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A89759 A pathway unto England's perfect settlement; and its centre and foundation of rest and peace, discovered by Capt. Robert Norwood. In this discourse you have cleared and proved, I. What government in its true and proper nature is; and the common errour thereof rectified. ... VI. That the laws, ordinances, &c. of our forefathers, are the onely rulers and governours of the English nation; ... VII. That neither parliaments, or any other, have any right, power, or authority to change, alter, suppress, or suspend the same; ... And in the conclusion, the nature of contracts, and the governments thereupon, made manifest and cleared. Norwood, Robert, Captain. 1653 (1653) Wing N1383; Thomason E702_16; ESTC R203007 38,577 71

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but consider and go down into himself before he make any progress forth from or out of himself which thing alone would prevent most if not all our Quarrels and Disputes Thirdly I would intreat when we do dispute or enquire which word I had rather always use that we consider for what it is we dispute or enquire I know all men will presently answer and say It is for the Truth that is thou meanest to finde out and discover the Truth not to defend the Truth It were no small dishonour blot or blemish unto Truth to beg a Champion to defend it for it is strong enough to defend it self as you have it confessed by the King People Princes Captains and Governours of an hundred and seven and twenty Provinces in dispute of what was strongest Whether Kings Wine Women or Truth and Truth carried it And the Truth it self bears witness full and clear unto it self it is a Sun needs therefore nothing but a hand barely to hold it forth But it is to finde out and discover the Truth Thou do'st well if thou do'st it soberly quietly and stilly with meekness and moderation of spirit otherwise we shall raise such a dust such clouds foggs and mists as will darken the eyes of our Understanding that we shall not be able to judge of colours nor to finde our way which for certain we have lost witness our daily disputes questionings and enquiries Wherefore being now upon our enquiry I again pray that we may walk gently and easily being as strangers in a strange land and God is to be seen found and known in each step we take In calmness there is clearness and so I hope we shall finde our way the better and the sooner These three things being taken along with us we will hope that the Lord who is our light will meet us and direct us for it is written He is nigh unto them that fear him and that He will be found of those that seek after him It is light we want that is doubtless and nothing else can shew or bring us into our way again that is as certain It is then verily worth our seeking and happie shall we be in finding It is written in a certain place In thy light shall we see light To that light therefore I desire we may all look and again by a still soft and gentle motion to make our return even to the Beginning of days and see how we there stand In the first of Genesis we have it thus In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and the heavens was without form and void and darkness was upon the deep And the Spirit of God moved upon the waters Then God said Let there be light and there was light and God saw the light that it was good And God separated the light from the darkness and the light he called Day and the darkness he called Night And in vers 16. it is said God made two great lights the greater light to rule the day and the less light to rule the night and that he set them in the firmament of heaven to shine upon the earth and to rule in the day and in the night and to separate the light from the darkness There we finde that the first word God gave forth when all things were in a Chaos or confusion was Light Let there be light and there was light This then was as appears the first Creation going forth or manifestation of God as the Scriptures testific John in his first Chapter witnesseth the same thing In the beginning saith he was that Word And Moses saith In the beginning God So then in God was this Word as John afterwards hath it That Word saith he was with God and that Word was God the same was in the beginning with God All things were made by it and without it was made nothing that was made In it saith he was life and the life was the light of men and that the light shineth in the darkness though the darkness comprehends it not And that he was in the world and that the world was made by him though the world knew it not Moses saith the same thing for saith he The earth was without form and void and darkness was upon the deep Until the Spirit of God moved upon the waters and then God said Let there be light and there was light So that it appears the first word of God was Light and that light was Life John also calls it The first begotten of God and so Moses The Spirit of God moved upon the waters And the first product was Light Paul in his Epistle to the Colossians calls it The image of the invisible God and The first begotten of every creature By him saith he were all things created which are in heaven and which are in earth things visible and invisible All things saith he were created by him and for him Thus you see that the first thing in which by which or through which God made the world was Light that was the first that first in which by which and through which all things were made by that self-same must they be ruled and governed as we shall see anon and that first was and is light Light therefore as it appears was the first going forth of God in and towards the Creation of the world or that true image or pattern of himself in by and after which he made or made manifest the world and himself in the world for that is one main inherent property or intrinse nature and quality of light to make manifest even those things which are not As it is written God calleth the things that are as if they were not and the things that are not as if they were Now that for which I produce these Scriptures is that if it may be we may discover and get a true understanding and knowledge of that we call Rule or Government what it is For we are very apt to mis-understand and give an untrue interpretation not onely of other mens words but our own also Let us therefore a little consider by the things that are as we finde them in the beginning It is said as is before quoted that God made two great lights and and set them in the Firmament of the Heaven to shine upon the earth and to Rule in the day and in the night Now what the nature and property of their Rule and Government is we finde and see day by day First Light we see is diffusive it diffuses it self throughout the whole circumference of the Heavens and shineth as it is written upon the earth both upon the good and the bad upon the just and the unjust it giveth so much of it self into every vessel as it is capable to receive so swallowing up casting out or destroying the darkness and the death Secondly It is very attractive nothing more nay nothing so much so strongly and yet so sweetly attracteth as the Light doth
