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A45694 Political aphorisms: or, The true maxims of government displayed Wherein is likewise proved, that paternal authority is no absolute authority, and that Adam had no such authority. That there neither is or can be any absolute government de jure, and that all such pretended government is void. That the children of Israel did often resist their evil princes without any appointment or foretelling thereof by God in scripture. That the primitive Christians did often resist their tyrannical emperors, and that Bishop Athanasius did approve of resistance. That the Protestants in all ages did resist their evil and destructive princes. Together with a historical account of the depriving of kings for their evil government, in Israel, France, Spain, Portugal, Scotland, and in England before and since the conquest. Locke, John, 1632-1704. Two treatises of government.; Languet, Hubert, 1518-1581. VindiciƦ contra tyrannos.; Defoe, Daniel, 1661?-1731, attributed name.; Ferguson, Robert, d. 1714, attributed name.; Harrison, T. (Thomas), fl. 1683-1711. 1691 (1691) Wing H917E; ESTC R216382 24,457 34

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the Kings over the Children of Israel whom God permitted and appointed to be slain and those that were carried away Captive by the Heathens for their unjust Government I should be too copious But I will leave the Hebrews and give you several Examples of the depriving of Evil Princes of the Government in France Spain Portugal c. and last of all in Scotland and England and of the Happiness and Prosperity that did attend those Kingdoms upon such Acts which can be imputed to nothing but the Blessing of Almighty God which attended those Proceedings and by consequence he approved thereof and does approve of such Acts. There has been two great Changes made of the Royal Line in France the first from Pharamond to the Line of Pepin the second from Pepin to Hugo Capet Childerick the Third was deprived for his Evil Government and Pepin was chosen King in his stead whose Posterity reigned for many Years after him and were brave Kings as History doth testify Lewis the Third and Charles sirnamed Le-Gross were both deprived by the States of France for their ill Government and such who were thought more worthy appointed in their stead All French Histories do attribute to these great Changes that have been made by the People the Prosperity and Greatness of their present Kingdom Henry the Third before he was King of France was chosen King of Polonia But for departing thence without leave and not returning at his Day was deprived by publick Act of Parliament If I were to mention all the Acts of this Nature throughout Europe I should be too tedious therefore I will mention only some few In Spain Flaveo Suintila was deprived for his Evil Government together with all his Posterity and Sissinando chosen in his room Don Pedro sirnamed the Cruel for his injurious Proceedings with his Subjects they resolved to dethrone him and to that intent sent for a Bastard Brother of his named Henry that lived in France desiring him to come with some French Men to assist them in that Act and take the Crown upon himself Which he did by the help of the Spaniards and slew him in Fight hand to hand and so enjoyed the Crown as doth his Off-spring to this Day This Henry was a most Excellent King as well for his Courage in War as for his other brave Qualities In Portugal Don Sanco the Second was deprived by the Universal Consent of all Portugal and Don Alanso his Brother set up Who amongst other great Exploits was the first that set Portugal free from all Subjection Dependance and Homage to the Kingdom of Castile And his Son who was his Successor builded and founded above forty great Towns in Portugal Who was likewise a most rare Prince and his Off-spring ruleth there to this Day Cisternus King of Denmark for his intolerable Cruelty was deprived and his Wife and three Children disinherited and his Uncle Frederick was chosen King in his stead whose Off-spring remaineth in the Crown In Scotland the Nobility and Gentry c. took Arms against Durstus their King for his intolerable Cruelty and slew him and his Confederates in Battel and put by his Sons lest they should imitate their Father's Vices and elected Even his Brother King who leaving a Bastard Son the Kingdom was conferred on him Crathy Cinthus having surprized and slain Donald for his Tyranny he was unanimously elected King Ethus was for his Evil Government deprived and Gregory made King in his stead Buchanan a Scots-man speaking of his Country saith That it was free from the beginning created it self Kings upon this very Law that the Empire being conferred on them by the Suffrages of the People if the Matter required it they might take it away by the same Suffrages Of which Law many Footsteps have remained even to our Age. I will end this Narration with Examples out of England before and since the Conquest Archigallo Emerian Vortigern Sigibert King of the West-Saxons Beornred and Alured King of Northumberland were all deprived of their Thrones for their Evil Government and such who were thought more Worthy preferred in their Stead King Edwin being deprived for his Unjust Government the Crown was given to his Brother Edgar who was one of the rarest Princes that the World had in his Time both for Peace and War Justice Piety and Valour He kept a Navy saith Stow of three thousand and six hundred Ships distributed in divers Parts for defence of the Realm and he built and restored forty seven Monasteries at his own Charge c. The Crown of England hath been altered by the