the Statute of the 13th of Ch. 2d 't is in General Terms Declared Treason to Levy War against the King within the Realm or without And to cut off all Pretences from the Grounds or Nature of the War as Defensive only or as engaged in from the Authority of a Parliament or of the Lords and Commons we have in two several Statutes this Declaration That both or either Houses of Parliament cannot nor lawfully may raise or Levy any War offensive or defensive against the King his lawful Heirs and Successors In which Statutes also the sole Supream Command and Government of the Militia is Declared to be by the Fundamental Law of England ever the undoubted Right of the King And where could it be better placed for the Subjects Interest than in their Sovereign Prince and Supream Governour Sect. 21. There must be in one or other either in some single Person or some Community of Men a Supream and Chief Authority which hath the Principal and Highest Command of the Strength and Military Force of the Nation or else the Military Power will be under no command and consequently the Subjects will not know whom to obey with respect to War and Peace nor no Arms regularly used for the Suppression of Intestine Rebels or the Resistance of Foreign Enemies And who so fit to possess and execute such a Supremacy of Government as the King whose Interest as well as Duty obligeth him to preserve the Persons Estates Rights and Liberties of his People And this Authority by our Original Constitution being seated in the King and by subsequent acts of the Legislative Power Declared to be solely in him it cannot be lawful in any case to resist him because he cannot I say be resisted by an armed Force without Invading the Power of the Sword in which we have no Right and therefore cannot use it against him without the Guilt of Rebellion Sect. 22. 4. 'T is against common Reason that the Higher Powers should in any case and upon any Pretence whatsoever be resisted because all Resistance from Subjects against the Higher Powers is utterly inconsistent with their Relation and Condition for they that resist are not Subject 'T is contradictio in adjecto a meer Solecism to affirm That the Highest Power may lawfully be resisted because the Highest Power cannot have a Superiour and that which hath no Superiour cannot have a Superiour Power exercised over it Where ever there is a Supremacy it is inseperable from a Right to impunity and universally exempts from coercion and correction Where a King then is not obeyed his Majesty is lost He hath not a Principality but an Inferiority in his Country Resistance is coercive and punitive and implies a Superiority For he which resists assaults to controul counteracts to countermand opposeth the Will of his Sovereign to impose upon him his own and consequently starts from the Condition of a Subject and sets himself up in the Throne of Sovereignty Where we acknowgledge a Sovereign Authority there we yeild Subjection and Obedience from the one flows the other as an effect from the Cause but where we resist a Power we disclaim and renounce the Sovereignity of it for we resist it that we may not be under but above it They that resist the King will not be his Subjects but his Superiours will not receive Laws from him but give Laws to him reject his Rod and snatch away his Scepter will not act as Subordinate Instruments but as Principal Agents in the Administration of the Government Sect. 23. But what saith the Prophet Shall the Axe boast it self against him that heweth it Or shall the Saw exalt it self against him that moveth it Isa 10.15 So 't is as absurd and unreasonable that Subjects who are inferiour and ought to be subservient unto the higher Powers should assume to themselves Power to resist them They have a Power and fitness to act in their proper Places in an orderly way of dependency and subserviency to the Sovereign Power but if they resist the Sovereign Power they leave their proper rank and station and will not be where they ought but where they should not be And I am sure God being the God of Order and not of Confusion cannot approve or allow that we should Desert our own proper Places to thrust our selves into anothers We must abide in our proper Seatings and not go up higher and take the Place of our Betters As there is no Power but of God so there is no Power but is Gods and the Subordination of Subjects to their Sovereign being of Divine Ordination the Subordination is to God himself and therefore Subjects are not only obliged quietly to abide under the Predominant Force and Strength of their Sovereign but likewise to make a Voluntary Resignation of themselves their Understandings Wills Powers and Interests to his directive Wisdom and preceptive Will actively obeying what he justly imposeth or passively enduring what he inflicts for Disobedience So that the Allowance of Liberty to Subjects in any case whatsoever to resist their Sovereign is a plain contradiction to the Moral Relation of Subjects to their Sovereign and equally as absurd in the Moral Order of Things as 't is in the Natural and Local Order of Things for the Feet to ascend above the Head Sect. 24. When therefore some learned Men affirm that the King is Major singulis greater than any of his Subjects singly considered but Minor universis less than the whole Body of them collectively considered unless they understand it respectively to the Safety and Welfare of the Community to which the King belongs as a Part and not respectively to the Governing Power thereof 't is false and unreasonable For though the Preservation and Safety of the Community be the Supream Law yet 't is of the Community concretively and not discretively considered the Governing Part as well as the Governed Part is comprehended therein the Preservation and Safety of the one being concatenated unto and included in the other 'T is true every Community considered simply and antecedently to the Constitution of a Government therein is warranted and authorized by the Natural and Positive Law of God to Design and Nominate some particular Person or Persons to be the Rulers and Governours thereof but this is not the Communicating of any Authority or Power that was inherent in themselves before but only the Condition of the Applicatition of that Authority and Power which God as the Fountain and Efficient Cause deriveth to be exercised subordinately to himself by one Man over another And therefore supposing a Community setled under a constituted Government whether we consider the governed Members thereof divisim or conjunctim singly and a part or united and altogether they are one and all equally Subjects and altogether as well as asunder obliged to Subjection and Obedience and accordingly the higher Powers are over Kingdoms and Nations and not meerly over particular Persons Saul was called the Head of
