and a Prince Ruling by his Will is less than a Man or a man Brutified In another place the same Philosopher saith Aristot lib. 1. cap. 2. That a Prince who leaveth Law and Ruleth himself and others by his Appetite is of all Creatures the worst and of all Beasts the most furious and dangerous For that nothing is so outragious as Injustice Arm'd and no Armour is so strong as Wit and Authority the first he hath as Man the other as a Prince For this cause all Commonwealths have prescribed Laws unto their Princes whereby to govern as by a most excellent certain and immutable Rule to which sense Cicero said Leges sunt inventoe Lib. 2. Offic. ut omnibus semper una eadem vâ—ce loquerentur For which reason they have been called by Philosophers a Rule or Square inflexible But the Prophet David who was also a King seemeth to call them by the Name of Discipline for that as Discipline keeps all the parts of a Man or of a particular House in order so Law duly administred keeps all the Members of a Commonwealth in Peace and Plenty And to shew how severely God exacteth this at all Princes hands Psal 2. he uses these Words And not learn ye Kings and be instructed ye Princes of the Earth Serve God in fear and rejoyce in him with trembling Embrace the Discipline lest he enter into wrath and so ye perish from the way of Righteousness Which Words being spoken by a Prophet and a King contain many Points worthy of Consideration As first That Kings are pound to learn Law and Discipline Secondly To observe the same with great humility and fear of Gods Wrath And Thirdly That if they do not they shall perish from the way of Righteousness As if the greatest Plague imaginable to a Prince were to lose the Way of Righteousness Law and Justice in his Government and to give himself over to Passion and his own Will whereby he is sure to come to Shipwreck From like Authority and for like Consideration have come the Limitation of all Kings and Kingly Power in all Times and in all Countries both touching themselves their Posterity and Successors Which is apparent in the two most Renowned States of the World that of the Romans and Grecians who both began with Kings but yet with far different Laws and Restraints about their Authorities For in Rome the Kings that succeeded Romulus had great Authority but yet their Children or next in Blood succeeded them not unless chosen by the Senate and People so as of the Three most excellent Kings that ensued immediately after Romulus viz. Numa Pompilius Tullius Hostilius and Tarquinus Priscus Tit. Liv. lib. 1. doe 1. none of them were of the Blood Royal nor of Kin to one another nor yet Romans born but chosen rather from amongst Strangers for their Vertue and Valour In Greece among the Lacedemonians which was the most eminent Kingdom at that time the Succession of Children was most certain but yet their Power was so restrain'd by the Ephori as they were not only checked and chastned by them if occasion served but also Deprived and sometimes put to Death For this Cause Aristotle did justly mislike this eminent Jurisdiction of the Ephori over their Kings but yet we see hereby what Authority the Commonwealth had in this case and what their meaning was in making Laws and restraining their Kings Power viz. thereby the more to bind them to do Justice We may repeat a multitude of such Examples in Heathen Kingdoms but being they may be rejected as being no President for us we shall haste to shew How Christian Kingdoms have limited their Princes Now if we consider the Roman Empire as it is at this day annexed to the German Electors thô it be the first in Dignity amongst Christian Princes yet we shall see it so restrained by particular Laws as the Emperour cannot do so much as other Kings for he can neither make War nor exact any Mony but by the free leave and consent of the German Dyer or Parliament and as for his Children or next of Kin they have no Interest or Pretence to succeed in their Fathers Dignity but only by free Election if they shall be thought worthy Nay one of the chiefest Points that the Emperour must Swear at his Entrance is Sleyden lib. 8. That he will never go about to make the Dignity of the Empire Peculiar or Hereditary to his Family but leave it to the Electors free in their power to chuse his Successor according to the Law made by Pope Gregory the Fifth and the Emperour Charles the Fourth The Kingdom of Polonia is much of the same manner with the Empire both for its restraint of Power Cromenias lib. 3. hist Polo and successions of its King for they have great Limitations being they can do nothing of great moment without the consent of certain Principal Officers called Palatines or Castellans neither may their Children succeed them unless they are Chosen as in the Empire in Spain France and England the Priviledges of Kings is much different from the former The Kings of Spain and France have greater Power than the Kings of England for that every Ordination of