Community and settled upon those from whom they expected more Justice than from the right Heirs Witness the Electing and Crowning of Edelwald and Casebelian Egbert not next in Blood Edward Adalston and Harold who were all Illegitimate and Edred against the Right of his two Nephews Canutus a Foreigner and Hardiknute without Title and Edward the Confessor against the Right Heirs After the Conquest Anno. 1087. Robert the Elder Brother was put aside and William Rufus the third Son of William the Conqueror was Elected After whose Death Henry the First his Younger Brother though not next Heir was chosen by the People not summoned by Writ After the Death of Henry the First Stephen was chosen King against the right of Maud the Daughter of Henry the First After his Death Henry the second was admitted King against the Right of his Mother Maud. After the Death of Richard the First King John Earl of Morton was Elected and Arthur the Right Heir disinherited Henry the Third was chosen against the Right of Eleanor Prince Arthur's Sister At the Death of Henry the Third the States of the Kingdom met and setled the Government by appointing Officers and what else was necessary for the Defence of the Realm and Edward the Fourth was set up by the People during the Life of Henry the Sixth Now it is plain that the Kings and Queens of England ever since William Rufus's Time have proceeded from those who were set up by the People against the next Heirs King Edward the Second Richard the Second and Richard the Third were for not governing according to the Laws of the Land deprived of the Government and Edward the Third and Henry the Fourth and Seventh were preferred in their rooms which were most Rare and Valiant Princes who have done many Important Acts in this Kingdom and have raised many Families to Nobility put down others changed States both abroad and at home altered the Course of Descent in the Blood Royal and the like which was unjust and is void at this Day if the Changes and Deprivations of the former Kings were unlawful and consequently all those Princes that have succeeded them which yet never failed of a constant Lineal Descent were Usurpers and those that do pretend to the Crown of England at this Day have no Title at all which was yet never denied for that from those Men they descended who
were put in the place of the aforementioned deprived by the Common-Wealth And this is and hath been the Custom and Practice of all Kingdoms and Common-Wealths to deprive their Princes for their Evil Government and that God hath and does concur with the same is plain from the Examples before-mentioned of the Prosperity and Happiness that hath attended those Acts. The Barons Prelates and Commons took a solemn Oath That if King John should refuse to grant and confirm their Laws and Liberties they would wage War against him so long and withdraw themselves from their Allegiance to him until he should confirm to them by a Charter ratified with his Seal all things which they required and that if the King should afterwards peradventure recede from his Oath as they verily believed he would by reason of his double-dealing they would forthwith by seizing on his Castles compel him to give Satisfaction He afterwards breaking his Oath and Promise the Barons said What shall we do with this wicked King if we let him thus alone he will destroy us and our People it is expedient therefore that he should be expelled the Throne we will not have him any longer to reign over us and accordingly they sent for Lewis the Prince of France to be their King and swore Fealty to him but they afterwards discovering that he had sworn that he would oppress them and extirpate all their Kindred they rejected him and set up Henry the Third The Bishops of Hereford Lincoln and several Earls Barons and Knights for each County being deputed to go to Edward II and demand a Surrender of the Crown said to him That unless he did of himself renounce his Crown and Scepter the People would neither endure him or any of his Children as their Soveraign but disclaiming all Homage and Fealty would elect some other for King who should not be of the Blood upon which the King resigned his Crown c. By the common Usage of England which is the common Law of England Kings may be deprived for evil Government and others set up in their stead is plain from the afore-going Examples Richard the First being taken Prisoner by the Emperor in his Return from the Holy Land it was decreed that the fourth part of all that Year's Rents and of all the Moveables as well of the Clergy as of the Laity and all the Woolls of the Abbots of the Order of Cistersians and of Semphringham and all the Gold and Silver Chalices and Treasure of all Churches should be paid in towards the Ransom of the King which was done accordingly If all this was given for the Liberty of one Man certainly much more ought to be given now when all our Liberties and Properties and even our Religion too lies at stake if Necessity required it which God forbid By the Law of Nature Salus Populi the Welfare of the People is both the supream and first Law in Government and the scope and end of all other Laws and of Government it self because the Safety of the Body Politick is ever to be preferred before any one Person whatsoever No Human Law is binding which is contrary to the Scripture or the general Laws of Nature Religion doth not overthrow Nature whose chiefest Principle is to preserve her self and God doth not countenance Sin in the greatest but rewards the Punisher witness Jehu c. The end for which Men enter into Society is not barely to live but to live happily answerable to the Excellency of their