O Lord hast set our most Gracious King over us as our Political Parent as the Supreme Minister to govern and protect us and to be a terror to them that do evil O my God give Grace to me and to all my Fellow Subjects next to thine own infinite self to love and honor to fear and obey our Sovereign Lord the King thy own Vicegerent for Conscience sake and for thy own sake who hast placed him over us O may we ever faithfully render him his due Tribute O may we ever pray for his Prosperity sacrifice our Fortunes and our Lives in his defence and be always ready rather to suffer than to resist So also say the Bishops of Sarum and Exon. Seth Lord Bishop of Sarum 's Sermon Preached before the King at White-Hall November 5. 1661. Rom. 13.2 And they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation If within the Compass of those Foundations which I have mentioned Pag. 9. be found any color or shadow of License for any person whatsoever upon any pretence whatsoever to entrench upon the power of lawful Magistracy if any warrant at all for open Rebellion or privy Conspiracies for murthering or deposing of Princes or absolving Subjects from their Allegiance then let Kings cease to be our Nursing Fathers and Queens to be our Nursing Mothers The Act of Resistance is set down absolutely without any restraint Pag. 19. in respect of any Pretences or Causes whatsoever So that the sense of the words resolved by the Scriptures is this every Soul which upon any pretence whatsoever in any manner whatsoever shall resist the lawful Authority that is over him shall receive to himself damnation that is he puts himself thereby into a state of damnation If Erroneous Pag. 25. heretical or Idolatrous Magistrates may be resisted because they are so or because they join oppression of godly Men unto their Error in Religion how can any Kingdom stand Supposing this Tenet to be true it is indeed evident Pag. 26. no Government can be But now what color can there be to charge this Tenet upon Christianity Doth the Old or New Testament give any occasion to this Doctrine Is it countenanced 1. By Moses Or 2. By the Prophets Or 3. By our Saviour Or 4. By the Apostles 5. That Cloud of Witnesses the Noble Army of Martyrs did they give testimony to this Assertion or to the contrary 1. Moses was so far from the Doctrine of Resistance Pag. 27. that notwithstanding the Hardness of Pharaoh's Heart the Cruelty of the Bondage the Weakness of the Egyptians by Plagues the Number of Israel six hundred thousand and three thousand five hundred and fifty fighting Men above twenty years old besides the Tribe of Levi yet he would not lead them unto the promised Land without Pharaoh's positive and express consent to their Departure 2. As for the Prophets in the third Chapter of Daniel we find three of God's Children put to the Trial the fiery Trial of this Doctrine by Nebuchadnezzar an Idolater and a Tyrant acting highly under both those Capacities together They were cast into the fiery Furnace because they would not worship the Golden Image which he had set up And in the sixth we find Daniel thrown into the Lions Den only for praying to the God of Israel Let us consider their Behaviour did they resist or mutiny or labor to alienate or discontent or by denouncing Threats and Terrors to discourage Subjects from Obedience How had they been instructed by their Prophets Jeremy 2 Chron. 36.13 had taught them that Zedekiah had turned from the Lord God of Israel in rebelling against Nebuchadnezzar who had made him swear by God and that they ought to seek the peace of the city whither they were carried captives and to pray unto the Lord for it Jer. 29.7 And therefore the three Children in the Third of Daniel only refer themselves to God for Deliverance and Daniel in the midst of the Lions Den prays heartily for Darius O king live for ever Dan. 6.21 3. In the next place let us consider the Case of Christ and his Apostles and see whether any such Tenet may be collected from their Doctrine or Practice their Speeches or their Actions As for what concerns our Lord Christ I have had the Honor formerly in this place more at large to vindicate him from such Aspersions He paid Tribute at the expence of a Miracle Matth. 17.27 He submitted himself to all the Powers that were over him to the Sanhedrim and their Delegates to Herod and to Pontius Pilate he submitted himself to death by an unjust Sentence even to the bitter and accursed Death upon the Cross Phil. 2.8 This was his Practice As for his Doctrine he taught Men to render to Cesar the things that were Cesars Matt. 22.21 He acknowledged Pilate 's Power to be from above John 19.11 He rebuked Peter for smiting with the Sword and told him that those that take the sword shall perish by the sword Matth. 26.52 He taught his Disciples to pray for them which should persecute them Matth. 5.44 And the utmost permission which he gave them was when they were persecuted in one city to flee unto another Matth. 