these two Kings is Law it self without the Approbation of the Commonwealth But in the Point of Succession it appeareth that the restraint is far greater in those two Countreys than in England for in Spain the next of Blood cannot succeed but by a new Approbation of the Nobility and Bishops of the Realm as it is expresly set down in the two Ancient Councils of Toledo the 4th and 5th In France the World knows that Women are not admitted to succeed in the Crown be they never so near in Blood neither any of their Issue thô it be Male. For which cause Edward the Third of England thô he were Son and Heir to the Daughter of France whose three Brothers were Kings and left her sole Heir to her Father Philip the Fourth yet was he put by the Crown and Philip de Valois a Brothers Son of Philip the 4th preferr'd to it by general Consent of the whole Parliament of Paris And thô the Salic Law is not very ancient as the French themselves do confess and much less made by Pharamond their first King or in those ancient Times as some without ground do affirm yet we see its sufficient to bind all Princes and Subjects of that Realm to observe the same and alter the course of Natural Descent and Nearness of Blood as we have seen but such things are not suffered in England for that our Laws are otherwise which were made by the Commonwealth By all which it is manifest that most Kingdoms have different Laws and Customs both as to their Authority and Succession and it is not enough for a man to alledge bare propinquity of Blood for that he may be excluded for several other Reasons which we shall hereafter discuss I
That it was never done to any Prince before Henry the Fifth All which Points do demonstrate that it 's the Coronation and Admission that makes a true and perfect King let the Title by Succession be what it will and that the Consent of the Realm is of much greater consequence than nearness of Blood. This may be prov'd by many Examples in England where Admission has prevail'd against Right of Succession as in William Rufus who succeeded the Conquerour and King Henry the First his Brother in King Stephen King John and others who only by Admission of the Realm were Kings against the order of Succession To these we may add Henry and Edward both Sirnamed the Fourth whose Entrances to the Crown if we well consider we shall find that both of them founded the best and surest part of their Titles upon the Election and Consent of the People And both of them having Remorse of Conscience at their dying days being they put so many Men to death for maintenance of their Rights and Titles had no better way to appease their own Minds but by thinking they were plac'd on the Throne by the Voice of the Realm and consequently might lawfully defend the same and punish such as intended to deprive them Moreover if we look into the Actions of Princes in all Ages we shall find that such Kings as were most politick and had the least doubt or suspicion of Troubles about the Title after their Deaths have caused their Sons to be Crown'd in their own days as trusting more to that than to their Title by Succession thô they were never so lawfully and lineally descended And of this I could alledge many Examples out of divers Countreys but specially in France since the last Line of Capetus came to that Crown for Hugh Capetus himself procured Robert his eldest Son to be Crown'd in his own days and Robert did the same for his youngest Son Henry Henry also did entreat the States of France to Admit and Crown Philip the First his eldest Son in his own time and this Kings Son Lewis did the same to both his Sons first to Philip and after his death to Lewis the younger And for the same cause the Prince of Spain is Swore and admitted by the Realm during his Fachers Reign The same Consideration also moved King David to Crown his Son Solomon in his own days And finally our King Henry the Second of England considering the alteration the Realm had made in admitting King Stephen before him against the order of Lineal Succession and fearing the like might happen after him caused his eldest Son Henry to be Crowned in his life time But this Device had but ill success for King Henry the younger made War upon King Henry the elder and got both the Kings of France and Scotland and many Nobles both of England and Normandy to take his part for which cause 't is probable that this thing has never since that time been us'd in England But yet hereby its evident what the Opinion of the World was in those days of the force of Coronation and Admission of the Commonwealth and how little the propinquity of Blood prevailed without it I might bring insinite Examples from the Grecians and Romans to this purpose but that it may be ojbected that they are too old and far fetch'd Examples and ought not to be Presidents to us in these Ages Wherefore I shall only give some few Examples of the Jews being they were Gods Elect People and so fit Presidents for us