Kind which Happiness is not to be had out of Society All Common-wealths are in a State of Nature one with another As Magistrates were designed for a general Good so the Obligation to them must be understood so as to be still in Subordination to the main End for the reason of all Law and Government is the Publick Good Government being for the benefit of the Governed and not for the sole advantage of the Governours but only for theirs with the rest as they make a part of that Politick Body each of whose Parts and Members are taken care of and directed in their peculiar Function for the good of the whole by the Laws of the Society The end of Government being the Preservation of all as much as may be even the Guilty are to be spared where it can prove no prejudice to the Innocent The publick Power of all Society is above every Soul contained in the same Society and the Principal use of that Power is to give Laws unto all that are under it which Laws in such cases we must obey unless there be reason shewed which may necessarily inforce that the Law of Reason or of God doth injoyn the contrary Hooker Eccl. Pol. l. 1. § 10. T. Cicero saith there is one Nature of all Men that even Nature it self prescribes this that a Man ought to take care of a Man who ever he be even for this very cause that he is a Man If otherwise all human Consociation must necessarily be dissolved therefore as there are two Foundations of Justice First that no hurt be done to any next that the Profit of all if it can be done be advanced That all Magistates and Governours do proceed from the People is plain from the following Examples in Scripture Deut. 16.18 19. the Children of Israel are commanded to make Judges and Officers throughout their Tribes Deut. 17.14 15. When thou art come into the Land c. and shalt say I will set a King over we like as all the Nations that are about me Thou shalt in any wise set him King over thee whom the Lord thy God shall choose One from among thy Brethren shalt thou set over thee thou mayst not set a Stranger over thee So God did only reserve to himself the Nomination of their King by which he designed to make his People more happy than they could expect by their own peculiar Choice he knowing the Heart of Man and Corruption of his Nature would be sure to nominate such who was most fit to govern his People God did not require the Jews to accept of him for King whom he should chuse but left it to their own free Will whether they would accept him or no is plain from the following Examples Upon the Death of Saul David was set up by the Appointment of Almighty God yet there was only the Tribe of Judah that followed David and made him King eleven Tribes following Ishbosheth Saul's Son whom they made King and though David had a long War against the House of Saul yet he calls them not Rebels neither do we find that God punished them or sent any Judgment upon them for not accepting of David as King and when Rechab and Banah had slain Ishbosheth and brought his Head to David at Hebron saying Behold the Head of thine Enemy yet David instead of rewarding them caused them to be slain for killing of Ishbosheth whom he calls a righteous Person not a Rebel After whose
But alas that Bug-bear Dagon of Passive Obedience is a Notion crept into the World and most zealously and perhaps as ignorantly defended Here all our Laws and Decrees by which we are governed are of the Peoples Choice first made by the Subject and then confirmed by the King Here a King cannot take our Sons and Daughters our Fields and Vineyards away unless we please to give him them Where was the Doctrine of Passive Obedience when Elisha prayed for Blindness to come upon those who were sent by the King of Syria to fetch him And when he commanded the Door to be shut and the Messenger to be held fast who was sent for his Head by the King of Israel And when Azariah with fourscore valiant Priests thrust out Vzziah their lawful King out of the Temple And when Elijah destroyed the two Captains with Fire from Heaven with the hundred Men under their Command who were sent at twice by King Ahaziah to fetch him And when the Children of Israel slew Amasiah their lawful King for his Idolatry without any appointment in Scripture or prophecy of his Downfal and yet that is no where called Rebellion neither were they punished by his Son whom they had made King in his Father's stead And when Mattathias slew the King's Commissioner for compelling Men to Idolatry And when Mattathias and his Friends pulled down the Altars which were adapted to Idols 1 Macc. 2.25 45. Where was the Doctrine of Passive Obedience when the Edomites revolted from Jehoram and made themselves a King And Libnah did also revolt because of his Evil Government 2 Chron. 21. without any appointment or foretelling of their Revolt by God in Scripture or being called Rebels And when Saul's Subjects swore that Saul should not kill Jonathan and they rescued him that he died not 1 Sam. 14.45 And when David though a private Man armed himself with six hundred Men no doubt but he designed to have fought Saul and his Army if the Men of Keliah would have assisted him and have been true to him when he enquired of the lord Whether the Men of Keliah would deliver him and his Men into the Hands of Saul upon the Lord 's answering They would deliver them up he and his Men departed the City 1 Sam. 23. Can any Man imagine their meaning was to run up and down the Country together and fly before Saul and his Army if they had been able to cope with any Number he could bring or send against them If Resistance was Unlawful and a Sin surely David a Man after God's own Heart would have known it