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B04938
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A poem on the test dedicated to His Royal Highnes the Duke of Albanie.
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Paterson, Ninian, d. 1688.
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1683
(1683)
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Wing P701A; ESTC R181526
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32,197
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41
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commoda auxit Lin. 12. Malabar in the East Ferdinandus Lopez Lib. 1. Histor Indicarum But to come nearer home the learned Doctor Basier in his Book of the liberty of the Britannick Church in that part that he hes from Father Barns makes it out from Authentick Chronicles and Histories and statutes also within themselves that the Kingdom of England hath been ane entire Empire Governed by one head supream both in spiritualls and temporalls And this he makes out by eighteen several instances in statutes by Kenulphus Edward the Confessor Edward the first the third the fourth Richard the third Richard the second justifying the Act of Henry the eight That it was according to the ancient supremacy of all the Kings of England over all Persons and in all causes whatsomever aswell Ecclesiastick as temporal Lin. 20. Mishpat Hameleck CHAP. IV. What is the meaning of the Mishpat Hameleck amongst the Iews the jus Regium or the nature of the Prerogative Royall WHat this Mishpat Hameleck was I find it mightily debated amongst the learned some will have it to be jus Regium others only consuetudo Regia the one the allowance and ordinance of God the other the Usurpation and Tyranny of man the greatest blessing or scourge that either the mercy or Justice of God sends to mankind The first and chief place we read of it is 1 Sam. 8 11. where we have it translated the manner of the King in Deut. 17 16. we have the Kings power and Prerogative described by God himself but it is not termed there the Mishpat And how to understand it here is thought a very knotty and puzeling difficulty The perplexity whereof lyes in this that either de jure the Kings of Israel and in them all other Princes ought to do after the manner there described But this we see is directly contrary to the duty of a King prescribed by God himself in Deut. 17 16. He shall not multiply Horses but here in 1 Sam. 8 11. we have mention made of Chariots and Horse-men in multitudes which cannot be without multitudes of Horses Deut. 17 17. Ye shall not multiply Silver or Gold but here verss 14 15 16. He shall take your Fields Servants your Vine-yeard your Cattell and dispose of them to his minions and attendants Deut. 17 20. He must not be proud but here v. 17. All must be his Servants and run and walk as he pleases Ezek. 45 9. Take away your exactions from my people And Chap. 46 18. The Prince shall not take of the peoples inheritance to thrust them out of their possessions Here we find the quite contrary Their Fields their Vine-yeards their Sones their Sheep their Servants and all to be disposed of by him at his pleasure Yea by the Law of God the Levits were to have the tenths as peculiar to them On the other hand if it be said that it only contains a prediction that de facto they should be so treated by their Kings on the quite contrary we do not read in all the Books and Chronicles of the Kings of Iudah or Israel that they did proceed thus farr as it is here exprest Yea even Achab that was one of the most wicked amongst them all a man that sold himself to work wickednesse yet he did not take Naboths Vine-yeard by force 1 Kings 21 25. but by Iezabells craft and wicked Policy it was pretended to be legally Forsaulted tho the taking away of Vine-yeards is expressely mentioned here as a part of the Mishpat Hameleck or the jus Regium This difficulty has being looked on by a great many learned men so inextricable that it hes made them think that God is only here describing the manner of the Heathen Kings that know not God that so he might deferr them from seeking a King or at the least that he was angry that they sought such a King as the other nations had not such a King as God allowed them as was described in Deut. 17. but this is expressely against the very words of Deut. 17 14. likeas all the nations have about me Others are of opinion that he describes not here what Kings should or may do but that they ordinarly degenerat into Tyranny and this is their Custome so to do And we see the word Mishpat is many times translated Custome and manner Iudg. 18 7. Carlessely after the manner of the Zidonians Pemishpat Gen. 40. vers 13. Former manner when thou was buttler Exod. 21 9. 