good The head as the Moon is the receptacle of all corruptibility a dark confused changeable body in and of it self receiving the influences of light and life onely from another from the Sun from the heart from the center but is not the Sun is not the heart is not the center and therefore is not the true right and proper Guide Governour Ruler in of or unto the body for indeed and in truth it appertaineth and belongeth only and alone unto or is the very onely and alone true and proper work and office of the center to order and rule guide govern and direct the whole circumference of which the head is onely a part or member This therefore is and this onely and alone is our only and alone true head our onely and alone Guide and Governour Rule or Ruler and none else possible can be of or over in and unto its circumference or whole body and every particular member or officer in and of the same In these even in these did the cleer and perfect light and life of our forefathers as from the whole circumference of the Heavens meet concenter and imbody it self thereby making one most cleer and perfect Sun in and unto this our Heaven or Horizon setting it as it were in the firmament of the Heaven that so it might again remit send forth or give back that its light life and strength into or unto the whole circumference and to shine upon the earth and to rule in the day c. even unto us and our childrens children after us for ever and indeed we being herein but one there is not neither may there be any other center or foundation unto us then onely and alone this one This being indeed and in truth the onely and alone Soveraign and Supreme whom none may withstand nor stand against in by through and from which onely and alone are all the other Creations as of the moon stars c. I mean the several Officers or members in the body or Commonwealth and unto or into which onely and alone they are all again to be returned as into their onely and alone very true right proper head fountain spring and center and so there also or unto it are they onely and alone accountable and by it onely and alone to be tryed and judged acquitted or condemned For it and it onely is the very true pure and cleer light and so the Lord and judge of and unto them all There is not neither must there be by any means upon any account whatsoever any vacuum intermission or interposition here but all is and must be in an exact round or circle or a perfect and entire union as we finde it was in the beginning And to speak the truth as the truth is man being made after the image of God in his very likeness upright and perfect as he is such or so far and so much as he is such or as he retains and remains or is again renewed and brought forth in that image even so much and so far he doth form fashion create make make manifest or bring forth the very same image or likeness For every thing doth bring forth its self it s own image and likeness and cannot do otherwise But I must forbear farther to parallel things lest whilst I endeavour to make things clear obvious and plain I make them the more dark and obscure and I fear to break my limit They are our Fathers We will say no more but this is all and the only answer we will make to all They are our Fathers It was satisfactory and well-pleasing unto God in a thing of much less concernment to the Rechabites if we might so speak then this is to us and we doubt not but it will be so also in our case and that we shall be held blameless in his sight and in the sight of all men onely I will take the boldness for this once to aver and say They are the best in the whole world neither would I at all doubt were it not a sin to dispute them to maintain and prove them so with the hazard of my life and that in the face of Heaven before all the men on earth My meaning is not of particular Statute-Laws few whereof will be found to be centered in or have any foundation upon the Laws Customs Ordinances and Constitutions of our Fathers but generally altogether besides against and quite contrary thereunto Nor say I but that Parliaments may null these or rather declare them null although in truth they are null in themselves and no Court of Judicatory no Officer or Minister of the Law ought to put them in execution It is a mistake to think that Parliaments are the foundation of Laws which cannot be for they themselves if they be any thing that which they be they be onely and alone in by and from the Laws Customs Ordinances and Constitutions of our Fathers Now that which hath its being in from and by another cannot it self be the foundation but must finde it self centered and founded and so limited somewhere out of it self and so may not do any thing but what doth certainly plainly and fully center and foundation it self in that which gave it self a being To imagine that Laws were instituted ordained and appointed to the hurt prejudice loss detriment damage and destruction of any is a very gross and grand mistake and extream injurious to the Laws themselves and their makers and institutors and a very great perverting of their true and proper use and end their onely and alone true and proper use and end being to direct guide and govern and so to secure guard and protect all and every one in innocency truth and uprightness from and against any and all who shall infringe violate molest trouble and oppress them and their native liberties therein But because we have principles of tyranny in our selves we judge and would make them such also hence it is that at some times as that principle or rather that unruly exorbitancy destructive to it self and others hath taken place born sway and prevailed have some Statutes or Laws if I might so call them been made which are quite off from altogether against contrary and destructive to the foundation to the Laws Customs Ordinances and Constitutions of our Fathers which By Laws as they are usually called for as is said they are not upon the foundation have ever proved destructive to and ruine of their contrivers and makers and it cannot be otherwise as I could plainly manifest and the Scripture is full and plain in it everywhere He who digs a pit for another shall certainly and infallibly fall into it himself and he who breaks the hedge a serpent shall bite him Hence also it is that Laws have been and are so often stretched and tentered haled and pulled rent and torn this way and that way to serve the particular and private uses and ends of some private and particular