to follow and then hasten to those of kiter Times First then Thô God made Saul a true and lawful King and consequently gave him all the Kingly Priviledges Benefits and Prerogatives belonging to that degree and state whereof one was That his Children should succeed after him in the Crown yet after his death God suffered not any of his Generation to succeed him tho' he left behind a numerous Issue and among others Ishbosheth a Prince of 40 yeras old whom Abner the General Captain of that Nation follow'd for a time as their lawful Lord and Master by Succession until God check'd them for it and induc'd them to reject him and to receive David newly elected King who was a Stranger by Birth and no Kin to the King deceased Now if any one shall say that it was for the Sin of Saul whom God had rejected I do confes it and yet it makes nothing against our purpose being we do not pretend that a Prince who is next in Blood can justly be put back unless for his own defects or those of his Ancestors And it 's to be noted That Jonathan who was a good Man and much praised in Holy Writ being slain in the Battle and leaving a Son named Mephibosheth who was also put back tho'b y nearess of Blood he had great interest in the Succession and much before David and that only for ought appears upon the account of Saul his Grandfather After David succeeded Solomon who was his younger and tenth Son and the fourth only by Bathsheba tho' Adonijah the Heir apparent seeing his Father old and ready to dye had call'd many of the great Men of that State both Spiritual and Temporal intending to have proclaimed himself Heir apparent to the Crown but Bathsheba and Nathan the Prophet coming to the old King as he lay on his Bed put him in mind of his Promise to Bathsheba made for preferring of her Son telling him which pleased him well Quod occuli totius Israel in eum respicerent ut indicaret eis quis sederet in solio suo post ipsum Which was as much as to say That the whole Commonewealth referr'd it to his choice which of his Sons should Reign after him Upon these Reasons and Perswasions the old King was content they should take Solomon out of hand and put him on the Kings own Mule and carry him about the Streets of Jerusalem accompanied with his Guards and crying with found of Trumpets Long live King Solomon Hereby we may learn That these and the like determinations of the People about admitting or refusing of Princes to Reign or not to Reign over them when their Designs are to good Ends and for just Respects and Causes are allowed also by God and many times are his own special Drifts and Dispositions thô they seem to come from Man. Whereof there can be no more evident Proof than that which ensued afterwards to Prince Rehoboam the lawful Son and Heir to King Solomon who refusing to take away some hard and heavy Impositions laid on the People by Solomon his Father lost ten of the twelve Tribes who refused to admit him for their King but chose rather one Jeroboam that was a meer Stranger and God allowed thereof 1 King. 12.21 as the Scripture in express words testifies For when Rehoboam took himself to be openly injur'd would by Arms have pursu'd his Title and had gathered an Hundred and fourscore Thousand
Government thô Peace ensu'd not presently but that Galba Otho and Vitellius three Captains of the Empire made some little interludes of Tragical killing one another yet within few Months the whole Empire by that means fell into Vespastan and his Son Titus's hand two of the best Governours that ever those times saw The like may be noted of the Noble rank of five excellent Princes viz. Nerva Trajan Adrian Antorinus Pius and Marcus Aurelius who succeeded in the Empire by the just Death of cruel Domitian which Execution its thought the Senate secretly procured not being able to perform it openly by Justice which appears because when the act was done the Senate did presently by publick Decree allow it and disannull'd all his barbarous acts for their exceeding Cruelty and commanded his Arms and Memorials to be taken down every where and chose for his Successor one Cocceius Nerva an Italian a Man of excellent Vertue by whom they not only enjoy'd the most prosperous time of his Government but of all the four who ensued him no less worthy than himself Not long after the Succession of these excellent Emperours there came to the Crown by lawful descent a youth named Antoninus Heliogabalus Son of the Emperour Antoninus Caracalla and Grandchild as was supposed to the famous and noble Emperour Septimius Severus who died in England which Youth as he was highly honour'd for a time upon the account of his worthy Grandfather so after for his own Beastly life he was depriv'd and put to death by the Souldiers at the request and common desire both of the Senate and People who ordained also in his detestation That no Emperour after him should be call'd Antonius This Man being deposed as aforesaid there was prefer'd to the Empire