needless but it will also if the King and Lords please render the House of Commons as needless too which may also be the Case of the House of Lords if the King and House of Commons please to have it so For I presume he will have the Co-ordination to be equally lodged in the one as in the other that our Author had any respect to this I cannot affirm but I well remember when the Legislative Authority was pretended unto by the Two Houses that their Advocates pleaded this Maxim for the Justification of what they called Ordinances of Parliament which were of such Authority and Power in the Hands of their subordinate Instruments that they used them to deprive of Life Liberty and Estate and nothing was more frequently urged than Co-ordinata se invicem supplent Co-ordinates ought mutually to supply each others defects So that what the King from Perversness or Ignorance would not do or imposency or restraint could not do with them they presumed they were sufficiently authorized to do without him because the public Interest and Safety must not miscarry or be hazarded for want of supplemental Laws Sect. 104. I know our Author supposeth the King in his Political Capacity to be in another considetation thereof inferior to the Two Houses of Parliament though he will not perhaps say he is so in his Legislative viz. as the Executive part of Government is lodged singly in him because this as he teacheth is a Matter of Trust derived from the Legislative part for which he is accountable and in that capacity the King is a Subject to the Two Houses of Parliament Right Excellent indeed this is not in terms asserted but 't is plainly the intent and drift of it Well! let it be supposed That the Executive Power of the Kingdom is a Trust from the Legislative Power will it not then follow that the King derives a Trust to himself certainly if this Author himself may be believed he hath a share in the Legislative Power and therefore if a Trust be transferred and devolved from thence to him it must be with his concurrence as acting in that capacity Now if he should chance to be unfaithful to himself and violate this Trust to whom in a judiciary way must he be accountable of whom must that Court be constituted that must question the Matter there may be no Houses of Parliament in being and if there be if he disgust their proceedings may he not Adjourn Prorogue or Dissolve them if he think fit and what will become of the Matter then 't is but equal that if all interested in the Legislative Power be concern'd the King himself should be admitted of the Quorum when this matter of Trust comes to be questioned and debated I conceive the Vanity of this pretence That the Executive part of Government is an accountable Trust committed by our Laws to the King will evidently appear to any impartial Man that will but try how to answer these few plain Questions 1. If this Trust be abused is it any part of the Executive Power of the Government to Summon Try Judge and Punish the Abuser thereof 2. In whose Name shall the Process for Summons be issued forth in order to his Tryal 3. What provision hath the Law made for the Arresting of the King's Person to secure his forth coming to Tryal in case he refuse to obey a preceptive Summons 4. Is it not High Treason to imprison the King or by force to take him into a Man's Power yea or but to manifest such a Design by some overt act 5. If he have a fair Tryal according to Law he must be tried by his Peers I pray who are they 6. Who shall be his Judge and pass Sentence 7. What is the Punishment the Law hath ordained for the abuse of this Trust 8. Who shall execute the Sentence pronounced against him 'T is manifest the whole Administration of the Executive Power being confessedly lodged in the King nothing of this can legally be done and therefore 't is impossible that the King 's Executive Power should be a Trust committed to him by his Houses of Parliament for which he ought to be accountable to them or any other earthly Power I hope you would not have our High and Mighty Sovereign Lord the good People of England erect an High Court of Justice which shall be instead of Delators Witnesses Jurors Peers Judges and Executioners I am taught by some that understood the Constitution and Laws of the Kingdom of England very well that the King is not accountable for his Office or Actions to any Court Person or Persons whatsoever and every Man that will but attentively read the Spencer's Case and the Tryals of the Regicides may learn the same Lesson And thus saith the most learned Bracton Sunt sub Rege liberi homines servi omnis sub eo est ipse sub nullo nisi tantum sub Deo Si à Rege petatur cum Breve non currat contra Regem locus erit supplicationi quod factum suum corrigat emendet si non fecerit satis erit ei ad paenam quod Dominum expectet ultorem de chartis Regiis factis Regum nec privatae personae nec Justiciarii debent disputare There are Free-men and Servants under the King and every one is under him and he is under no one but under God only If any thing be to be demanded of the King since a Writ cannot go forth against the King there will be place for petitioning that he would correct and amend his doing if he do not it will be Punishment enough for him that he expect the Lord to be the Avenger of the Royal Grants and Actions of the King neither private Persons or Judges ought to dispute much less to censure and chastise And my Lord Coke in his Compleat Copy Holder hath taught me That the King representeth God's Person on Earth And I presume no Man is so daringly bold as to affirm That God is accountable and censurable for any of his doings Sect. 105. 5. It appears from the very Form and Tenor of the most Excellent Charters of the English Subjects Liberties that the Regal Authority and Power is not a fiduciary Trust from his Subjects and People under any consideration whatsoever Magna Charta it self runs thus Spontanea bona voluntate nostra dedimus concessimus By our free and good will we have given and granted c. not contracted bargain'd and upon good and valuable considerations covenanted and promised but from grace and condescention given and granted See 9 Hen. 3. so when the same Charter was confirmed in King Edward's time it was thus worded Know ye that we of our meer free will have granted to all Free-men these Liberties So in the Statute Quo Warranto 18. Edw. 1. Dominus Rex ad Parliamentum suum de gratia sua speciali propter affectionem quam habet erga Praelatos caeteros
for good And as he is so by the Designation of God so he shall actually and eventually be so to those who submit themselves dutifully and peaceably as becometh good Men and Christians to his Government Pro. 16.12 It is an abomination to Kings to commit wickedness for the Throne is established by righteousness And God doth implicitly say to every King as he did by Abijah to Jeroboam If thou wilt bearken unto all that I the Lord command thee and wilt walk in my ways and do that which is right in my sight to keep my Statutes and Commandments then will I be with thee and build thee a sure House 1 Kings 11.30 31 38. Sect. 94. It cannot be denied but they may pretend an exemption from the obligatory Force and coercive Power of all Laws of their own making but they cannot pretend so respectively to any Laws of God's making and imposing nor from the checks and restraints of their own Reasons and Consciences If therefore they usurp upon the Rights of their innocent and dutiful Subjects and in defiance to their Oaths to God and promisâ—â—y Engagements to their Subjects exercise a destructive or oppressive Power respectively â—o their Persons Proprieties Liberties and Priviledges they cannot reflect on themselves aâ—d illegal excises of Power without tremendous apprehension of the Divine Justice and Vengeance remonstrances upbraiding reproaches and severe censures and condemnation of that Judge which God hath immediately substituted within their own Breasts to pass â—entence in his Name And as it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God Heb. 10.31 so a wounded Spirit who can bare Pro. 18.14 Surely that Prince will mâ—â—e a very bold adventure who shall usurp an Arbitrary Power that will render his coâ—â—ition so dangerous and troublesome How can he expect to live in Peace and Safety who lives without regard to the Bonds