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england_n	john_n	king_n	time_n	9,801	5	3.7758	3	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A40071	An answer to the paper delivered by Mr. Ashton at his execution to Sir Francis Child ... together with the paper itself.	Fowler, Edward, 1632-1714.; Ashton, John, d. 1691.; Child, Francis, Sir, 1642-1713.; Stillingfleet, Edward, 1635-1699.	1690 (1690)	Wing F1695; ESTC R30132	19,700	32

these and several others are allowed by such who have written the most warmly against the republican Principles But we need not run to any difficult Cases Ours is only the case of a just War which is allowed by all sorts of Casuists who do agree that Allegeance is due to the Party that prevails in it and if it be due to one it cannot be due to another at the same time altho' he be living and do not discharge Persons from their Oaths for the obligation of Oaths depends on the nature and Reason of things and not upon the Pleasure of those to whom they are made But where there is a Right to govern there must be a Duty of Allegeance And that Success in a just War doth give such a Right I could produce so many Testimonies of all kinds of Writers as would make the Reading of them as tedious as of those in the History of Passive Obedience Nay some go so far as to assert a Right of Sovereignty to be acquired by success even in an Unjust War But we need none of these Testimonies But doth not all this resolve this whole Controversy into a Right of Conquest which is not so much as pretended in our present Case I Answer That we must distinguish between a Right to the Government and the Manner of Assuming it The Right was founded on the Iust Causes of the War and the success in it But the assuming of it was not by any ways of force or violence but by a Free Consent of the People who by a voluntary Recognition and their Majesties acceptance of the Government as it is setled by our Laws take away any pretence to a Conquest over the People or a Government by Force Thus I have endeavoured to set this matter in as clear a light and in as little a compass as I could I now return to Mr. Ashton's Speech Next to his Obligation on the Point of Religion he mentions that of Gratitude to the King his Master whom he had served 16 years But this he adds is a thing not much esteemed at this time As little as it is esteemed I know no body would have blamed his Gratitude if it had not carried him beyond the bounds of his Duty But it is strange he should be so much for Gratitude and yet should allow none for so great a Deliverance What is 16 years service to the Preservation of a Nation from the imminent danger of Popery and Arbitrary Power Such men look but a very little way who talk at this rate And can they imagine a French Power under our Circumstances could secure any thing to us but Ruin As to his Master's usage which he saith after the Prince of Orange's Arrival was very hard severe and if he may say it unjust I would desire his Friends to consider a little better and to think if any such thing as Severity had been intended how easy it had been to have Executed it and to have prevented his going away and consequently a great deal of the charge of the War he complains of immediately after Let them name any one Person in such Circumstances who was allowed so great freedom as he had of disposing of himself But this is very far for Mr. Ashton's occasion of Suffering Well But all the new Methods of Setling have hitherto he saith made the Nation more miserable poor and exposed to Foreign Enemies It is possible such may believe that the Nation would be less miserable and poor under the French Power than it is now But no man who observes the vast designs of France and the incredible industry of the French Monarch to inlarge his own Power and Dominions can think if he thinks twice that ever he should undertake so great a Work out of kindness to any but himself much less out of perfect good will to the English Nation Hath he given so much evidence to the World of his Sincerity in his Promises when the keeping of them hath been prejudicial to his Interest Suppose he should compass his end upon us and under so fair a Colour make Provinces of these Kingdoms what possible remedy would there be for this then indeed poor and miserable Nation What comfort will it then be to say they did not think he would have broken his word so with them In the mean time Is it not great Wisdom and Policy to venture our Religion and all our Liberties on the sincerity and kindness of France But if there be any present hardship it is no more than a necessary War involves our Neighbours in as well as our selves and that in a common Cause for preserving the Liberty of Europe against the growing Power of France as it did formerly of Spain But there is another Insinuation of a higher nature viz. that the Religion we pretend to be so fond of preserving is now much more than ever likely to be destroyed What is the meaning of this What! More in danger than when Penal Laws and Tests were taking away in order to the taking away our