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 sain 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 escaping fights Simon and kills him The Historians of those Times calls him not a Rebel or a Traytor but a Martyr for the Liberties of Church and State If Resistance be unlawful upon any Account whatsoever then were all those People guilty of Rebellion who in all Ages have resisted or turned out their Evil and Destructive Kings and Governours and then the Jews were guilty of this Sin for slaying and turning out several of their Kings without any appointment from God in Scripture So likewise the Primitive Christians did involve themselves under the Guilt of St. Paul's Damnation for resisting of their Kings and Emperors and likewise the Christians in all Ages since who have resisted their Princes by turning them out c. And then Bishop Athanasius Author of our Creed and those Christians with him did also come under the Guilt of St. Paul's Damnation for approving of Calaritanus's Book which according to the Doctrine of Passive Obedience was a Treasonable and Rebellious Book for the Incendiaries to Rebellion are as guilty as they that are actually in it And then all those Princes that have been set up by the People in the room of those whom they have turned out for their Evil Government were Usurpers and consequently all those who have succeeded them where the Descent of the Blood is altered are intruders Usurpers and no lawful Kings Were the Doctrine of Passive Obedience without reserve a True Doctrine no doubt but we should have had a better Account thereof than from a few Court-Divines who have most learnedly interpreted the Will and Pleasure of the Prince against the Laws of Nature or of the Country to be the Powers which St. Paul requires Obedience unto under the pain of Damnation So by consequence the Law ceaseth to be the Powers then we are in a worse condition than in the State of Nature With what Face can any Man assert that Passive Obedience without reserve is the Doctrine of the Gospel which is charging God with as palpable a Contradiction as any two things can be it being diametrically opposite to the Law of Self-preservation which is the Law of Nature and the Decree of the Almighty which Law is Sacred and not to be infringed by any Man God never commanded any thing contrary to the Law of Nature unless it were in the Case of Abraham in commanding of him as a tryal of his Faith to offer up his Son Isaac Protection is the only cause of Allegiance and Obedience is plain from the Example of David and his six hundred Men who were protected from Saul and his Army by Achish King of the Philistines who gave them Ziklag to live in and David and his Men fought for the Philistines against the Geshurites Gezrites and the Amalekites and subdued them David owed no Allegiance to Saul who sought his destruction is plain for when Achish told David that he and his Men should go with him to fight against the Children of Israel David offered his service and said to Achish Surely thou shalt know what thy Servant can do Then Achish said unto David Therefore I will make thee keeper of my Head for ever So David and his Men went in the rear of the Army and when the Lords of the Philistines would not let David and his Men fight for them lest they should betray them into the hands of Saul and his Army then David expostulated with Achish and said What have I done and what hast thou found in thy Servant so long as I have been with thee unto this day that I may not go fight against the Enemies of my Lord the King 1 Sam. Chap. 27 28 29. This is a plain case that David intended to fight Saul and his Army Now the Intention of the Mind is as bad as the Act and yet it is no ways said that David repented thereof or of his arming the six hundred Men before mentioned with design to sight his lawful Soveraign King Saul The Primitive Christians took Protection to be the only cause of Allegiance For when Julian the Apostate was chosen Emperor of the Romans not by the free Consent of the People but by the Souldiers during the Life of Constantius the lawful Possessor of the Throne The Christians did not reckon themselves obliged to fight for Constantius against Julian for they troubled not their Heads with the Rights of Princes Agustus tho he had violently usurped the Throne yet he was confirmed in it by the People and Senate of Rome who established it in his Family by a long Prescription when St. Paul's and St. Peter's Epistles were wrote of Obedience to the Laws to Kings and Magistrates so that we see that Obedience was required to an Usurper under the pain of Damnation when the Government was confirmed to him by the People that is by the Majority for it cannot be thought that every Body consented thereto Apolonius Thyanaeus writing to the Emperor Domitian saith These things have I spoken concerning Laws which if thou shalt not think to reign over thee then thy self shalt not reign In Matrimony which is the nearest and strictest Obligation of all others by which those who were two are made one Flesh if one Party forsakes the other the Apostle pronounceth the Party forsaked to be free from all Obligation because the Party deserting violates the chief Conditions of Marriage c. 1 Cor. 7. 15. And shall not the People be much more absolved from their Allegiance to that King who has violated his Oath and the Laws of the Land the very cause for