thereof Tyrannizing Adonibezek was Tyrannically dealt withal and forced to acknowledge God's Justice therein Judg. 1.7 As I have done so God hath required me And how terribly did God revenge on Ahab the spilling of Naboth's innocent Blood and the spoiling of his Vineyard 1 King 21.19 and 22.58 and was not insulting Nebuchadnezzar driven from Men and made to eat Grass as Oxen and his Body wetten with the Dew of Heaven till his Hairs were grown like Eagles Feathers and his Nails like Birds Claws Dan. 4.33 and was not persecuting Herod eaten of Worms till be gave up the Ghost Acts 12.23 In a word how can any Prince hope that God will protect him or his Subjects obey him who makes Conscience of discharging his Duty to neither Isa 33.1 Wo to thee that spoilest and wast not spoiled and dealest treacherously and they dealt not treacherously with thee when thou shalt cease to spoil thou shalt be spoiled and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously they deal treacherously with thee A fair warning is this to all that are oppressively and treacherously inclined Wherefore though it be not impossible that a Political Prince whose Power is limited in the Administration of his Government should shake off the restraints of his established Laws and refuse to regulate his Power thereby and consequently assume and exercise an absolute and arbitrary Power yet 't is exceedingly improbable that he will do so and by a long Succession of Princes here in England for near two thousand Years having never found it so we have no reason to be disturbed much less distracted with fears concerning it Let the worst be supposed and yet we have relief in Psal 37.5 7. Sect. 95. 4. The States of England who have ever been very tender of the Legal Liberties of their Country and very watchful to prevent all Encroachments of the Prerogative on the Subjects Rights and Proprieties and upon all due occasions have manifested aversation unto and detestation of absolute and arbitrary Power have yet acknowledged and ratified it as a standing Law That 't is not lawful upon any pretence whatsoever to take Arms against the King and that 't is a Traitorous Position That we may take Arms by his Authority against his Person or against them commissionated by him Which to all unprejudiced Men is an unquestionable Argument That the States of England did not believe That 't is not inconsistent with the Nature of a limited Sovereign Power to be uncontroulable and irresistble with armed Force Sect. 96. To enervate this invincible Argument from our Legal Constitution for Non-Resistance a learned Man thus dictates to us That all general Words how large soever are still supposed to have a tacite Exception and Reserve in them if the Matter seems to require it Which being spoken with express reference to the Matter under consideration seems to me an imputation of such Collusion to the venerable States of the Nation as is altogether unworthy of that Character they ought to have in the Reputation of the whole World Let it bâ— supposed that the English Parliaments may warrantably impose Laws for the regulating of the Subjects deportment towards their Sovereign Prince composed in the most comprehensive Words devisable which are yet to be understood according to a legal Intentioâ— with Exceptions and Reservations and there is no doubt to be made that the Subject being left to spell out the equitable Intention of such Laws but they will find out such Eâ—ceptioâ—s and Reservations as shall in effect render all such Laws frivolous to the purpâ—â—â— of the King's Preservation respectively both to his natural and political Capacity And I pâ—â—sume to that this is a Rule of good Accomodation to subserve some Jesuitical Doctriâ—â— and Praâ—â—ices which by all good Men ought to be exploded and condemned This Authoâ—â— Rule of Construction being observed respectively to the Case under consideration the 〈◊〉 Intent of â—â—posing this Declaration That 't is not lawful upon any pretence whatsoever to 〈◊〉 Arms againâ—â— the King c. must be this excepting and reserving some Cases which ought 〈◊〉 be suspected and are too odious to be named Now those Cases which ought not to be suspected and are too odious to be named being no where mentioned or explained in this or any other Act of Parliament 't is evident that 't is left to the Subjects to put what Interpretation thereon they please provided they will affirm that the Prince hath done what they suspected he would not do and that he hath done a Thing very odious and abominable to them and if a Law subject to such an Intepretation become serviceable to the Security of any Prince or Government 't will be beside the Intention of the Imposer and the Matter under consideration in that Act of Parliament is so far from seeming to require such Exceptions and Reservations that they are an evident subversion of the Design of it which was to prevent the taking of Arms against the King upon pretences of the most odious Things imaginable such as is the Vsurping an Arbitrary Power
de Regno suo concessit c. The Lord the King of his Parliament from his special grace and for the Affection he hath toward the Prelates and all others of his Kingdom hath granted I appeal to all unprejudiced Men to consider if this be the Language of an accountable Trustee Sect. 106. Coke the Regicide having told his Blood-thirsty Masters That Charles Stuart for so he called his Liâ—ge Lord that King of Blessed Memory stands now that is in their High Court of Justice to give an account of his Stewardship he thus begins to diffect his charge That the Kings of England are trusted with a limited Power to govern by Law and affirms it to be one of the Fundamentals of the Law that the King is not above the Law but the Law above the King And for the Proof of it offer'd the Coronation Oath wherein the King swears to keep and observe the Laws which the People shall chuse And then endeavouring to impute to his Sacred Majesty a Violation of his Fidelity to God and his People concludes him justly condemned by the Fundamental Law of the Nation c. and no wonder of such an Inference for as he tells us Governours are but the Peoples Creatures the Work of their hands to be accomptable as their Stewards and therefore when they prevaricate and abuse their Trust to question by what Law they call them to account is High Treason with a Witness And this is the true Tendency of that Doctrine That all Power is originally from the People and the King 's executive Power a Trust from the Two Houses of Parliament because this makes them as Coke phraseth it his Liege Lords and warrants them to exercise an absolute Power over him 'T is so naturally implied saith he that if a King become a Tyrant that he shall dye for it that this is the first necessary Fundamental Law of every Kingdom which by intrinsical Rules of Government must preserve it self This is just like the Liberty of the People which proves it self whereas the Power of the King must be proved before the Subjects ought to obey it because he hath no more than he hath received from his Sovereign Lords the People which is only founded on positive Law and if he pretend to more than they have given him he usurps upon their Liberty which they have a Right to defend and preserve by force of Arms which being a new Edition of John Coke's Doctrine the Author must needs deserve exceedingly well of the Government and cannot be worthily dealt withal unless highly promoted how agreeable this is to our Legal Constitution I refer to every indifferent Judgment who will compare it with what hath been observed concerned it and shall conclude in the Words of this Author It is indeed clear from the New Testamdnt That the Christian Religion as such gives us no grounds to defend or propagate it by force It is a Doctrine of the Cross and of Faith and Patience under it and if by the Order of Divine Providence and of any Constitution of Government under which we are born we are brought under sufferings for our professing of it we may indeed retire and fly out of any such Country if we can but if that is 〈…〉 must then according to this Religion submit to those sufferings under which we may be brought considering that God will be glorified by us in so doing and that he will both support us under our Sufferings and gloriously reward us for them By Submitting to Sufferings by what follows I hope he means a Submission without Resistance though we are strong enough to make it and then the Safety of the English Government is secured though Religion be our Property and shall chance to be persecuted because by the Constitution of our Government we may not upon any pretence whatsoever take Arms against the King Sest 107. 