10.23 4. As for the Apostles they taught Men to obey them that have the rule over them Heb. 13.17 To submit themselves to every Ordinance of Man 1 Pet. 2.13 To do all things without murmuring or disputing Phil. 2.14 To pray for Kings and all that are in authority 1 Tim. 2.2 Saint Peter hath told us that such as despise dominion and speak evil of dignities are in an especial manner reserved to Judgment 1 Pet. 2.9 10. And Saint Paul in my Text that they shall receive damnation This Doctrine they sealed with their Blood. Saint Peter according to Ecclesiastical Tradition was crucified and S. Paul beheaded James the Son of Zebedeus slain with the Sword c. Now as for the Powers to which all these Instructions and Behaviours did refer they were for Idolatry and Tyranny and Persecution Humani generis portenta If it be objected that all these submitted because they were not able to resist the Answer upon Christian Principles might be That he which restrained the Flames and stopped the mouths of Lions could have given his Servants power to resist that Christ could have prayed his Father who would have given him more than twelve Legions of Angels for his relief that the Apostles who wrought mighty Signs and Wonders could have rescued themselves had it not rather pleased the great Ordainer of Powers by their submission to ratifie and establish the Doctrine of Obedience 5. But the Belief and Practice of the Primitive Christians will satisfie this Objection even to common Sense and Reason The Instances in this kind are infinite where Christians abounding in numbers being in Arms and abundantly able to make resistance have chosen with the expence of their lives to yield obedience to Idolaters persecuting them for their
You dispose not only their Affairs but their Crowns at your pleasure you hunt them not to covert but to death You train up your Followers in the high mystery of Treason To these ends you wrest Scriptures you corrupt Histories you counterfeit Reasons you corrupt all Truth And all you say is directed to a holy and religious end Away then with your Devotion and so we shall be rid of your dangerous Deceit This was his Opinion in the Days of King James nor was it newly taken up to comply with that Prince for Ep. Dod. ante Answ to Doleman as Sir John Heyward himself informs us he wrote his Account of the Deposition of King Richard the Second and the Usurpation of King Henry the Fourth to shew that the People have no lawful power to resist their Prince nor to hinder the Succession according to Proximity of Blood. SECT II. On S. James's day being July 25 of the same year was this Learned Prince crowned Pr. London 1604 the Sermon on that Solemnity being Preached by Dr. Bilson Bishop of Winchester on Rom. xiâ—â— 1. The powers that are are ordained of God. In which we are told That the likeness which Princes have with the Kingdom of God and of Christ consists in the Society of the Names and Signs which they have common with Christ in the Sufficiency of the Spirit wherewith God endueth them in the Sanctity of their Persons which may not be violated in the Sovereignty of their Power which must not be resisted ☜ By the anointing of Kings God hath taught us that their persons once dedicated to his Service are not only protected by his stretched-out Arm but are and ought to be sacred and secured from the violence and injury of all mens hands mouths and hearts Touch not mine anointed P. 105. saith God by his Prophet which is chiefly verified of Princes whom God anointeth to be the chiefest of his People Neither is violence only prohibited towards them but all offence in speech or thought Yea the very Robes which they wear are sanctified The Sovereignty of their Power will soon appear as well by the persons subjected as by the things committed to their Charge Let every soul be subject c. He that brings an Exception useth but a Delusion says Bernard for who can loose what God hath bound neither is this an Exhortation to Obedience but a plain Injunction You must needs be subject c. You must imports a necessity for conscience declares a Duty to God the danger of resisting being as great as the Commandment of obeying is streight Whosoever resists resists the ordinance of God and they that resist shall receive to themselves judgment ☜ Dare any man promise himself success and protection in Conspiracy and Treason when the Spirit of God so plainly threatens ruin and condemnation to all that resist whosoever they be To maintain Peace and Tranquillity God hath allowed Kings power over the Goods Lands Bodies and Lives of their Subjects and what private men may not touch without theft and murder that Princes may lawfully dispose as God's Ministers taking vengeance on them that do evil ☞ He that resisteth and dishonoreth them resisteth and dishonoreth the Ordinance of God to his own confusion in this life where Princes are permitted to revenge the wrongs done to them and in the next where God everlastingly punisheth the contempt of his Ordinance What kind of Honor is due to Princes is shortly delivered in that Commandment Honor thy Father Rom xiii 1. The Apostle in this place nameth three things due to Princely Dignity Subjection Honor and Tribute teaching us that Princes must be obeyed with Conscience Reverence and Recompense It is therefore sin to despise or refuse their Laws commanding that which is good and likewise to resist or reproach their Power punishing that which is evil even in our selves Howbeit when Princes cease to command for God or bend their Swords against God whose Ministers they are we must reverence their Power ☞ but refuse their Wills. It is no resistance to obey the greater before the lesser neither hath any man cause to be offended when God is preferred Yet must we not reject their Yoke with violence but rather endure their Swords with patience that God may be Judge between Prince and People with whom