become forfeited for Mal-government should not return unto them who delegated it as well from Kings as from Consuls Senates Tribunes Duumvirates Triumvirates Decemvirates Ephori or any other form of Government is past all understanding It is also scornfully objected this is to be a Duke of Genoa a Duke of Venice not a King. They who have so mean conceits of such Governments which in reality are as much approved and allowed by God as Kingly even by the same Scripture are not worthy to preside in any Government If the Opinion of the Millenaries be true and Christ shall come and reign upon the earth 1000 Years will he not do all things for the good of the Governed Will not his eyes be on the faithful of the Land and on them that excel in virtue will he not hate the works of them that turn aside will he know a wicked Person except to condemn him will he suffer them that have High Looks or Proud Hearts will not his eyes be on the faithful of the Land that they may dwell with him shall not they that walk in a Perfect way serve him shall they that work Deceit dwell in his House or they that tell Lies tarry in his sight and will he not destroy all the Wicked of the Land and cut off all wicked doers from the City of the Lord And cannot Kings do the same whether their power be absolute from God or delegated from the People Hath not Christ been among us already as him that serveth and shall his Vicegerents think it below them to be like their Master Were it not the most desirable condition in the World for Kings Christian to be so seated on Thrones as it could not possibly be in their power to do the least injury to the meanest of their Subjects and yet do good to all Would not this be a condition acceptable in the sight of God and Man would not they thereby become Deliciae humani Generis as once Titus was Will nothing please but quod libet licet their Wills and Pleasures to be their Laws that Justinian-like when instigated by an Imperious Whorish Comedian Theodora they may securely commit Outrages and Cruelties sans nombre or when tickled with a Dancing Herodias shall take off any Head though of a John Baptist or when in the midst of Adulterous Embraces shall betray the strength of a Nation to a Dalilah at pleasure and all these uncontrollably When the Romans had cashiered Proud Traquin their King and in him Kingship they delegated their Power on Two Consuls to be check one upon the other that if one exceeded or abused his Power he might be curb'd by the other and though both should agree to usurp or extend the power given to the prejudice of the People yet both Consuls and all other Magistrates were to be obedient to the Senate whenever the Patricians and People thought fit which was always had in esteem as the Peoples Champion and Defender of their Rights and Laws Tull. orat pro Sestio The like subject were the Decemviri and all other the Magistrates to the Senate insomuch that sometimes the Counsuls were esteemed Enemies before they quitted their Consulship and the Senate took Arms against them So War was raised by the Authority of the Senate against Anthony the Consul for his misdemeanors during his Consulship On the contrary Trajan that Excellent Emperor believing him to have been sent from Heaven to redeem them from the slavery of former Tyrants and to restore unto them their antient Liberties when he gave the Sword the Ensign and Badge of Majesty and Power unto Saburanus Praefect of the Praetorian Cohorts saying Accipe hunc Gladium pro me si recie agam sin aliter in me magis quod moderatorem omnium vel errare minus fas est Use this Sword for my Defence whilst I govern as I ought if otherwise to my Destruction Comite Cestriae Gladium Sancti Edvardi qui Curtein dicitur ante regem bajulante in signum quod comes est Palatii Regem si oberret habeat de Jure Potestatem cohibendi suo sibi scilicet Cestrensi Constabulario ministrante virgâ— Populum cum se incrdinate ingereret subâ—rahente Matth. Paris lib. 3. p. 563. N. 10. At the Marriage of Henry III. King of England with Elianor Daughter of Raymund Earl of Provence the Earl of Chester carried the Sword of St. Edward called Curtein before him in token that he was Master of the Palace and that he had publick Authority to curb the King if he erred The same Ensign of publick Authority is continued to this very day before the Kings of England King Charles II. at his Coronation being set in a rich Chair under a glorious Cloth of State Sir Gilbert Talbot Knight Master of the Jewel-House presented the Sword of State also the Sword called Curtana and two other Swords to the Lord High Constable who took and delivered them to the Lord High Chamberlain and laid them on the Table before the King. The like Powers had the Masters of the Palace in France and other Countries It is plain that though that great and just Emperor Traj an had so great Power conferred on him yet was so just as to appoint a Judge though inferior to him over his Actions How much more