6. Another Objection is this a King may actually and professedly endeavour to subvert the established Government and overthrow the whole Constitution and set himself to destroy if not all nor the greatest part yet at least very considerable numbers of his People and so plainly counteract the very end of his Authority and Power and will it not be lawful for his Subjects in such a Case to resist him Ans The Sky may fall and then Larks will be good cheap Princes may become Phreneticks and be uncapable of Government and them as in the Case of a Minor that is an Hereditary Prince a Prorex is to be had during the Suspension of the Exercise of his Authority and Power Or they may be so dissatisfied with the Burthensomness of the Government that they may be weary of it Abdicate and Renounce it or they may be so intoxicated and transported with wild and outragious Passions Discontents and Prejudices against their Subjects that they may disclaim the Government of them and indeed do so when instead of administring the Government in order to their Peace and Safety they turn it to their distraction and ruine will not be the Ministers of God for good but hurt to them will not support but destroy the Foundations of their Kingdoms but then with their Subjects and Kingdoms they destroy themselves too and cease to be Princes because they that disclaim the Protection of their Subjects and wilfully resolve to destroy their Dominions can have no right to govern them They can be no Rulers who will leave nothing under them to be ruled by them and then the Resistance of them will not be a Resistance of the Higher Powers but this is a meer Platonical Idea a Case put that perhaps never was nor never is like to have a real Existence in the Nature of things Let these things be considered Sect. 108. 1. Plutarch observes Inest omni populo aliquod malignum contra Imperantes There is in all sorts of People some malignity against their Governours Such is the Pride of Man's heart that he is averse to Subjection our unwillingness to be restrained from following our own Minds and Wills and to be guided and commanded by the Mind and Will of another prejudiceth us against the Ruler of us and this as Mr. Hooker tells us makes Men very attentive and favourable Hearers to suck in any Poyson that is breathed forth against the King or the Governours which are sent forth and anon it mulriplies and every valley and obscure corner is ready to eccho it back again We must therefore be very wary now we give ear to any evil Suggestions concerning the Designs or male-Administrations of the Higher Powers Defamation begets an evil Opinion of the Prince and concludes in disaffection to him and that naturally tends unto and ends in Contempts Abhorrences and Oppositions 2. It hath ever been the Practice of seditious and rebellious minded Men to bestir themselves to ingenerate in the Minds of Subjects Jealousies and Fears concerning the Councels Designs and Administrations of their Princes and to magnify
every body knows frequently patronize such hazardous Engagements and therefore no body is bound to believe such a Mans Profession where there is so great an odds in the perswasive Motives to War but when a Man prefers Submission before Rebellion his Innocency before his Safety patiently suffers the loss of Life and lays it down obedientially to his Governours as a Sacrifice to his God acquitting all possible earthly interests to safe-guard one spiritual one he makes such a Profession according to Human Judgment as is not capable of a reasonable Suspicion of Imposture and Hypocrisie And this is the middle Way of Subjection to which God directs us betwixt active Obedience and forcible Resistance When we cannot obey actively we can and ought to obey passively Though we cannot obey unlawful commands yet we can be quiet and peaceable yea we may do any thing to prevent and redress grievances except strive against our Governours with armed Force And why this in no case whatsoever is lawful I shall now shew you more particularly from the Principles of Religion Sect. 47.1 Because the higher Powers are of God ordained of him v. 1. and therefore whosoever resisteth them resisteth the Ordinance of God as 't is in the Words immediately preceding the Text. That Human Societies may be setled in peace and quietness God by his Ordinance and Constitution hath provided Government for them and though he hath not peremptorily appointed the particular Species or Form of Government nor by any special Revelation from Heaven immediately designed or nominated the individual Person or Persons who shall be invested with and exercise the Sovereign Authority and Power in every Community of Men as hath been formerly said yet that his appointment of Government might not be fruitless and in vain he hath lain an obligation on all Societies of Men to do such act or acts as shall appropriate unto some Person or Persons the Supremacy of Dominion and Rule and invest him or them with a Propriety and Peculiarity in that Station and Relation and the Person or Persons so entitled to the Sovereign Power may as truly be denominated God's Ordinance as if God by an immediate interposition had declared it so to be Be the Dominion Elective or Hereditary and Successive the Case is the same when once the Sovereign Power is regularly and legally determined and appropriated to one or more all that stand in the Relation of Subjects thereunto are to acknowledge and perform Subjection and Obedience as to God's Ordinance Hence the Supream Ruler is termed in v. 4. of this ch the Minister of God Because he partakes of God's Authority and Power and acts by his Commission in his stead and whoever is obliged to yield Subjection unto God is also obliged to yield Subjection unto him for Gods sake And answerably the Apostle tells us v. 5. that we must needs be subject for conscience sake Which only is obliged by Gods Law And consequently as every single Person seperately considered and the whole Body of the People collectively considered are subject unto God so to the Sovereign Power too and cannot resist the Sovereign Power but they must likewise resist God himself because the Power is given from the Lord and Sovereignty from the most High Wisd 6.3 't is the most High which ruleth in the Kingdom of Men and giveth it to whomsoever he will as Daniel speaks ch 4.25 who acknowledged to Belshazzar ch 5.18 that the most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar his Father a Kingdom and Majesty and Glory and Honour So that the Concurrence of the People in any case to the making of a King hath only a Subserviency to the Designation of his Person and contributes nothing at all towards the Collation of his Power For there is no Power but of God And therefore by him only Authority immediately derived from him do all the Kings in the World Reign and Princes decree Justice who are Supream and Sovereign Kings and Princes Psal 8.15 when therefore 't is said that all the People made Saul King 1 Sam. 11.15 and anointed David King 2. Sam. 2.4 and made Solomon the Son of David King 1 Chron. 