance to the King of France made no scruple to take up Arms against his Liege Lord in defence of his just Rights And the Old Lawyers tells us That the very Villain might in case of Rape and Murther Arm against his Lord and if the Law Arm a Villain against his Lord Subjects are worse than Villains if they may not Arm against their Sovereign Lord's Illegal Forces in defence of their Laws Lives Estates and the Publick Good but what makes it most evident is the Clause in King Henry's Charter which says If the King invade those Rights it is Lawful for the Kingdom to rise against him and do him what injury they can as though they ow'd him no Allegiance The Words are these if my Author fail me not Licet omnibus de Regno nostro contra nos insurgere omnia agere quae gravamen noster respiciant ac si nobis in nullo tenerentur Much to the same purpose is in King John's Charter which I find thus quoted Et Illi Barones cum communa totius terrae distringent gravabunt Nos Modis omnibus quibus poterunt scilicet per captionem Castrorum terrarum possessionum etalis modis quibus potuerint donet fuerint emendatum secundum Arbitrium eorum salva personâ nostra Reginae nostrae Liberorum nostrorum Much may be said of this Nature about the Old Allegiance which was all couched in Homage and Fealty but this enough to show that true Allegiance does not tye us from resisting Illegal Force and Intolerable Incroachments upon our just Rights Obj. 10. But such Resistance would be against the Declaration which says It is not Lawful upon any pretence whatsoever to take up Arms against the King c. Answ The Latitude of the Word Lawful causes the Scruple which at first View seems to tell us That it is sinful upon any pretence whatsoever to take up Arms against the King c. But it is no good consequence to say That it is sinful because it is unlawful unless the Discourse be restrained to the Laws of God. I must confess it is Politically unlawful for Subjects in any Case or for any Cause whatever to take up Arms against the King and those Commission'd by him because such a taking up Arms here can have no Political Authority But it is Morally lawful in all limitted Governments to resist that Force that wants Political Power The Regal Power is Irresistable in all Persons from the King to the Petty Constable but it does not hinder but that all these Persons may be resisted when they do what they have no Political Power to They that have a limitted Power and a prescribed Duty may either Act against or beyond their Commission and when they so do they may be resisted For such Acts have no Political Power in them though the Persons have to other Purposes If a Commission should be granted to a Company of Ruffians to Plunder and Massacre they might have something more of the King's Affections but no more of his Authority than private Robbers had and consequently might be resisted with equal Honesty None therefore can make this Declaration in its full Latitude but upon this presumption That the King and his Ministers keep perpetually within the Bounds of the Law otherwise they declare the King has an Arbitrary Power which is against the Fundamental Laws of this Land and a kind of Treason against the State For if he may not be resisted in any Case he may be under some Moral restraint but under no Political restraint and consequently the Political Frame of the Government must be Arbitrary The meaning therefore of this Declaration can be no other but that a Man can have no Civil Power or Authority in any Case to take up Arms against the King c. But this does not debar any Man of the Natural Right of Self-defence by Private Arms against Inauthoritative Force Obj. 11. To this some reply that seeing God hath placed the Governing though limitted Power in the King's Hand no Man may by any Natural Right or Private Defence resist his illegal Force God's Power must not be resisted though abused Answ There is a great difference between the abuse of Power and the want of Power and therefore this Argument either supposes the Power greater than it is or concludes ill The King and Parliament have indeed an Arbitrary Power I do not say Infinite but as Extensive as the Frame of the Government will bear and therefore if they make a very grievous Law though they ought not for they are under a Moral restraint though no Political neither the King nor any of his Ministers may be resisted in the due Execution of it But the King has no Power to burden us beyond or against Law and we may thank our own Weakness if ever we have Strength to do it This shows us there is a great difference betwixt the abuse of Political Power and the want of it Abused Power must not be resisted