just therefore was he when he superior in Power having all the Armies and Conquests at his beck and consequently could not be forced to obey the Senate or People yet would do it in respect of his Office and Duty to his Delegators and thereby acknowledge them to be his superior of whom Pliny in his Panegyrick saith That senatus ut susciperet quartum Consulatum rogavit jussit Which are words of Command and they that might Command might Judge and Censure So Marcus Aurelius the Emperor when Cassius the Praefect of Syria endeavoured to deprive him of his Kingdom offered himself to the judgment of the Senate and the People of Rome as it should seem best unto them Now who could better judge of Kingly Power than such just and upright Kings and in their own Cause Certainly by the Law of Nature all good Kings have the Senate or the People both for their Peers and Superiors in some Kingdoms though Tyrants hated both of God and Man will neither have Superior nor Peer As of old Laws the Law of Nature guiding by force were devised so when Laws came to be despised and slighted by the same Law of Nature there must recourse be had unto force again so to think is just and prudent so to do is true courage so to think and do is the height of a prudent vertue This remains indelible in Nature That the Senate or People are always Superior in some Countries to Kings good or bad the reason is natural for that the People do transfer their own Power or to speak yet more properly the use and exercise of some of their own Power unto Kings the
of Germany confirmed in the Regency by the States following the example of the Bastards is Crowned King and afterwards was degraded from the Empire and the Crown Charles the Simple after Twenty two years was forced to renounce his Crown though a lawful King. Lewis the Fourth his Son carried into England by his Mother c. And Ralf or Raoul Duke of Burgundy called to the Crown though an Usurper after whose death the said Lewis the Fourth called Doutremer is restored to the Crown Lewis the Pious though the Son of Charles the Great yet was elected anno 812. in whose Will extant in Naucler Charles the Great besought the People that they would chuse one of his Nephews which they pleased by the publick Council of the Kingdom and commanded his Uncles by the publick decree of his People to acquiesce Hence Carolus Calvus Charles the Bald a Nephew by Lodovicus Pius and Juditha confesseth himself chosen King. Aymoinus Historiogr 85. From the Merovingiens being Twenty two Kings of the Merovees to the Garlovingiens by Charles Martel Major of the Palace in name but King in effect of which Race there have been Thirteen Kings then the Crown came to the Capets In the choice of Pharamond first King of France after many Harangues pro and con about all kinds of Government at last they resolved on Kingly Government as the best sort of Government then the Lords Peers Magistrates and chief Captains as Representatives of all the People chose him King and was Inaugurated or Crowned by setting him on a great Shield or Target and carrying him into the Field where also both the common Soldiers in Arms and the People were assembled who confirmed and approved the choice by their Acclamations about the Year 419 or 420. And then they did Swear to the King to keep Faith and Allegiance to Honour Serve Maintain and Defend him against his Enemies but on condition that he be Religious Valiant Just Merciful Impartial Diligent understanding in management of Affairs skilful to resist their Enemies to punish Evil doers and to preserve the Good and to defend the Christian Faith likewise This Mutual and Reciprocal Swearing and Covenanting equally obligatory on both sides was the Custom from Pharamond to Pepin and afterwards in the Race of the Carliens descended of Pepin the French of their own free will chusing their Kings the Crown in those Days not descending Hereditarily If at any time the Crown came to the Son or Brother did succeed the Father or Brother it was not by any right of Inheritance or Succession to which they could not possibly have any right or pretence by any Law of God or Nature that wholly depending on consent of Parties to be governed but only through the affection which the French did bear to the memory of the good King deceased After Pharamond they chose one Daniel a Monk whom they sirnamed Chilperick whom for his Debauchery they banished and chose one Gillon or Gilles a Roman Senator or Master of the Roman Militia for their King who Governing as ill as Chilperick they sent and intreated Sigibert King of Metz to take the Crown of France and Crowned him Les Burguignons and les Austrasiens having made Peace with the other French chose Clotaire for their King in all the Three Kingdoms and afterwards chose Childerick King of Austrasie who delaying to come they chose one Odon After the decease of Dagobert his Son Clovis being young they chose him after his decease they chose his Son Clotaire King who