29.22 the Meaning is they made a Declaration that they consented and acknowledged that they were their Kings For they were all Kings before by the especial Appointment of God himself and could thereby derive no Authority or Power from the People only this voluntary acknowledgment rendred the Exercise of their Office the more grateful to themselves and the People Which may be as formerly intimated illustrated by the chusing of Mayors Sheriffs Stewards Bayliffs and other Officers in Corporate Towns and Cities where the Persons chosen receive no Office or Authority from the Electors but wholly derive it from the King's Charter So all the higher Powers are God's Ordinance and not the Peoples And therefore the higher Powers are dignified with God's own Name Ps 82.6 I have said ye are Gods Because they are his Vice-gerents and act in his Name and what they so do God doth by them and therefore 't is said He judgeth among the Gods Ps 82.1 and their Throne is called the Throne of the Lord 1 Chr. 29.22 And they are said to judge not for Man but for the Lord 2 Chr. 19.6 which is a convictive Evidence that the Supream Powers depend immediately upon God only for their Dignities and Authorities And hence by the Stile of our Laws the King being the Supream Power is Rex Dei gratia King by the Grace of God because he owes his Sovereign Dominion to God alone and is to be accountable for it only to him And the Statute of 16 Ric. 2. thus declares That the Crown of England hath been so free at all times that it hath been in no earthly subjection but immediately subject to God in all things touching the Regality of the same Crown and to no other And the King being God's immediate Substitute and exercising Dominion and Authority next and immediately under him as he that resisteth the King's Vice-Roy resisteth the King so he that resisteth the King resisteth the Ordinance of God Sect. 48. 2. Because such a Resistance is utterly inconsistent with that aweful reverence and observance the Laws of our Religion exact from us to the higher Powers We are as peremptorily commanded to fear the King as to fear the Lord Pr. 24.21 Fear the Lord and the King And what God hath joyned together we must not put asunder We must fear to displease the one as well as the other fear to displease the King because we fear to displease the Lord For God hath made this fear as properly due to the King as the most Legal Custom or Tribute which is paid to him Rom. 13.7 Render therefore to all their Dues Tribute to whom Tribute Custom to whom Custom Fear to whom Fear Honour to whom Honour And he cannot be restrain'd with this Fear who Assaults his King with Force Elsewhere we are commanded to Honour
search all the days of their lives and not be able to discover when or where such a Charter ever was in Being but suppose there were such a Charter who shall be the Interpreter of it and judge how far the Power of the Prince extends it self and during the Dispute how shall the Government be administred doth not this in effect authorize the Subjects to do at pleasure what is right in their own eyes for if they demur against the Prince's Power he is to act at his peril But on the other side the Subject stands on a firm Bottom for his Liberty proves it self this is a Self-evident Principle and when the Subjects pretend it the Sovereign Powers durst not contradict and contest it for in this case every Subject if it be not a Contradiction so to speak is a Sovereign because so far as his liberty is not expresly given away it always remains entire The Sovereigns Power is originally from the Subject but the Subjects Liberty originally from himself the Princes Power is derived from the Subjects Will but the Subjects Liberty from his Nature And wo to that Prince who shall violate and usurp on the Laws and Liberties of Nature Sect. 73. But if every Man by Nature equally partake of Sovereignty then no body can be obliged to Subjection for where all are equal there can be no Subordination neither Superiors non Inferiors and is not he a strange Supreme who hath no body under him Moreover if it be so then every Man is born in a State of Anarchy and the God of Order hath sate no bounds to Mankind the relative Duties of Superiors and Inferiors might never have had any foundation in Nature and were only presumptively from Arbitrary Contracts and Agreements limited and determined by the Fifth Commandment and not only every Nation but every City Town Parish Family may chuse what Government seems best to them yea every particular Person may live independently if he will altogether free from the Circumscriptions of all sorts of governed Societies and if any attempt be made to restrain him without his consent he is oppressed in his natural Liberty And is not this Doctrine of a sovereign Tendency to maintain mutual Amity and Peace amongst Men Sect. 74. 5. That Subjects in political Monarchies and under other Sovereign Powers have Rights Immunities and Priviledges as unalienable Properties without their concurrent consent is very manifest but these do not proceed from any Reservations made in a presumed fundamental Constitution composed and ratified by a mutual Compact and Confederacy betwixt the Sovereign and Subjects but from the Sovereign's Condescentious Acts of Grace which having the Establishment and Security of his Laws he cannot invade and violate without Injustice to his Subjects dishonour to himself provocation to God loss of Reputation with his Allies and Confederates abroad and exposing himself as a Person of no Faith 'T is well observed by Fortescue that the Kingdom of England is not meerly Regal or meerly Politick but partly Regal and partly Politick Regnum Angliae ex Bruii comitivâ Trojanorum in Dominium politicum regale prorupit The Kingdom of England out of Brutus his retinue of Trajans brake out into a politick and regal Dominion And elsewhere tells us Rex Angliae principatu nedum regali sed politico suo populo dominatur the King of England governeth his People not only by a Regal but a politick Principality Ch. 9. So that though the King of England in some cases exercise an absolute and arbitrary Power like a despotick Prince as in making War and Peace Summoning Adjourning Proroguing and Dissolving of Parliaments Coinage of Money c. Yet in other cases he exerciseth a bounded and limited Power as in the imposition and repealing of Laws Taxes and Levies of Mony c. and therefore ought in Conscience to regard his Duty as a Politick King as well as his Power as a Despotick King and such hath been the Moderation of the English Government hitherto that it is acknowledged to be the most easy and safe of any in the World These particulars being duly considered I am confident the forementioned Objection is sufficiently answered and no warrant can thence be taken for Subjects to resist with armed Force the Sovereign Powers Sect. 75. 