Religion after them When the design was as plain and open as a thing of that nature could be in such a Nation When some of the Factors themselves complained they made too much haste and were too eager and forward to accomplish it And altho' nothing was then pretended but the setling Liberty of Conscience upon a new Magna Charta yet all wise Men saw through these pretences and that nothing was really designed but Popery which the Jesuits did not conceal in their Letters to each other One of the which hapned to be intercepted and the thing it self is now fully owned in the Kings own Letter to the Pope printed at the end of the late Trials So that there must be a design either to deceive the Pope or the Nation and which is the more probable let any man of sense judge But where lies the danger of our Religion now Have we not the same Laws the same Protection the same Encouragement which we ever had at any time since the Reformation If our Religion be now in danger it is by such men who would bring in the French Power to establish it however it be disguised under another Pretext After this follows a Charge of no less than Perjury and Rebellion upon his Fellow Subjects whom he adviseth to return to their Allegeance before the Iudgments of God overtake them for their Perjury and Rebellion This is a heavy Charge indeed upon the Body of the Nation which hath taken the Oaths of Allegeance to their Majesties But if it be true it is accusing the greatest part of mankind of these Sins who have hapned to live in the time of any great Revolutions or changes of Government Was the Nation Forsworn in the times of William the Conqueror and his two Sons and his Nephew Was it Forsworn all the time of King Iohn and the several Reigns of the 4th 5th 6th and 7th Henries One would think it better became a dying man to judge more charitably of his Fellow Subjects Had he never heard of the Law of England requiring Allegeance to the King on account of the Possession of the Crown and that our most eminent Lawyers in peaceable and quiet Times have

himself in the Vindication of both and that this is not repugnant to the Doctrines and Principles of the Church of England It was not thought disagreeable to them for Q Elisabeth to assist the Dutch against the King of Spain yet she had no such reason for it as our King and Queen had to prevent the suppression of their own Religion here and the Rights of that People to whom they were so nearly related For there was nothing in her Case so considerable as the growing Power of Spain and the danger of overturning the Religious and Civil Liberties of a neighbour People The Queens Professor of Law in Oxford at that time saith that it was then made a Question by some whether Q. Elis. had just Reason for that War in assistance of the Dutch and he resolves the Lawfulness of it upon 3 Grounds First That it was to prevent ensuing Mischief Secondly From the ancient Alliance between the two Nations Thirdly That if the Dutch were totally vanquished by the Spaniard they would be made Slaves under an Arbitrary Power The Queen herself owned this as the Ground of her Resolution That it was Christian Piety to relieve them who were of the same Religion which she professed and Wisdom to prevent the pernicious designs of her Enemies And in her Declaration she published this as the Reason of her sending Forces to the Aid of the Netherlanders That they might peaceably enjoy their ancient Freedom In the latter end of the Reign of King Iames I. the War broke out in Germany wherein the Emperor used his utmost endeavour to establish absolute Power and Popery together There was occasion offered to try whether the giving Assistance against these were against the Principles and Doctrines of the Church of England For the Prince Elector Palatine was chosen King of Bohemia and sent over for King Iames's Advice about it But his Designs lay then so much another way that he had no mind he should engage in it But the Archbishop of Canterbury in his Letter to Sir R. Naunton then Secretary of State saith That God had set up this Prince his Masters Son in Law as a Mark of Honour throughout all Christendom to propagate the Gospel and to protect the oppressed that for his own part he dares not but give Advice to follow where God leads apprehending the Work of God in this and that of Hungary that he was satisfied in Conscience that the Bohemians had a just Cause that the King's Daughter the Elector's Lady had professed she would not leave herself one Iewel rather than not maintain so Religious and so Righteous a Cause In the beginning of the Reign of King Charles the First when I suppose it will be granted That the Doctrins and Principles of the Church of England were understood and followed the King of Denmark had taken up Arms to settle the Peace and liberty of Germany as he declared But he met with a great Defeat Whereupon King Charles the First thought himself concerned to give Assistance to him And Archbishop Laud was then employed as Dr. Heylin confesseth by the King's Command to draw up a Declaration to be published in all the