dying Four years after they chose Thyerre his Brother whom they afterwards deposed and chose Childerick in his room Histories are full of the like examples in other Kingdoms Afterwards in the Posterity of Pepin who having been Ten years Master of the Palace to Childerick a weak Prince set up for himself and by his Power and Artifices by the help of Pope Zachary his ghostly Father dispensing with the Oath of Allegiance which the People had Sworn to Childerick the last King of the Race of Clovis whom the People caused to be put into a Monastery And after the death of Pepin the French by common consent chose Charles and Carloman his Son for their King with a charge that they did equally part and share the Kingdom between them At the end of the Race of Pepin Lewis King of the Francs being dead they being willing to transfer the Kingdom to Charles King of Austrasie or according to others Duke of Lorrain but whilst he deferred his coming Hugh Capit took possession of the Crown It is also evident in Story that one Kings Son hath been rejected and another inthroned For the French not being pleased with the Infancy and Weakness of Charles Son of Loys de Begue about Nine or Ten years old chose for their King Odon Son of Robert Saxon which was killed by the Normans in Battel and that Two years after they being displeased with the Government of Odon they discharged him of the Government and set up Charles again who misbehaving himself was imprisoned and they put in his place Raoul King of Bourgongue by which examples it is apparent the Kings of France were Elective not Hereditary But after they obtained Hereditary Possession of the Crown the Custom of the Election by the People which had lasted long being laid aside the Kings were Crowned and Chosen at Rhemes by the Peers of France in the name of the Church of the Nobles and of the People Bernard de Gerard. Sieur Mezeray Jean de Serres In summ All Kings were at first Elected and Chosen by the People and though now many succeed by Inheritance as by much the better way yet that way also is Constituted Approved and Confirmed by the People or their Representatives No Kings drop out of the Clouds neither do they start out of the Earth though the People chuse the Root yet do they not so absolutely chuse the Stems or Branch but if they do degenerate they in Prudence and Justice may make a better choice The Heirs of such Roots are not so much born Kings as adopted so not so much Kings as fair Candidates for Crowns Presumptive Kings only where Succession is not settled by Laws made by publick consent CHAP. V. Some Opinions of Hobs's Machiavil Pulpits and others examined The Peoples Power asserted in chusing refusing and rejecting Kings according as they did or did not observe Laws and Covenants Covenants equally oblige If broken by one the other is thereby set free Vsages and Customs of other Nations Sad examples of Perjury IT is true that Machiavil Hobs the Pulpits and others do inculcate That Kingly Power is so founded by God immediately that there remaineth nothing human in it and that publick consent is nothing at all requisite and that Kings are responsible to God only which is the ground of all Tyrannical Arbitrary and Unbounden Sway. For if Kingdoms by common consent can neither set Bounds nor Conditions nor judg of
Power it self still virtually remaining in themselves of which they cannot so totally devest themselves but the Spring and Fountain thereof will still remain in them which is demonstrable for that in making Laws their consent is still required as absolutely necessary The nearer we approach and imitate Natures Laws the more demonstrable is the Power of the People above the Power of Kings their Power being only derived from the same People as a Stream from the Fountain It is as evident that the People if free do not simply but hypothetically transfer their Power unto Kings neither undeed can they by the Law of Nature but only conditionally and for the sake of Order of common Justice Peace and Liberty from which if Kings do deviate it is always to be understood that the People have transferred no such Power and indeed transferred nothing because they transferred it only for certain good ends and purposes Nature so guiding which ends if frustrated or perverted the very Pacts and Delegations themselves are ipso facto voidable nay void at the pleasure of the Senate or People and therefore the People must consequently be superior to Kings who though singulis Majores yet in true construction of Law and Equity are universis Minores In a popular State it is generally acknowledged that Magistrates placed by the People may be censured by the People and in an Aristocracy by the Optimacy and yet it 's held monstrous that Kings should be called to account in some Countries which if true concludes thus much certainly true That they are more than brutishly foolish ever to admit of any such Government which most certainly renders them slaves at the will of