2. Another Objection near of kin to the former though in different words to plead the Cause of Rebellion is this that all Real Majesty being only in the Community all Personal Majesty is transfused or delegated from thence and consequently the Personal Majesty is nothing but a Trust accountable and forfeitable to the Community and therefore if the Administrators of Sovereign Power abuse their Trust they may not only be resisted but deposed Upon this Ground it was that the Rebellious Lords and Commons when King Charles the First sate up his Standard in the Defence of himself and the Government adjudged it a Breach of his Trust and Treason against the State and Kingdom And answerably one of their Advocates tell us That their Generals Commission to seize the King's Person was a strong Capias utlegatum a Judgment passed against him as out of the Protection of the Kingdom and Aid of the Law And in truth granting what they suppose to be true That the King was not the Officer of God but of the Community received his Authority not from God but them and made War against the Kingdom whose Trustee he was and the inference seems to be rational That Power which is derived from the Civil Constitution being in an Hostile manner employed against it or administred to dissolve and destroy it is forfeited and lost and those who were subjected to it absolved from their Allegiance Ans Having represented this Objection in its full Strength to the best Advantage of the Patrons of it I shall endeavour to assoil it and I doubt not but I shall confute it to the satisfaction of every unprejudiced Person Sect. 76. By a Community these Men understand not a Society of Men actually conâ—enting and formed into a public Government but only a Society of Families and Vicinities voluntarily rationally and justly assembling and associating themselves from mutual benevolence in order to the common Good and Safety thereby putting themselves into an immediate capacity of receiving a public Government under some Form or other such as they themselves shall judge most expedient for them Be it now considered that Sect. 77. 1. This pretended Real Majesty in the Community of a Multitude so associated as hath been said must either be the Product of the Law of Nature or of some positive Law of God or of some human Compact or of some other Cause I will reflect briefly on each of these and if neither of them be assignable as the Ground Reason or Cause thereof I shall be so bold asconclude that 't is a Platonical Idea which hath no existence 1. There is no dictate of Nature which ascribes a greater Authority to a
the Apostle said concerning the Difference betwixt the Condition of the Jew and of the Gentile that the Jew had the advantage and profit much every way Rom. 3.1 2. that may I say concerning the different Condition of the aforementioned sorts of Government a Political Legal limited Government hath much advantage and profit every way above that which is Despotical Absolute and Arbitrary and therefore no Man which wisheth well to his Country and sincerely desires the Safety ease and contentment either of the Sovereign or his Subjects will contribute in the least Degree any Assistance by word or deed towards the Abolition of the former and Introduction of the latter but yet supposing the Sovereign Power of the latter irresistble and the Sovereign Power of the former resistible by the Subjects thereof and it will be the most desirable because it is invested with an unappealable Authority and consequently is sufficiently provided for the Decision and Determination of all Controversies and the Preservation of the Peace of the Community which is not the Case of the other as hath been formerly observed And I am sure the Danger of Anarchy is as terrible and more than that of Tyranny Now for the confutation of the foregoing Objection let these particulars be considered Sect. 91. 1. Though a Political Prince who is obliged to regulate his Power by his known Laws made and Established with the Consent and Approbation of his Subjects may from a presumption of the uncontrollableness and irresistibility of his Power abuse his Power in Arbitrary Administrations thereof governing as if his private Will and not his public Laws were to be the Measure of his Government yet this cannot alter the Fundamental Constitution of the Government and make his Will a Law to his Subjects and therefore though they must not actively resist his Power yet they are not obliged actively to own and obey it And 't is very improbable that any Prince in the World who is well in his Wits will augment his Power by Usurpation when his Government will be as safe by a Legal Administration endeavour to obtain any End of Government by Force and against the Consent of the Subjects which is obtainable by Law and with their Consent Princes ordinarily are not so meanly skilled in the Politics but they know and consider too That he hath most Power over his Subjects who is most powerful in them And in truth all the Strong Holds in a Kingdom will have nothing of Security in them for the Sovereign when he hath dismantled this Sect. 92. 2. Though a Political as well as a Despotical Prince can do no wrong which is censurable and punishable by any Human Law for though he be obliged in Honour Equity and Conscience to Conduct himself and Administrations by the directive Power of the Law yet he is not under the corrective and coercive Power of it not only because he who can make and repeal the Law and pardon the Transgression thereof is greater than the Law and above it but also because he hath no Superiour to judge and execute any legal punishment on him yet those Commissioned by him are accountable and punishable for Illegal Administrations and cannot serve his private Will contrary to his Laws without exposing themselves to the Condemnation of evil doers And though the King may for a Time interpose an Illegal Exercise of his Power to suspend the Law and to defend and rescue then from the Coaction and Vengeance of it yet he may after due consideration of the Nature of the Thing prefer the Honour of his Government before the Protection of the Transgressors of his Law and chuse rather to justifie his Legal Will than to shew indulgence to his Passionate Humor And in case such Malefactors should escape Condign Punishment during the whole Reign of the Prince that employs them yet 't is great odds but his Successor to shew the Value he sets on his Laws his readiness to redress the Grievances of his Subjects from former Male-administrations of Government and to ingratiate himself with them as all over of Righteousness and tender of their Legal Liberties will offer them as a Sacrifice to public justice And therefore not only all honest Men but also all worldly wise Men and Men of Fortunes will upon this account take heed how they engage themselves in the Execution of the King's Will against his Laws I do not doubt but the Kings of England will consider what the Learned Bracton said that Ipse Rex non debet esse sub homine sed sub Deo sub Lege quia Lex facit Regem The King himself ought not to be under Man but under God and under the Law because the Law makes the King His meaning is not that the King derives his Authority as King from the Law for then the Principal Efficient cause of Governing Administrations would owe its being to the Instrumental Cause thereof but the true Intent of that learned Author and of Fleta too who concurs with him in that expression is this that the Law declares and publisheth to the Subject who is their rightful King and so supports and maintains him as King in their acknowledgments and by the Observation of which he distinguisheth himself from a Tyrant who Governs without a due regard had to Law And in this respect I think my Lord Coke spake not amiss when he told King James the First That the Law sate the Crown upon his Head And there is no such ready Way to keep and hold the Crown there as to keep and hold fast to that Law which sate it there Sect. 93. 