1 Sam. 27 11. 2 Kings 11 14. 2 Kings 17 29. Psal 119 131. As thou used to do in the originall is according to thy manner and Custome So that the Custome of Tyrants say they is only here described Of this opinion is Bartoldus de regimine civili Num. 4. Bodinus de Republica Cap. 10. Melancton in Philosophia morali pag. 197. Brentius Hom. in 1 Sam. 27. Osiander h. l. Pezelius part ult object pag. 999. Zepperus in explicatione legum Mosaicarum Lib. 4. Cap. 8. Tossanus in notis hoc loco Rossius de Christianae Reipublicae potestate supra reges Cap. 2. Com. 103. and Hunnius in resolut disp vol. 1. pag. 73. But with reverence to so great authority and so great semblance of reason nullius addictus jurare in verba I take leave to dissent and that I may more clearly expresse my own opinion I premit these two distinctions 1. We must carefully distinguish betwixt a Kings Crown and his coveteousnesse If any covetous Kings there be they certainly are the perfect emblems of miserable happiness and rich beggary But say a King out of an avaritious lust should gripp the goods and seaze on the possessions and Lands of his Subjects for his own private Interest certainly he doeth Tyrannically and unjustly but if for the safety and advantage of the common wealth this is one of the rights of the Crown to make use of the subjects goods for that end 2. We must also distinguish betwixt the manner and measure of the thing and the thing it self The King may for the necessity of the common-wealth and peace and safety of the subject exact their service and goods if not done in a violent manner nor exacted in ane exorbitant measure not for his own private gaine and advantage but for the good of the community whereof he is the head Now in such a case all things that belongs to the subject they belong also to the power and authority of the King and he may make use of them observing that due measure in the necessity or advantage of the community by his prerogative Royal without incurring the odious name and imputation of a Tyrant This is Lyra's judgment in his Commentarie on this place of Samuel as it is Lawfull sayes he for a man to cut or mutilat himself to cut off a Hand or a Legg for the preservation of the whole body so may a King Lawfully make use of the subjects wealth in the time of necessity And this I take to
learned Brissonius de regio Persarum principatu 5. The prerogative of the Germans out of Tacitus de moribus Germanorum 6. Of the French out of Caesar de bello Gallico lib. 7. Out of all which by a judicious and serious Reader might be collected a full complete Volume of the prerogatives of all Nations Which if it be yet done in whole or in part I know not Only I could wish this would animat the generous attempt of some learned head but this being the work rather of a Lawyer then a divine and not belonging to our design but by way of annotation and digression Let these few remarckes suffice An Appendix concerning the Kings Treasure as a consequent of his Prerogative HE that walkes on the Battelments of Soveraignity had need of some massy weight to keep him steddy A poor Governour as Euripides sayeth being a scorn to Authority and a burden to the People Wherefore in all ages to support their Prerogative either in peace or warr it hes been the laudable Custome of all Kings to masse up a great store of treasure Hence nothing so celebrated amongst all Authors as the Gaza Persica Quintus Curtius in his 5 Book describs it and Isod lib. 20.9 and the 70 retain ordinarly the word Gaza as Esth 4 7. Haman vow'd to pay ten thousand Talents of Silver to the Kings treasure which in English money will amount to three millions fifty thousand and seven hundreth pounds ô Pride O Revenge How dear guests are ye Pomponius Mela in his first Book of Geographie confounds Gaza a Town in Palestin with Gaza a treasure or at least sayes he the one had the name from the other not considering that Gaza a Town with the Hebrews is writen with Hajin a treasure with Gimel In the Scriptures also we read of the treasures of Egypt The treasures of the Kings of Israel and Iudah 2 Kings 18 15. and 20 13. and 39 2 4. 2 Chron. 