in his room a hopeful young Man of his next Kingdred named Alexander Severus being admitted by common Consent both of Senate and People who prov'd one of the rarest Princes for Valour and Vertue that ever the Roman Empire had so as the excellency of Severus seemed fully to recompence the wickedness of Heliogabalus I may name many other such Examples and among the rest that of Maxentius who being lawfully possess'd of the Empire being Son to Maximinianus the Emperour which Reign'd with Dioclesian yet for his Tyrannical Government that was intolerable it s supposed that the Senate not being able to match him in open strength sent privily into England and France to invite Constantine to come to their relief and so he did and Maxentius being drown'd in the River Tyber Constantine afterwards Sirnam'd the Great succeeded in the Empire who was the Emperour as the World knows who first publickly professed himself a Christian and planted our Faith over all the World. And so I shall end with the Roman Empire Now if we come lower down and nearer home we have yet another Example more remarkable than the rest which is the change of the Empire from the East to the West for the evil Government of Irene and her Son Constantine the 6th who was deposed first and his Eyes put out by his own Mother Irene and the Empire usurp'd by her who not being able to Rule it in such order as was requisite for so great a Monarchy she was deprived thereof by the Sentence of Pope Leo the Third and by Consent of all the People and Senate of Rome Charles King of France and Germany after Sirnamed the Great was Crown'd Emperour of the West which Succession continues as it were to this day and many Worthy men have succeeded therein and insinite acts of Jurisdiction have been exercised by that Authority which were all unjust and Tyrannical if this change of the Empire and deposition of Irene and her Son for their evil Government had not been lawful It were too long to run over all other Kingdoms and therefore I shall only touch some in those Points that are most notorious Now the two famous Changes that have been made in the Royal Line of France the first from the Race of Pharamond and Clodoveus to the Line of Pepin and the second from the Race of Pepin to Hugo Capetus whereon are they founded but upon the Judicial chastisement and deposition of two evil Princes the first of Childeric the third lawful King of France the second of Charles of Lorain who was kept Prisoner during his life in the Castle of Orleance And thus muhc all the French Histories do affirm and do attribute to these Changes the prosperity and greatness of their Kingdom And so much for France where many other Examples might be alledg'd as of King Lewis the Third Sirnamed Fainant and of Charles Sirnamed Le Gross who succeeded him both of them depos'd by the States of France as before I have noted But now if we step over the Pyrenean Mountains and look into Spain where we shall not fail of many Examples to our purpose both before the oppression of that Realm by the Moors and after for before in the year of Christ 630 we read of a lawful King named Flaveo Suintila put down and deprived with his whole Posterity in the fourth Council National of Toledo and one Sissinando confirmed in his place Ambrosio Mora lib. 11. cap. 19. notwithstanding that Suintila was at the beginning of his Reign a very good King and much commended by S. Isidorus Archbishop of Sevil who yet in the said Council was the first Man who subscrib'd to his deprivation After the entrance of the Moors also when Spain was reduc'd again to order and government of the Spanish Kings Garib lib. 13 cap. 15. we read that about the year of Christ 1282. one Don Alonso the 11th of that name King of Castile and Leon succeeded his Father Ferdinand Sirnam'd the Saint and he obtain'd the name of Sabio and Astrologio that is of Wise and so an Astrologer for excelent Learning and peculiar skill in that Art as may appear by the Astronomy Tables that at this day go under his Name which are the most perfect and exact that ever were set forth by Judgment of the Learned This Man for his evil government and especially for Tyranny used towards two Nephews of his was deposed of his Kingdom by a publick Act of Parliament in the Town of Validolid after he had Reigned 30 years and his Son Don Sancho the 4th was Crown'd in his place who for his valiant Acts was Sirnam'd El Bravo and it turn'd to the great commodity of the Commonwealth The same Country of Spain some years after about the year of Christ 1368 Garib lib. 14. cap. 40 41. having to their King one Don Pedro Sirnamed the Cruel who for his injurious Proceedings with his Subjects they deposed and sent for his Bastard Brother out of France and made him King. And thô Edward Sirnamed the Black Prince by order of his Father Edward the 3d of England restored the said Peter again yet it was not durable for that Henry having the favour of