3. As the Power of Sovereign Princes is from the Lord so their hearts are in his hand and he over-ruleth them to the best Purposes and will not permit them unless provoked by our sins to become illegal scourges to us 1 Per. 3.13 Who is he that will 〈…〉 if ye be followers of that which is good 'T is generally acknowledged that when the Apostles Epistle was written to the Romans that the Government of that Empire was Despotical and managed with such an Arbitrary Absoluteness that it was highly Tyrannical and yet the Apostle tells them that the Powers that be are ordained of God And forbids them resistance under the pain of condemnation And tells them that Rulers are not i. e. by their Office ought not to be a Terrour to good Works but to the Evil. And least they should say as many among us are apt to do 't is true the good should be protected countenanced and encouraged but we can have no assurance thereof from the Constitution of the Government our Rulers may make their lust a Law and what a Case shall we be in then The Apostle anticipates this Objection by assuring them That performing their duties they shall obtain the Success desired v. 3. Do that which is good and thou shalt have praise of the same For he is the Minister of God to thee
Invading the legal Rights Properties Liberties and Priviledges of the Subject and Subversion of the established Religion and Tolleration yea Introduction of Idolatrous Worship c. As every English Man knows who is but competently instructed in the pretended Motives of that Rebellion to which these Laws directly refer but 't is further said for the countenancing of this apocryphal Sense of the Declaration aforesaid That when there seems to be a Contradiction betwixt two Artioles in our Constitution as there seems to be betwixt the publick Liberty of the Nation and the renouncing of all Resistance in case it be invaded we are to examine which of the two is most evident and most important and to fix upon that and the publick Liberty of the Nation being the most Plain and most Important of the two the Article against Resistance ought to be softned that it do not destroy the other But to the States of England who certainly are the most Competent Judges in this case there seemed no contradiction but a very fair consistency betwixt these two Articles and to every unprejudiced Man who is not captivated to an Hypothesis from Passion and Interest The Renunciation of resistance upon any pretence whatsoever is as evident an Article in our Constitution as can be expressed in Words and being directly designed for the Preservation of publick Order and Peace and the Security of the Government it is not easily imaginable how any Article should exceed the Importance of it Yes but that of the Publick Liberty may because the Chief Design of our whole Law and of all the several Rules of our Constitution is to secure and maintain it This passage sounds like the Shibboleth of the Scotish Kirk for so it is translated in the Third Article of the solemn League and Covenant We shall endeavour with our Estates and Lives mutually to preserve the Rights and Priviledges of the Parliament and the Liberties of the Kingdoms and to preserve and defend the King's Maiesty's Person and Authority in the Preservation and Defence of the true Religion and Liberties of the Kingdoms Where the Preservation and Defence of the King's Majesty's Person and Authority is not only limited to the Preservation and Defence of the true Religion and Liberâ—ies of the Kingdoms but sate in order after the Rights and Priviledges of Parliament and Liberties of the Kingdoms as the less evident and less important Matter to be attend and â—ndeavoured This is rare Policy Men of a lower Elavation in that Science which we â—all plain meaning Men do ordinarily believe that the Chief Design of our whole Law â—nd all the several Rules of our Constitution is to secure and maintain the Ends of Government Order and Peace and consequently the Government it self and how Order and â—eace can be preserved and maintained and the Government secured when the Subjects â—e authorized and allowed in cases which they being Judges seem evident and â—â—portant â—â—ough to them to disturb the one and resist the other with force of Arms I â—â—nnot apâ—â—ehend because ordinarily the Majority of Subjects have not that veneration fâ—â— their Goâ—â—rnours and respect for the public Welfare becomes them but are suspicious and creduâ—â—â—s and led more by rash Passions and feigned Interests than by wise Judgment and the â—â—blick Safety But suppose the Liberties of the Nation must be acquitted or the Command of God violated what is the Subjects Duty then And therefore as I do not believe that the Terms King Sovereign Supreme so frequently used in our Laws are equivocal Ones so neither do I believe that the Law which requires a Renunciation of Resistance upon any pretence whatsoever is of an equivocal signification but intends that the Subject mean honestly when he declares against Resistance without exceptions or reserves because 't is a Thing unworthy of the Wisdom and Honour of our Government to impose a Law of an equivocal signification and such an Interpretation can serve no good end Sect. 97. 5. Another Objection against Non-resistance and to warrant and encourage the taking of Arms against the Kings of England in case they exceed their limited bounds is this The Supreme Power must still be supposed to be lodged with the legislative Power and not with the executive Power when that is appropriated to a distinct Subject from the Legislative Now 't is certain that the executive Part of the English Government is lodged singly in the King so that the whole Administration of that is in him but the Legislative is lodged between him and the Two Houses of Parliament so that the Power of making and repealing Laws is not singly in the King but only so far as the Two Houses concur with him Wherefore the Power of the King is fiduciary only nothing but a Trust and all Trusts saith this Author by their nature import that those to whom they are given are accountable and consequently censurable and punishable and therefore the Kings of England may be resisted with force of Arms and deposed and then dealt withal if under equal guilt as other Criminals guilty of the most Capital Offences Ans That a distinction is to be made between the Legislative and Executive part of Power is not to be doubted but whether this Author have rightly applied it is to be questioned and from as plain evidence as any in the World to be denied for the Legislative Authority of the English Government is not divided into distinct hands from the Executive but lodged in the same Subject even in the King of England only Sect. 98. 1. All the Laws of England are the King's Laws receive their denomination from him only and therefore all offences committed against them are principally and ultimately said to be committed against the King and his Crown and Dignity for although the Matter perhaps of all Laws in some latter Ages is prepared by the Two Houses of Parliament and no Law is or can be enacted without their concurrent Approbation and Consent yet every Law receives its formal Being and Obligation from the Authority of the King only and no Law is repealed but by his Authority only The Authority of the Two Houses is the Authority of Councellors and not of Legislators as Judge Jenkins saith and Sir W. Rawleigh tells us That that which is done in Parliament is done by the Kings absolute Authority The Three Estates do but advise as the Privy Council doth which advice if the King embrace it becomes the King 's own Act in the one and the King's Law in the other And therefore when they have addressed themselves to the King in order to the enacting or abrogating of a Law they have prefaced it in a petitionary Stile as acting in the capacity of Loving and Loyal Subjects Sir Edward Coke tells us 4 Inst p. 25. That in Ancient time all Acts of Parliament were in form of Petitions For instances thus 't was in 1 Edw. 3. When Magna Charta was confirmed there you shall find