Parishes of England which was read by the King and approved by the Council wherein the Greatness of the Danger they were in is set forth and the People are exhorted to serve God and the King and to labour by their Prayers to divert the Danger Wherein lay this Danger It is there said to be That by the Defeat of the King of Denmark there was little or nothing left to hinder the House of Austria from being Lord and Master of Germany And what then Why then there will be an open way for Spain to do what they pleased in all the West part of Christendom It seems then it was not thought disagreeable to the Principles and Doctrins of our Church to hinder the growth of a Western Monarchy although it be by assisting Subjects against their Princes who promote it And then follow these remarkable Words You are to know therefore that to prevent this is the present Care of the King and State and there is no proba●le way left but by sending of Forces and other Supplies to the said King of Denmark to enable him to keep the Field that our Enemies be not Masters of all on a sudden And not long after If he be not presently relieved the Cause of Religion is not only like to suffer by it in some one part as it hath already in a fearful manner in the Palatinate but in all places where it hath got any footing So that if we supply not presently our Allies and Consederates in this case it is like to prove the Extirpation of true Religion and the Replanting of Romish Superstition in the Neighbouring parts of Christendom And the Coldness of the State shall suffer in all places as the Betrayers of that Religion elsewhere which it professeth and honoureth at home which will be an Imputation never to be washed off And God forbid this State should suffer under it And in the last place You are to call upon God your selves and to incite the People to joyn with you in humble and hearty Prayers unto God That he will be pleased now after long Affliction of his dear People and Children to look in mercy both upon them and us and in particular for the Safety of the King of Denmark and that Army which is left him That God would bless and prosper him against his and our Enemies Thus far Archbishop Laud. Let those who now with as much Ignorance as Confidence upbraid Men with Renouncing the Doctrins and Principles of the Church of England read and consider these Passages and if any thing will make them more wise and humble this will Did Archbishop Laud go off from the Church of England or King Charles the First who both suffered for the sake of it But some Men have never throughly penetrated into the Doctrins and Principles of our Church but look only on some Principles in opposition to the late Times of Rebellion and think there is nothing farther to be looked after Whereas the Consideration is very different as to our Duties with respect to our own Princes and those of a more general Concernment as to the state of Religion and Government in the World But from hence it is plain that it was then thought not only Lawful but a Duty to prevent the dangerous growth of such a Monarchy which designs to suppress Religion and Civil Liberties and not only to give Assistance to those who joyn in the same Design but to pray God to bless and prosper it And accordingly a Form of Prayer was then Appointed for those Dangerous Times Not long after this a Breach with France hapned and the King Published a Declaration of the ground of the War wherein it is laid down as the first Ground That the House of Austria Conspiring the Ruin of all those

of the Reformed Religion as plainly appeared in the Affairs of Germany had such an Influence on the Councils of France as to make them break Promise in such a manner as hazarded the loss of the whole Party in Germany The next is That he had broke his Articles with his Protestant Subjects when he had been a Mediator of Peace between them and they had done nothing to violate them So that a Design to suppress the Protestant Religion in a Neighbour Country was looked on as a just Cause of War when he was concerned to preserve it And then another Form of Prayer was Appointed to be used suitable to that Occasion which plainly evidence That such a Design was no ways thought repugnant to the Doctrins and Principles of the Church of England But since the French Conduct seems to be now admired by this sort of Men I shall bring some remarkable Instances from them It is Notorious to the World what Powerful Assistance the French gave to the Confederate Princes of Germany against the Emperour their Lawful Prince and what Defence they made for this They Published an Account to the World of the Reasons of it and the Chief was this viz. That they had Reason to suspect that from Charles the Fifth's Time the difference of Religions had been secretly supported by the Emperours in order to their making themselves Absolute and that the Changing the Form of Government in the Empire was sufficient for a Neighbour Prince to interpose by force of Arms. In the Revolt of Catalonia from the King of Spain their Lawful Prince the French King accepted of the