Kings How comes it to pass that Kings only of all other Governors must Reign unquestionable uncensured uncontrolable Do Men born under such a Regiment naturally become so desperately sottish and bruitish as to love slavery better than freedom Why do they then prescribe them Laws and conditions of Governing and Oaths for the more certain performance of them at their first admittance That they might with the better grace jeer and scorn and enslave them Or that they only of all the Sons and Daughters of Men might have liberty to break Laws and perjure themselves impuné Or be left only to the Judgment of the great day Where 's the great difference and distance between Kings and popular Magistrates Title only excepted Which Title the very People gave them for the better Grace Adornment and Majesty of their own Government The same Power and Authority is transferred unto Kings and unto popular Magistrates by the People both one and the other sworn alike to observance of the Laws and the obliged to obey not one nor the other any longer than quamdiu id bene gesserit Who makes the difference If any God hath already decided it on behalf of the popular Magistracy by his own example who of his own infinite Wisdom Authority and Goodness towards Mankind instituted Judges as the best Form of Government but appointed Kings in Wrath and Anger and Indignation and at the foolish instance of a froward and rebellious People and as a punishment on them who had rejected him and his Government and rebelled against him whereby it is manifest that Kingship was first ordained as a punishment not as the best Government To assert absolute Dominion to be in Kings from the example of Fathers and of Masters of Families hath no ground in Nature Scripture Reason Aristotle in the beginning of his Politicks condemns that Opinion of there being but little difference in the similitude between a Kingdom and a Family Regnum à familia non numero solum sed specie differt For Fathers beget their Children And the People beget or create their Kings and not Kings the People And Fathers provide for their Children but the People provide for Kings not only for their Necessaries but for Superfluities for their Magnificence and for their Grandeur And according to Diodorus 11 o. Kingdoms of old were wont to be given not necessarily to the Sons of Kings but to them in whom did appear most apparent signs and tokens of Love and Kindness towards the People and of common good So Justin Principio rerum gentium nationumque imperium penes reges erat quos ad fastigium hujus majestatis non ambitio Popularis sed spectata inter bonos moderatio provehebat Whereby it plainly appears that Paternal and Hereditary Impery subscribes and is subservient to Virtue and to the Right of Nations Which Original of Kingly Dominion both Reason and Cause are most especially natural for which very cause and reason Men did first assemble and agree on a Government not that one should insult and domineer over all the rest but whosoever did injure another there should be a Law and a Judg amongst them for the defence and recompencing the injured Primus Rex Agis ab Ephoris est morte mulctatus 192. Ob. Rex non est nisi unus sit unicus If so then many that were Kings of England were not To let pass many of the Saxons who had many Peers in their Government either Sons or Brothers It 's manifest that Hen. II. of the Norman Race reigned with his Son. Consentire vultis de habendo ipsum regem 193. Quod opus non foret si regnum jure esset haereditarium apud Reges usurpatio pro Jure saepissime obtinet In the Creation of our Kings the Archbishop asks the People four times Consentire vultis de habendo ipsum regem After the Roman Custom vultis jubetis hunc regnare Of which there was no need if the King had an absolute independent Right of Inheritance Therefore as William the Conqueror took an Oath of Allegiance from the People after the Battel of Hastings so the People took his Oath that he would keep Faith with them c. After which when he broke his Faith with the People they took Arms again then he most solemnly swore again That he would observe and keep the Ancient Laws of England if he tyrannized over them it was not jure belli but jure perjurii And when he died he declared Neminem Anglici regni eonstituo haeredem lib. Cadomens inde jus belli jus haereditarium cum ipso mortuo Gulielmo sepultum est Rex non potest facere injuriam quod scelerate interpretantur Non est injuria quod facit Rex quia in eo non punitur If it be demanded by what Authority Kings may be indicted and censured It 's answered by the same Authority by the same Men and the same Laws that delegated their Power to create them King and that by the self-same reason Kings have no Power but what they have received from the People and therefore they must have Power over Kings and by the Law of St. Edward Kings not governing righteously lose the very name of King and it denies him to be a King. It is never to be forgotten