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 Death all those Tribes came to David and made a Compact with him for the performance of such Conditions which they thought necessary for the securing of their Liberty before they made him King 2 Sam. Chap. 2 3 4 5. The making of Solomon King by David his Father was not thought sufficient without the Peoples Consent else why did the People anoint Solomon and make him King the second time We read Judg. 8. 21 22 23. that after Gideon had slain Zebah and Zalmunna with the Midianites the Children of Israel said unto Gideon Rule thou over us both thou and thy Sons and thy Sons Son also for thou hast delivered us from the Hand of Midian But he refusing their Offer they afterwards made his Bastard-Son Abimelech King though he had threefoore and ten lawfully-begotten Sons Zimri having slain Baasha King of Israel reigned in his stead but the Children of Israel hearing thereof rejected him and made Omri the Captain of the Host King of Israel 1 Kings 16. 15 16. The Kingdom of Edom appointed a Deputy to rule over them instead of a King and gave him Royal Authority there being then no King in Edom 1 Kings 22. 47. See Macchab. 9. 28 29 30. 13. 8 9. 14. 41 to 49. By which it is further apparent that their Kings and Governours were chosen by the People As propinquity of Blood is a great Preheminence towards the attaining of any Crown yet it doth not bind the Common-wealth to yield thereto and to admit at hap-hazard every one that is next by Succession of Blood as was falsly affirmed by R. L'estrange and many others when the Parliament would have disinherited the Duke of York as unfit to govern this Nation he being a Papist if weighty Reasons require the contrary because she is bound to consider well and maturely the Person that is to enter whether he be like to perform his Duty and Charge to be committed to him For to admit him that is an Enemy or unfit to govern is to consent to the destroying of the Common-wealth See how God dealt in this point with the Children of Israel 1 Sam. 8. after he had granted to them the same Government as the other Nations round about them had whose Kings did ordinarily reign by Succession as ours do at this day and as most of the Kings of the Jews did afterwards yet that this Law of succeeding by Proximity of Birth though for the most part it should prevail yet He shewed plainly that upon just Causes it might be altered as in the case of Saul who left behind him many Children yet not any of them succeeded him except Ishbosheth who was not his eldest Son who was anointed King by Abner the general Captain of that Nation to whom eleven Tribes followed until he was slain and then they chose David And Jonathan Saul's other Son so much praised in holy Scripture being slain in War his Son Mephibosheth did not succeed in the Crown though by Succession he had much greater Right to it than David God promised David that his Seed should reign for ever after him Yet we do not find this performed to any of his elder Sons nor to any of their Offspring but only to Solomon his younger and tenth Son Rehoboam the lawful Son and Heir of King Solomon coming to Shichem where all the People of Israel were assembled together for his Coronation and admission to the Crown for until that time he was not accounted true King who refusing to ease them of some heavy Impositions which they had received from his Father ten Tribes of the twelve refuse to admit him their King and chose Jeroboam his Servant and made him their lawful King and God allowed thereof for when Rehoboam had prepared an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen Men who were Warriours to reduce those ten Tribes to the Obedience of their Natural Prince God commanded them to desist by his Prophet Shemaiah and so they did These and the like Determinations of the People about admitting or refusing of Princes to reign or not to reign over them when their Designments are to good Ends and for just Causes are allowed by God and oftentimes are his own special Drifts and Dispositions though they seem to come from Man He who is set up or made King by the Consent of the People hath a just Title against the next Heir of the Blood and his Issue who are put by the Crown else most of the Princes now reigning in Europe would be Usurpers and want good Titles to their Crowns they or their Ancestors being set up by the People which were not the right Heirs of the Royal Stock The Laws of the Commonwealth is the very Soul of a Politick Body Kings and Emperors always have been are and ought to be subject to the Laws of their Kingdoms not above them to violate break or alter them at their pleasures they being obliged by their Coronation-Oaths in all Ages and Kingdoms inviolably to observe them for St. Paul saith A Prince is the Minister of God for the Peoples Good and Tribute and Custom are paid to him that he may continually attend thereto The Defence and Procuration of the Common-wealth is to be managed to the benefit of those who are committed not of those to whom it is committed A just Governour for the benefit of the People is more careful of the Publick Good and Welfare than of his own private Advantage Allegiance is nothing but Obedience according to Law which when the Prince violates he has no Right to Obedience There is a mutual Obligation between
have one of their Race left that pisseth against the Wall Now what were their Faults but Idolatry and Oppression of their People Then how can it be a Sin in a Nation to free themselves from an idolatrous and oppressing King When it is done by the greatest and most considerable part thereof it does silently imply a Consent of God for it cannot be Covetousness or Ambition that moves such a Multitude When once the Christian Religion is become a part of the Subjects Property by the Laws and Constitutions of the Country then it is to be considered as one of their principal Rights and so may be defended as well as any other Civil Right since that those different Forms of Government that the Jews were under is no Rule for the Government of any Nation or People whatsoever The Principles of Natural Religion give those who are in Authority no Power at all but only secure them in the Possession of that which is theirs by the Laws of the Country That Cause is just which defends the Laws which protects the Common Good which shall preserve the Realm And that Cause is unjust which violates the Laws defends the Breakers of the Laws protects the Subverters of the Country That is just which will destroy Tyrannical Government that unjâ—st which would abolish just Government that lawful which tends to the Publick Good that unlawful which tends to the Private 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 Uzziah 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 callâ—d Rebels And when Saul's Subjects swore that Saul should not kill Jonathan and they reseued 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 And 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 Paplelagonia 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 of 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 a ding 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