the Spaniards return'd and depriv'd Peter the second time and slew him in fight hand to hand who proved an excellent Prince and for his great nobility in Conversation and prowess in Chivalry was called El Cavalero the Knightly King and for his exceeding benignity and liberality was Sirnam'd also El delas Mercedes i.e. the King who gave many Gifts or the liberal frank and bountiful King which was a great alteration from King Peter the Cruel his Predecessor In Portugal also before I go out of Spain I will alledge one Example more which is of Don Sancho the 2d fourth King of Portugal lawful Son to Don Alenso Sirnam'd El Gardo 3d King of Portugal This Don Sancho after he had Reigned 34 years was deprived for his defects in Government by the universal Consent of all Portugal Garib lib. 4. de hist Port. cap. 19. and this approved by a general Council in Lions and Don Alonso third Brother to the said Don Sancho succeeded who enjoy'd the Kingdom of Portugal prosperously and peaceably all the days of his life and he was a notable King who among other great Exploits set Portugal free from all subjection Garib hist Port. lib. 34. cap. 20. dependance and homage to the Kingdom of Castile which unto his time it had acknowledged and he left for his Successor his Son and Heir Don Dionysio el Fabricador that is the Great Builder for he built and founded above 44 great Towns in Portgual and was a very excellent Prince In Polonia Henry the 3d who was King of France thô before Sworn King of Poland Vide Gagnen part 1. of which Crown he was deprived by publick Act of Parliament for departing thence without Licence and not returning at his day by the State appointed and denounced by publick Letters of peremptory Commandment This was a clear Abdication and the said State proceeded against him much after the same manner as ours did against the late King James In Denmark Cisternus their lawful King if we respect his descent in Blood being Son to King John who Reigned before him and Crown'd in his Fathers life was deposed for his intolerable Cruelty and driven into Banishment together with his Wife and three Children which were all disinherited and his Uncle Frederick Prince of Holsatia was chosen King and Cisternus thô he married the Sister of Charles the 5th Emperour of Germany and was Related also to Henry the 8th of England yet he could never prevail to be restored but past his time miserably partly in Banishment and partly in Prison till he died Now I think it convenient to end this short Narration with an Example or two out of England being I have not read of more remarkable Accidents concerning this Point than in the History of this Kingdom But for brevities sake I shall content my self with three or four Examples which hapned since the Conquest thô I may well look higher as appears by the deprivation of King Edwin and others Now I might instance King John who the States had deprived first at Canterbury and after at London in the 18th year of his Reign but being he was in actual War with the Barons and had a considerable Party to espouse his Quarrel and not being deprived by Parliament I shall therefore pass it by not accounting it so compleat a Deposition as that of Edward the Seconds was Polydor. lib. 18. it being done by Act of Parliament assembled in London in the year 1326 and his Body adjudg'd to perpetual Imprisonment he being Prisoner at that time in the Castle of Wallingford Stow in the Life of Edw. the 2d whether divers both Bishops Lords and Commoners were sent to him to denounce the Sentence of the Realm against him viz. how they had deprived him and chosen Edward his Son in his stead For which act of chasing his Son he thank'd them heartily and with many Tears acknowledg'd his own unworthiness Whereupon he was degraded his name of King first taken from him and he appointed to be call'd Edward of Carnarvan and then his Crown and Ring were taken away and the Steward of his House brake the Staff of his Office in his presence and discharged his Servants of their Services and all other People were discharged of their Obedience and Allegiance to him and towards his Maintenance he had only 100 Marks a year allowed for his Expences and then he was delivered into the hands of particular Keepers who led him Prisoner from thence to many other places using him with extreme Indignity in the way until at last they took away his Life in Berkley Castle and his Son Edward the 2d Reign'd in his stead who if we respect either Valour Prowess length of Reign acts of Chivalry or the multitude of Famous Princes his Children left behind him was one of the noblest Kings that ever England had After him succeeded Richard the 2d Son and Heir to the renowned Black Prince of Wales who forgetting the miserable end of his Great Grandfather for evil Government and the felicity of his Grandfather for the contrary suffered himself to be abus'd and misled by evil Counsellors to the great prejudice and disquiet of the Realm For which