and then he would not have involved the six hundred Men that came to his Assistance in the Sin of Rebellion but have told them that the Prince was not to be resisted though never so great a Tyrant Where was the Doctrine of Passive Obedience when Constantine the Great aided the oppressed Christians and Romans against the Tyranny and Persecution of the Emperors Maxentius and Maximinius with Force of Arms with which he conquered those Persecutors in several Battels fought against them at the Christians earnest Importunity And when the Primitive Christians resisted Lucinius their Emperor for persecuting them contrary to Law and Constantine the Great joined with them who held it his Duty saith Eusebius to deliver an infinite multitude of Men by cutting off a few wicked Ones as the Pests and Plagues of the Time And when the Primitive Christians of Constantinople opposed Asper's being made Emperor but Leo being named they consented thereto An4 when the Christians under the King of Persia resisted him for persecuting them and was assisted by Theodosius the Roman Emperor who told the King of Persia He was ready to defend them and no ways to see them suffer for Religion And when the Christians of Armenia the Greater made a League with the Romans for the securing of their Persons and their Religion against the Persians under whom they lived And when the Novatians assisted by the Orthodox resisted and beat the Macedonians though they were assisted by Constantius the Emperor with four thousand Men to drive them from Pap●lagonia And when the Primitive Christians destroyed Julian's Idolatrous Temple in his Reign Where was the Doctrine of Passive Obedience when the Lutheran Churches defended themselves against the Emperor Charles the Fifth And when the Protestants Austria took up Arms Anno 1608 against Matthias King of Hungaria for denying them the free Exercise of their Religion And when Queen Elizabeth assisted the Hollanders against their lawful Soveraign And when she assisted the Protestants of France against their lawful Soveraigns Charles the Ninth and Henry the Third And when King Charles the First and the Bishops and Clergy of England assisted the Protestants of France And when the Protestant Princes of Germany invited Gustavus Adolphus King of Sweeden to come into Germany to assist the Protestants against their lawful Prince for persecuting them And when the Protestants joined with him upon his Arrival And when King Charles the First assisted them with Men from England So that according to this Christian Doctrine of Passive Obedience Queen Elizabeth and King Charles the First with the Bishops and Clergy of England and several other Princes and States have been guilty of St. Paul's Damnation for they that are aiding and assisting to Rebels are as guilty as those that are actually in it Lucifer Calaritanus a famous Christian wrote a Book against Constantius the Emperor which he sent him to read wherein he calls him and his Idolatrous Bishops Blasphemers and charges him with inviting the Christians to Idolatry and tells him he ought to be put to Death for so doing by the Command of God in Deut. 13. where God says That he that but intices secretly to Idolatry shall be put to death And this was approved on by the great Bishop Athanasius and those Christians that were with him who calls it The Light of Truth the Doctrine of the True Faith How came you says he to Calaritanus to understand the Sense and Meaning of the Scripture so perfectly if the Holy Ghost had not assisted you in it Now I would fain know whether he that is aiding and assisting towards the bringing in of Idolatry as the Popish Religion is is not as worthy of Death as he that only inticeth to Idolatry And this is the Case of many who call themselves of the Church of England who are for the Restoration of King James and by consequence of Idolatry Surely if God had commanded the Yoke of Subjection to the Tyrannical Will of Princes 't is strange that neither the Prophets Elisha and Elijah nor Azariah nor David with his Followers nor the Jews under their Kings nor the Primitive Christians after their Religion was established by Laws nor any of the Reformed Churches should not have known this Doctrine of Passive Obedience In the Barons Wars under Simon of Monfort the King and his Sons were taken Prisoners but the Prince
is not to an absolute Authority for there can be no absolute Authority where there is an Authority above it With what Folly and Ignorance do some assert That the Kings of England are Absolute as proceeding from William the Conqueror To which I answer That a Conqueror has no right of Dominion much less any Absolute Authority over the Wife and Children of the Conquered or over those who assisted not against him Conquest may claim such a Right as Thieves use over those whom they can master which is a Right of Tenure but no Tenure of Right Conquest may restore a Right Forfeiture may lose a Right but 't is Consent only that can transact or give a Right There is no other Absolute Power than over Captives taken in a just War If the Possession of the whole Earth was in one Person yet he would have no Power over the Life or Liberty of another or over that which another gets by his own Industry for Propriety in Land gives no Man Authority over another William the Conqueror made a League or Compact with the Nobles and Lords of the Land to the performance of which he takes an Oath to observe the ancient Laws of the Realm established by his Predecessors the Kings of England and especially of Edward the Confessor as likewise did Henry the First with the Emendations his Father had made to them Stephen who succeeded