Sovereignty over them being offered him by the States of that Country and caused Discourses to be written in Justification of their Transferring their Allegeance And yet their Complaint was nothing but the Severity of the Spanish Government and a desire of some greater Liberties than they enjoyed under it Why then should it be now thought an Unjust thing for a Sovereign Prince so nearly related to the Crown of England to espouse the Cause of our Religions and Civil Interests when the Design was so apparent for the Suppressing them If that Opportunity had been lost they might before this time have been past all reasonable hopes of Recovery II. But suppose this were allowed yet here is another Difficulty ariseth concerning the transferring Allegeance from a Lawful Prince to him that met with unexpected Success in his Design And here I shall endeavour to make it plain That this is not against the Doctrins and Principles of the Church of England If we allow the Church of England to have declared its Sense in the Matter of Government it can only be with respect to Subjects But I think the Measures of our Obedience are not to be taken from the Rules of the Church but from the Laws of the Realm Because they are not the same in all Countries where the same Religion is Professed as is plain in the Case of France and Poland The Reason of the different Measures in these Countries is not from the Church but from the different Constitution of the Kingdoms And I do not see how the Rules of the Church can alter the Fundamental Laws For the Church only enforceth the Duty of Obedience on the Consciences of Men but it doth not prescribe or limit the Bounds of it Whether our Monarchy be Absolute or Limited or if Limited whether in its Exercise of Power or in the Right of Sovereignty how far the Limitation gives a Right of Resistance in case of the Breach of it are nice Questions but not to be Resolv'd by the Rules of the Church but by our Legal Constitution and the General Reason of Mankind And therefore in such Cases where the Right of War and a Foreign Power are concerned we are not to judge meerly by Municipal Laws but we are to proceed by a more General Law viz. that of Nations which takes in the Effects of a just War which the particular Laws of a Country have n● regard to But where hath the Church of England declared its sense about the Right of War The Articles of our Church declare that the chief Government of all Estates of this Realm doth appertain to the Civil Magistrate But they no where say that in a just War the Supream Power cannot be acquired or that God doth never confer it in an extraordinary method The Book of Homilies is very severe against Disobedience and wilful Rebellion but it is no where said that where the Right of Sovereignty is transferred by a successful War there is no Allegeance due to those who possess it On the contrary it is said in the first Part That If God for their wickedness had given them an Heathen Tyrant to Reign over them they were by God's Word bound to obey him and to pray for him Can it then be agreeable to the Doctrins and Principles of our Church to refuse Allegeance to good Religious Princes whom God hath made the happy Instruments of preserving our Religion and Liberties In the same Part the Iews are commended for praying for the King of Babylon when they were in Captivity that they might live under his Protection and do him Service and find Favour in his sight And what is this short of Allegeance to one who had nothing but bare Success in War to plead for his Title to it If any Princes of their own Religion had rescued them from that Captivity would they have scrupled Allegeance to them when we see how far the Maccabees went in the Defence of their Religion and Laws In the Second Part the obedience of the Iewish Nation to Augustus is commended and it is evident that he had no Authority over them but by the Right of War And our Blessed Saviour's example is mentioned who being brought before the Roman President acknowledged his Power and Authority to be given him from God And how was this Authority conveyed to him but by the success of War So that we can find nothing in the certain established Doctrin and Principles of our Church which is repugnant to our Allegeance to the present Government I might easily produce considerable Testimonies of some of the greatest Divines of our Church which assert that Soverignty may be transferred by a just War but I leave that to others and proceed Mr Ashton saith That we were born leige Subjects to another that we have solemnly professed our Allegeance and often confirmed it with Oaths I know no body denies it But is this all Is our Allegeance so inseparable from the Person we have once sworn to that no Case whatsoever can alter it Not the Case of plain voluntary Dereliction Not the Case of putting the Kingdom under a Foreign Power Not the seeking the utter Ruin and Destruction of the People Is Allegeance inseparable in these Cases because we were Born Subjects and did swear Allegeance If not then it is not always so notwithstanding the Oaths For