cause after he had Reigned 22 years he was also depos'd by Act of Parliament held at London 1399 and condemn'd to perpetual Imprisonment in the Castle of Pomfret where he was soon after put do death as the other before had been in whose place by free Election was chosen the Noble Henry Duke of Lancaster who prov'd a notable King and was Father to Henry the 5th commonly call'd the Alexander of England for as Alexander the Great conquered most part of Asia in the space of 9 or 10 years so did this Henry conquer France in less time I may also reckon in the number of Princes depriv'd for defect in Government thô otherwise of no ill life Henry the 6th who after 40 years Reign was deposed and imprisoned by Edward the 4th of the House of York and the same was confirm'd by the Commons and especially by the People of London and also by publick Act of Parliament not only in respect of the Title which King Edward pretended but also by reason that King Henry suffered himself to be over rul'd by the Queen his Wife and had broken the Articles of Agreement made by the Parliament between him and the Duke of York and solemnly sworn on both sides in punishment whereof and of his other negligent and evil Government Sentence was given against him and Edward the 4th elected in his place who was an excellent Prince But after this there sell another Accident much more notorious which was That Richard Duke of Gloucester this King Edward's Brother did put to death his two Nephews and made himself King and thô he acted very barbarously by taking the Crown in this wicked manner yet when his Nephews were once dead he might reasonably seem to be lawful King both
in respect that he was next Mále after his Brother as also because his Title was authoriz'd and made good by many Acts of Parliament both before and after the deaths of those Infants and yet I think no man will say but that Henry of Richmond had very good reason to come out of France being Called and Invited by the People of England to revenge the Cruelties and Arbitrary things done by Richard the 3d and that this undertaking was no less successful than generous and obtain'd the Crown for his pains after that Richard had died in the Field and became King by the name of Henry the 7th and no man I suppose will deny him to have been a true and lawful King. And moreover as I said before I would have you consider in all these mutations what Kings always succeeded in the places of such as have been depos'd as namely in England in the place of those Five Kings before-mentioned viz. John Edward the 2d Richard the 2d Henry the 6th and Richard the 3d there have succeeded three Henries the 3d 4th and 7th and 2 Edwards the 3d and 4th some of them most rare and valiant Princes who have done many important Acts in their Commonwealth and among others have raised many Houses to the Nobility put down others changed States both abroad and at home distributed Ecclesiastical Dignities altered the course of Descent in the Royal Blood and the like all which was unjust and is void at this day if the Changes and Deprivations of the former Princes were not lawful and consequently King James the 6th of Scotland nor any of his Descendents had Title to this Crown because they descend from those Kings who were elected in place of the deprived And this I take to be a sufficient proof That lawful Kings have many times been lawfully deposed by the States of the Kingdom for Misgovernment Now I suppose it will be readily granted That this ample Authority has been actually exercised by the aforesaid Commonwealths against their evil Princes but yet many perhaps will ask Quo jure by what Law or Right I answer By all Laws both Divine and Human Divine by that Form of Government which every Kingdom doth chuse unto it self as also the Conditions Statutes and Limitations which it shall appoint to their Princes as largely before hath been declared And by Human Law also being all Law both Natural National and Positive declares That Princes are obliged to govern by Law and Order For if they should be bound to no Rules of Justice but must be obeyed be their Commands never so illegal and wicked then is the end of all Royal Government and Authority utterly defeated and useless then may we submit to all the Injustice and Arbitrary Commands that can be given to publick Murderers Ravishers Thieves and Spoilers to devour us for such indeed are they who follow no Law but Passion and Sensuality committing Injustice by their publick Authority And finally which is the chiefest Reason of all and the very ground and foundation of all Kingly Authority among Christians the Power and Authority which the Prince hath from the Commonwealth is not absolute but a Power delegate or Power of Trust delegated by Commission from the People which is given with such Restrictions Limitations and Conditions even with such plain Promises and Oaths of both parties I mean between the King and Peoâ—le at the day of