Henry made a Compact and promised a Meloration of their Laws according to their Minds William Rufus Henry the First and Stephen get the Consent of the People by promising to grant them their usual Laws and ancient Customs Henry the First Richard the First King John and Richard the Second oblige themselves at their Coronations to grant them and then the People consented to own them as their King and Richard the First and King John were conjured by the Arch-bishops not to take upon them the Crown unless they intended to perform their Oaths If any King refused so to do the Nobles thought it their Concern to hinder his Coronation till he had either made or promised this Engagement What can be more absurd than to say That there is an absolute Subjection due to a Prince whom the Laws of God Nature and the Country have not given such Authority as if Men were made as so many Herds of Cattel only for the Use Service and Pleasure of their Princes But some do object That the anointing of Kings at their Coronations makes their Persons Sacred Unquestionable and Irresistable for any Tyrannical or Exorbitant Actions whatsoever To which I answer That every Christian's Baptism is a Sacrament of Christ's Institution a Spiritual Unction and Sanctification which makes a Person as sacred yea more holy than the Anointing of Kings can or doth of it self that being no Sacrament a Truth which no Christian can without Blasphemy deny And yet no Christian is exempted from Resistance Censure or Punishments according to the nature of his Crime and therefore the Anointing of Kings at their Coronations cannot do it it being a Ceremony of the Jews not instituted by Christ or any ways commanded to be continued by the Apostles or their Successors it signifying only the chusing or preferring one before another and so became the Ceremony of consecrating to any special Office and so was ordinarily used in the enstalling Men to Offices of any Eminency The Reign of a good King resembles that of Heaven over which there is but one God for he is no less beloved of the Vertuous than feared of the Bad and if human Frailty could admit a Succession of good Kings there were no comparison Power being ever more glorious in one than when it is divided 'T is not the Title of a King but the Power which is the Laws which is invested in him which makes the difference betwixt him and other Men in the executing of this Power his Person is sacred and not to be resisted he being above every Soul contained in the same Society and therefore cannot be resisted or deprived of his Office by any part or by the whole Community without the greatest Sin of Robbery and Injustice imaginable If a Government say some may be disturbed for any unlawful Proceedings of the Governour or his Ministers how can any Government be safe To which I answer That it is not lawful for every private Man to fly into the Bosom of his Prince for he is no competent Judg be he of never so great a Quality else a King was the most miserable Man living lying at the Mercy of every desperate Fellow's Censure It is impossible for one or a few oppressed Men to disturb the Government where the Body or the People do not think themselves concerned in it and that the Consequences seem not to threaten all yea when it does yet the People are not very forward to disturb the Government as in King Charles the Second's time when the Charters were condemned and seized upon in order to make us Slaves and the Laws perverted to the loss of many innocent Lives and many other Oppressions too many to insert and yet no body offered to disturb the Government I say till the Mischief be grown general and the Designs of the Rulers become notorious then and then only will the People be for righting themselves Whosoever either Ruler or Subject by Force goes about to invade the Rights of either Prince or People and lays the Foundation for overturning the Constitution and Frame of any just Government he is guilty of the greatest Crime I think a Man is capable of being to answer for all those Mischiefs of Blood Rapine and Desolation which the breaking to pieces of Governments brings on a Country and he who does it is justly to be esteemed the Common Enemy and Pest of Mankind and is so to be treated accordingly and how far the late King James was guilty of this I leave the World to judg FINIS The Author's Advertisement JUST as I had finished this Book I received a Reply to my former Book which I thought to have Answered but finding the Arguments to be Frivolous and Weak and my necessary Avocations allowing me but little time therefore I forbore answering it ADVERTISEMENTS THe Doctrine of Passive Obedience and Jure Divino disproved Price 1 d. The Letter which was sent to the Author of the Doctrine of Passive Obedience and Jure Divino disproved c. Answered and Refuted Wherein is proved That Monarchy was not Originally from GOD. That Kings are not by Divine Appointment but that all Government proceeds from the People That the Obedience required in Scripture is to the Laws of the Land and no otherwise That Resisting of Arbitrary Power is Lawful That the Oath of Allegiance to the late King James was dissolved before the Prince of Orange our present King landed That upon the non-performance of an Oath on one side the other becomes void is plainly prov'd from several Examples in Scripture That Protection is the only Cause of Allegiance and that Obedience or Allegiance is due to the present Government is proved from Scripture Law and Reason And those Texts of Scripture which relate to Government of Monarchy are Explained Price stitch'd 6 d. Both written by the same Author and printed for Tho. Harrison