and that because it is most pleasant and delightful to behold as in a certain place it is written Thirdly It and it onely makes manifest it not only maketh manifest it self but all other things in and with it self and thus it ruleth or is rule guide or governour to it self and all things else Rule or Government then in its true and proper nature if I mistake not is to Guide Rule Govern or Direct for the words are Synonima's the thing or things to be ruled or governed in their certain proper true just and right way to their certain proper true just and right ends Therefore it is absolutely necessary that he who would Rule and Govern aright do certainly know the very certain intrinse nature property and quality of the thing or things to be Ruled and Governed otherwise in stead of Ordering Ruling and Governing them he doth grievously disturb and disorder them unrule or make them unruly as we use to speak Government and Rule indeed therefore is not coercive or compulsive but attractive and directive It is not Rule or Government properly to force or compel a thing to this or that or the other thing besides against or contrary to its own proper true and intrinse nature For every abberration in nature is so much and so far destructive to or a ruine and overthrow of nature as that abberration or turning aside thereof is in the person or thing so forced and compelled by us No this is disorderly and unruly and not onely so but we do often thereby not onely turn aside and turn away the thing or things from us we would Rule and Govern to our use and service but also make procure cause or occasion them to be or become our hurt damage loss and detriment our deadly as is usually said foes and enemies Wherefore it becometh and behoveth man to walk wisely soberly and circumspectly with his eys in his head that is in his heart or center Now you know what the Scripture saith that as the head of the woman it the man so the head of every man is God and it is so Let us then I beseech you walk like our selves as we are in and after the image of God and so Lords Rulers and Governours in and over the whole Creation Adam he did give names unto all things brought before him as you may read in Gen. 1. No more But let us in the light of the Lord move on gently and easily so shall we the better finde and see our way and keep our feet and foundation the surer They are very hasty hurrying slippery times wherein many have lost their way It is enough to the wise and time is precious And after God had thus in with and by the light appeared brought forth or made manifest himself in and by all things in the Heavens and in the waters and in the earth according to their various kinds forms ends and uses he then made or made manifest man Come saith he let us make man in our image according to our likeness that he may bear the full impress image or character of our self in the whole Creation and so have the Rule and Dominion over the same let him be the Center from whence the whole Circumference may be ruled guided and governed And in truth were not man such he could not have had the Rule and Dominion for he who rules without contradiction must have the supremacy of light and life over the things ruled In ver 26. it is written Let us make man in our image according to our likeness and let him rule c. In ver 27. it is written thus God created the man in his image in the image of God created he him male and female created he them There you have the rule pattern or sampler of all things brought forth or made manifest for saith he Let us make man in our image according to our likeness and so as he was in after or according to the image or likeness of God let him be a Rule Guide Governour in and unto himself and all things else And if any further Rule and Government be given unto man since that time then is there expressed I know not of it but must say If one man do excercise Lordship or Kingship over another as Christ in another case it was not so in the beginning and also what he saith in the same case to his Disciples that although the Gentiles did so it should not be so with them It will be found I believe upon due consideration a grand and gross mistake as I have already said to attribute rule and government unto the Head if our meaning by the head be the top uppermost or highermost part of the body certainly that is altogether uncapable of the rule and government of the body For it is too high and at too great a distance from the feet which are mainly to be intended and attended Rule and Government I believe will be found upon search and inquiry to lie in the heart it being the center of the body and the seat and center of light and life in the body the government of the head which may I not say it hath usurped over the heart is that which hath and doth disorder and undo us And to speak truth it cannot rule and govern it self as experience day by day doth abundantly manifest If the first in order of Causes be not just and right certain and true stable and fixt that or those things which issue forth from it have their dependancy motion rule guidance or Government by it and from it must of necessity be at least so much and so far unjust irregular uncertain unstable and untrue as is their or its first moving cause Take it in Naturals in Artificials in Civils or Politiques as it is called That which is not right it self cannot possibly make another right wherefore it is written First pull out the beam that is in thine own eye and then c. and that a corrupt fountain cannot send forth pure streams Who can draw a strait and certain line by a crooked and uncertain rule I am unwilling to speak of absolute and unlimited Governours or Governments nor shall I dispute which is best fetching arguments from this or that or the other convenience or inconvenience which perhaps may be and perhaps may never be in which there is the greatest and uncertainest of varieties that can be imagined that is not mans work but to fear the Lord and do the thing that is right and just and that justly and rightly too as to the way also for the way and the end must be one both just and justly done this is mans center and resting place from which he may not move nor be moved lest he die In the beginning we finde not any thing in the whole Creation as we have it recorded in the Scriptures that was not limited bound or circumscribed even he who had the Rule Dominion or