Admission or Coronation as if the same be not kept but wilfully broken on either part then is the other not bound to observe his Promise tho' never so solemnly made or sworn for that in all Bargains Agreements and Contracts where each part is mutually and reciprocally bound to the other by Oath Vow or Condition there if one party break his Promise the other is not obliged to perform And this is so evident by all Law both of Nature and Nations and so conformable to all Reason and Equity that it 's inserted among the very Rules of both the Civil and Law of Nations where it 's said Frustra fidem sibi quis postulat servari ab co cui fidem à se praestitam servare recusat He doth in vain require a Promise to be kept to him by another to whom he refuseth to perform that which himself promised And again Non astringitur quis Jaramento adimplendum quod juravit si ab alia parte non impletur cujus respectu praebuit Juramentum A man is not bound to perform that which by Oath he promised if on the other part that be not performed in respect whereof his Oath was made As for Example if two should swear to assist each other upon the way in all respects and after falling upon Enemies who were Relations of Friends to one of them and he should take their part against his Companion its clear that the other was not bound to keep his Oath to that Man that had so wickedly broken his to him Nay not only in this case that is so evident by Nature it self but in many others also it is both lawful honest and convenient to leave sometimes the performance of our Oath when by fulfilling it there would accrue any notable Inconveniences against Religion Piety Justice Honesty or the weal-publick or against the party himself to whom it was made As if one had sworn to restore a Sword to a mad or furious Man wherewith it were likely he would destroy himself or others and such like cases which Cicero sets down in his first Book of Offices and deduces them from the very ground of Nature and Reason it self and says that it were against the duty of a good or honest Man it such cases to perform his Promise Our Divines also do alledge the Example of Herod who had sworn to the Daughter of Herodias to give her what she demanded who demanded the Head of S. John Baptist thô Herod was sorry for it yet saith the Text For his Oaths sake he commanded it to be performed which yet no man will deny but that it had been far better left unperformed according to the Rule of Law In malis promissis fidem non expedit-observare It is not expedient to keep our Oath when unlawfully made And in the second Part of the Decretal there 's alledged this Sentence out of Isidorus and establish'd for Law In malis promissis rescinde fidem in turpi voto muta decretum impia enim promissio quae scelere impletur In evil Promises perform not your word in an unlawful Vow or Oath change your determination for its an impious Promise that cannot be fulfill'd but with Wickedness So as nothing is more largely handled both in the Civil and Canon Law than this matter of Promises how and when and in what case they hold or bind and when not All which to apply to our matter of Kings We are to understand that two evident Cases are touched here when a Subjects Oath or Promise of Obedience may be left
and Marquesses of Austria and now are divided into Thirteen Cantons under Popular Magistrates of their own and its certain that God approves of our most Gracious Prince King WILLIAM since his Election by the People as he did of the former Princes while the Commonwealth were contented with them so as when Men talk of a Natural Prince or Natural Successor as many times I have heard the Word us'd if it be understood of one that is Born in the same Realm or Country and so of our own Natural Blood it hath some Sense thô he may be good or bad and none have been worse or more cruel many times than Home born Princes but if it be meant as thô any Prince had his particular Government or Interest to succeed by Institution of God or Nature its ridiculous for that God or Nature giveth it not as hath been declared but the particular Constitution of every Common-wealth within it self Now the Government of every Prince is to be respected according to the benefit that redounds to the Subject for whose good it was ordain'd and when the Subjects live well and prosperously are defended and maintained in Peace Safety and Wealth when Justice is done equally to all Men the Wicked punished and the Good rewarded when true Religion is maintain'd and Vertue promoted this is that which importeth the Realm and Subjects and not where or in what Country the Prince or his Officers were Born or of what Nation Language or Kindred they be for that as soon as he is placed in that Dignity he becometh a Stranger to me and it availeth me little whether he be of my Blood and Country or not And I may say as the People of Israel said to Rehoboam who being King Davids Grand-Son and of the House of Jesse thought