this Preamble At the Request of the Commonalty by their Petition made before the King in his Parliament c. so again in 9 Edw. 3. 'T is thus prefaced Whereas the Knights Citizens and Burgesses desired our Sovereign Lord the King in his Parliament by their Petition and many of the Statutes are penned in this Imperial Stile The King Commands The King wills Our Lord the King hath established Our Lord the King hath ordained And of his special grace hath granted c. See 3 Edw. 1. and 6 Edw. 1. and 25. Edw. 3. Statute of Marleburdg 52 Hen. 1. and Statute of Quo Warranto A sufficient Evidence That all our Laws owe their Being to the King's Authority only Sect. 99. 2. All the judicial Courts of England are the King's Courts and derive all their Authority originally from him and are obliged to refer the Exercise of their respective Jurisdictions finally for the Preservation of his Person Crown and Dignity and consequently the High Court of Parliament is the King's Court too and depends on him for that Authority which is there exercised And 't is well observed by my Lord Coke That the King is Principium Caput Finis Parliamenti and answerably in the Parliament writ the King calls it Quoddam Parliamentum nostrum Thereby signifying a Subordination of the Estates convented in Parliament under him sitting there in his Royal Political capacity And consequently the Acts of the Two Houses of Parliament without an impress of Royal Authority are nothing worth to the Purposes of Government 'T is no Argument that the Two Houses of Parliament have a Co-ordination with him in his legislative Authority because he hath restrained himself from the Exercise and Use of it without their Request and Consent for it is no more than a Conditio sine qua non which hath only the Force of a Negative without the Concurrence of which the principal Efficient obtains not its Effect Sect. 100. 3. The Measures or Degrees of all Civil Authority and Power are to be taken either from the express Laws of any State or the immemorial Customs and Prescriptions thereof from a long Possession or from the Oaths the Subjects swear to their Princes This is acknowledged by the Author who pleads for a Co-ordination of the Houses of Parliament with the King in the Legislative Authority of the Kingdom as a proper Rule by which to judge where the Legislative Power of a Nation is lodged and this being impartially attended will evidently discover That the Legislative Power is in the King only For 1. If we consider what the Laws determine we shall find that they ascribe it wholly to the King See to this purpose the afore-quoted Preface to a Statute in 24. Hen. 8. where 't is thus said For by divers Old Authentick Histories and Chronicles it is manifestly declared and expressed that this Realm of England is an Empire and so hath been accepted in the World governed by our Supreme Head and King having the Dignity and Royal Estate of the Imperial Crown of the Same unto whom a Body Politick compact of all sorts and degrees of People divided in Terms and by Names of Spiritualty and Temporalty have been bounden and ought to bear next to God natural and humble Obedience he being also in Statute and furnished by the Goodness and Sufferance of Almighty God not of the People with Plenary whole and entire Power Preheminence Authority Prerogative and Jurisdiction to render and yield Justice and final determination in all Causes Matters and Debates Likewise in the Statute of the 35 of Eliz. this Submission after Non-conformity to divine Service is to be made openly in some Church I do acknowledge and testify in my Conscience that no other Person hath or ought to have any Power or Authority over His Majesty Which Statute was declared to be in full force in the 16 of Ch. 2. 2. This Authority and Preheminence as the former Statute mentioned implies is of immemorial Custom and Prescription and was so far as I can discover never questioned in any Parliamentary Convention of the States till 1642. and then by the Two lower States only too and then the Co ordination in the Legislative Power was asserted to warrant and justify one of the most unreasonable and barbarous Rebellions that ever was in this Kingdom 'T is declared by the Statute of 16 Rich. 2. That the Crown of England hath been so free at all times that it hath been in no earthly Subjection but immediately subject to God in all things touching the Regality of the same Crown and to none other and if to none other then not to the Two Houses of Parliament and in 1 Jam. 1. The High Court of Parliament wherein as they speak the whole Kingdom in Person or Representative was present i. e. all Estates and Degrees call themselves his Majesty's Loyal and Faithful Subjects and declare his Majesty to be their only Liege Lord and Sovereign and agnize their constant Faith Obedience and Loyalty to his Majesty and Royal Progeny And I will be so bold as to challenge this Author to shew from any Parliamentary Record that ever the Two Houses claimed or pretended to a Co-ordination with the King in the Legislative Power till the time above mentioned 3. What can be more evident for the Determination of this matter than the Oath of Supremacy by which every Subject is obliged to testify and declare in his Conscience that the Kings Highness is the only Supreme Governour of this Realm and of all other His Highnesses Dominions and Countries as well in all Spiritual or Ecclesiastical Things or Causes as Temperal as He is Supreme He hath no Superior and as He is only Supreme He can have no equal they that wrest the Supremacy of the King's Government to import only the executive part of Government manifestly subvert the primary Design of the Oath which was to restrain and preserve the King's Subjects from a Submission to the usurped legislative and juridical Authority of the Bishop of Rome So that if the Bishop of Rome pretended to both parts of Government as 't is certain he did and still doth then the Oath directly intends an opposition to both and consequently ascribes the only Supremacy appropriately to the King both respectively to the Legislative and Executive part of the Government Sect. 101. 4. Suppose contrary to all this plain evidence that the legislative Power is lodged between the King and Two Houses of Parliament how will this prove a Superior Authority in them above that in the King Par in Parem non habet potestatem An Equal is no Superior Indeed according to our Authors affirmation here are Two to One which is very great odds if he intended to press to his Service that Maxim Major pars obtinet rationem totius the major part of the Legislators virtually are the whole For this will at the Pleasure of the Two Houses render the Concurrence of the King