36 18. Ezeck 28 4. Dan. 11 43. Neh. 13 12. The Latine word Thesaurus imports the providence of a Prince eis-aurion tithenai to lay up something for to morrow See Scaliger derives aurum from oorein custodire They have other two words also Fiscus And aerarium But with this difference as Budeus observes that aerarium is pecunia publica imperii but Fiscus is pecunia Imperatoris Fiscus a Fisu quod eo ad vitam degendam subsidio homines fidere soleant As in the Hebrew Mammon from Emunah fides The word aerarium is from aes aeris because the first money used by the Romans was Brasse as Plin. lib. 3. cap. 33. and their casting their Accompts was likewise with Brass pieces which we call Compters called by the Ancients aera Of this way of compting and of the aera a Reckoning see Scaliger de emendatione temporum lib. 5. Where he alleadges what they called aera we now call item The Scripture makes mention not only of the treasures of Heathen Princes as Ezra 5 17. and 6 1. But also God allowed a treasurie in his Church Mark 12 41. Luk. 21 1. Ioh. 8 20. These things spoke Iesus in the treasurie What this treasurie was ye will read it explained by Shindler in his Lexicon in the word Lishcah and by Caspar Waserus who hes written learnedly on that subject de pecuniarum repositoriis Amongst Politicians the question is not of the Lawfulness but of the expediency of Princes treasures Some court-flatterers with the fox in the fable intending to cheat the crow of his cheefe they will tell the Prince that his glory stands rather in his bounty then his baggs and will confirm it by the examples of Alexander and Caesar who by their generous and oblidging liberality did atchive great matters that Sardanapalus left ten millions to them that murdered him Nero gave above 12 millions to them that flattered him which gifts Galba afterward did revocke But they consider not that these great and warlyk Princes as Alexander and Caesar were liberal rather out of the spoils of their enemies then their own treasuries But it is certain that a Prince that is not this way provident shall never be able to defend his prerogative and maintain his right but fall under contempt and danger the effect of Poverty as by many pregnant instances might be proven See a treatise intituled Englands treasure by forraign Trade by Thomas Mun Londoner Appendix 2. Concerning a peculiar Prerogative THere is a peculiar Prerogative mercifully and miraculously granted by God unto some Princes as to the Kings of Brittain and some say the French King too to heale that disease Scrofula commonly called the Kings evil So Plutarch in the life of Pyrrhus affirmes that he cured all these that were diseased of the Spleen with a touch of his foot only And Swetonius in Vespasian Cap. 7. makes mention that a blind man and a crooked at least debili crure as he speakes were both restored by the Emperour to intire health the one by spitting in his Eye the other by a touch of his Heel So divine a prerogative hes but the touche of the worst part of a Prince Which made not only a confirmation but an accession both to his Majesty and authority And that Princes by vertue of their Office are indued from Heaven with a Sagacity more then ordinary as in King Iames's finding out the poweder plot is consented to by all interpreters to be Solomons meaning in Prov. 16 10. a divine sentence some reads it Prophesie or divination See Petrus Molinaeus decus illud Theologorum as Spanhemius calls him in his 1 Book de praecognitione futurorum Cap. 20. Where he not only brings in the instance of Solomon deciding betwixt the two whoors but of one Ariopharnes King of the Thracians who when the King of the Cymmerians was dead and three contending for the Succession all pretending to be Sons to the defunct whereas it was certain he had left only one Son being elected Arbiter of the contention commanded the body of the dead King to be hanged on a Tree and appointed the three to shoot with Arrows and who came nearest to his Heart should obtain the Kingdom the first shot through the Shoulder the next through the Arm the thrid abhorring so unnatural an experiment was content rather to lose the Kingdom then to mangle the Corps of his Father And to him he adjudged the Crown the Story is in Diodorus Siculus By Ezekia David Solomon all which ye will see cited and cleared from their particular places of Scripture by Seth Ward Lord Bishop of Sarum his Sermon before the King against resistance of Lawfull powers the first of his six Sermons Printed Anno 1672. CHAP. VI. Concerning Melchisedeck who he was GReat hes been the toil of learned Men in all ages both Jews and Gentiles to loose this knot and some after all their labour have concluded the mystery not only profound but incomprehensible alleadging where the great Apostle makes difficulty the