his State assured and so might oppress the People at his pleasure Quae nobis pars in David vel quae haereditas in filio Jesse and so they left him and chose to be under Jeroboam a Stranger For what availed it them that lived in Spain under Peter the Cruel or in England under Richard the Third commonly call'd the Tyrant what did it import them that those Princes were of their own Country or Blood seeing they did that to them which a Stranger thô never so barbarous or cruel would scarce have done As in like manner What did it import those Noble Families of the De la Pools Staffords Plantagenets and others destroy'd by Henry the Eighth What avail'd it to them that the said King was not only their Country-man but their near Kinsman What profit or commodity was it to Thomas of Woodstock Duke of Gloucester that he lived under King Richard the Second who was his Nephew or to George Duke of Clarence that King Edward the Fourth was his Brother when both were disgrac'd and put to death by them and lost their Lands and Dignities which perhaps under a strange Prince they might have enjoyed many years And lastly what availeth it to Scotland or England that the late King James was descended of them and born with us or to the present Queen that he was her Father when he endeavour'd utterly to destroy the Peace and Tranquility of those Nations and unnaturally to exclude his Royal Daughter from the Inheritance of these Three Kingdoms to set up a suspected Child to finish the Game which he had begun so as we may say as before What part have we in James or what Inheritance in the Son of the Martyr And so much for this first Point which is the ground of all the rest I have to say Now since we have as I take it fully prov'd That no King or Goverour hath his Interest from God or Nature but from the particular Institutions of the Commonwealth I shall proceed to evince both by Reason and Example that they have Laws and Rules prescribed by the said Common-wealths by which they are bound to Rule and Govern their People Now I do really believe that of all other Governments Monarchy is the best and least subject to the Inconveniences that others are and that Popular Governments are the worst and have soonest come to ruine as may be shewed not only by old Examples of Greece Asia and Africa but also many Cities in Italy as Florence Bolonia Siena Pisa Arezzo Spóleto Perugia Padua and others which upon the fall or diminution of the Roman Empire under which they were before took unto themselves Popular Governments wherein they were tossed with continual Seditions Mutinies and banding of Factions and could have no end of their Miseries until after insinite Murthers and Massacres they came in the end under the Monarchy of one Prince as at this day they remain So where the Government of Aristocracy took place there were perpetual Divisions among the Senators as in Carthage which was the Reason that Succours were not sent to their Captain Hannibal in Italy after his so great and important Victory at Canna being the preservation of the Roman Empire and the loss of their own As also afterwards the Emulation and Disunion of the Roman Senators among themselves in the Contentions of Marius and Silla and of Pompey and Coesar was the occasion of all their Destruction and of the Commonwealth with them Now if the Prince who governeth alone and hath Supreme Authority to himself as he resembles God in this point of sole Command so could he resemble him also in wise discreet and just Government and in Ruling without Passion Nothing more excellent in the World could be desired for the perfect Felicity of his Subjects But because a King is a Man as others be and therefore not only subject to Errors in Judgment but also to passionate Assections in his Will therefore it was necessary that the Commonwealth as it gave him this great power over them so it should assign him the best Helps that might be for directing and rectifying both his Will and Judgment and make him as like in Government to God whom he representeth as mans Frailty can reach unto For this Consideration they assign'd to him the assistance and direction of Law Which Aristotle saith is a certain Mind disquieted with no disordinate Affection as mens Minds commonly be for that when a Law is made for the most part it s upon due consideration and without perturbation of evil Affections as Anger Envy Hatred Rashness or the like Passions and it is referred to some good End and Commodity of the Commonwealth which Law being once made remaineth still the same without alteration or partial Affection being indifferent to all speaking alike to every Man in which it resembles the Perfection of God himself For which cause the said Philosopher saith Aristot lib. 3. cap. 12. That he who joyneth a Law to govern with the Prince joyneth God to him but he that joyneth to the Prince his Affections joyneth a Beast So that a Prince Ruling by Law is more than a Man or a man Deified