is no unrighteousness nor respect of persons The man of sin hath not more grosly betrayed his pride and rage in any thing than in abasing the Honor and abusing the Power and impugning the Right of Princes by deposing them from their Seats and translating their Kingdoms to others by absolving their Subjects from all Allegiance ond giving them leave to rebel by setting his Feet in Emperor's Necks and spurning off their Crowns with his Shooe c. In all which he hath shewed himself like himself to yoke whom God hath freed and to free whom God hath yoked to deject whom God hath exalted and to erect whom God hath humbled to challenge what God hath reserved and to cross what God hath commanded And whatever Citations may be made out of this Learned Prelate's Book Of the true Difference c. Printed at Oxford 1585 in Quarto and the next year at London in Octavo to prove the contrary Yenet the Quoters and some of them I fear wilfully mistaking what he says of such Republicks and States in which upon the Invasion of Sabjects Privileges they are allowed by fundamental written known Compact as in Germany by the Bulla Aurea to resist as if it were applicable to free Monarchies and particularly to England contrary to his own express Assertion * P. 518 519 c. where be proves it at large That the Subjects in England have not that lawful Warrant to draw their Sword without consent of their Prince as the Germans have without consent of the Emperor He also teaches us our Duty agreeable to the holy Scriptures and primitive Antiquity in many places of that Book †P. 339 c. What Question can this be between the Prince and the People whether the Magistrate shall be deposed since God hath expresly commanded the People to be subject to the Sword and not to resist Against which Precept no earthly Court may deliberate ☜ much less determine to break his Law or license the People to frust are his Heavenly Will. It is one thing to disbuâ— then the Conscience from obeying the Evil which a Prince commandeth which a Priest may do and another thing to take the Prince's Sword out of his hand for abusing his Authority which the Priest may not do Manasses was carried Captive out of his Realm in the midst of his furious Idolatry and yet in his absence and misery no man stirred against him but his Kingdom was reserved for him until he was released out of Prison and sent back from Babylon It was therefore not for fear of Death but for regard of Duty that the zealous Priests
Impiety but to charge them with faults they have not is shameless Blasphemy SECT III. To this purpose also the Author of a discourse concerning Supreme Power and common right calculated for the year 1641. but publish'd an 1680. is very full and pertinent I must recommend the Book to the Reader while I cite only one passage out of it Kings have a right of security against all Violence P. 33. they are above all humane judicature and only under God as the People are under them for which God styles himself Lord of Lords and King of Kings Sam. Otes Chaplain to Sir Francis Walsingham Lond. 1633. fol. P. 206 207 c. and other Persons of Honor in his Seventeenth Sermon on S. Jude's Epistle v. 8. Our Lord Jesus performed all Obedience to Rulers even then when they were Heathen and knew not God his precept was Give to Cesar the things that are Cesars his practice he paid tribute and Paul 1 Tim. 2.1 willeth the Ephesians to pray for them even then when like Manasses they poured out blood like water and made Towns and Cities swim with blood as he did Jerusalem when like the Chaldees ☜ they gave the dead bodies of God's Servants unto the Fowls of the air and the Flesh of his Saints unto the Beasts of the field When like Antiochus they burnt all Libraries and consumed the days of the Christians like smoak and their Bones were burnt like an hearth when they were like Pelicans in the Wilderness and like Owls in the Desarts when they did eat ashes like bread and mingled their Drink with weeping and to shew the constant practice of this not to go back like the shadow of Ezekiah 's Dyal to the time of the Law the Jews are commanded to pray for Nebuchadnezzar tho as a Man he deserved not the Name of a Man but a Beast yet as a King he is called the Servant of the Most High God. Mr. Rob. Bolton Batchelor in Divinity and Preacher of God's Word at Broughton in Northamptonshire in his Epistle Dedicatory to the Honorable Sir Rob. Carre Gentleman of the King's Bed-Chamber A gracious Man about a Royal Person is a goodly sight and full well worth even a King's Ransom For never any except himself truly fear the great God of Heaven can possibly be cordially and conscionably serviceable to any of our earthly Gods A Principle so clear and unquestionable that no Man of Understanding and Master of his own Wits except himself be notoriously obnoxious can have the face to deny it Please they may be politickly plausible flatter extremely and represent themselves to ordinary observation as the only Men for Loyalty and Love but if we could search and see their hearts we should find them then most laborious to serve themselves and advance their own Ends when they seem most zealous for their Sovereign's Service Achitophel in the sunshine of Peace and Calmness of the Kingdoms did accommodate himself to the present both in Consultations of State and religious Conformity but no sooner had this hollow-hearted Man espy'd a dangerous Tempest rais'd by Absalom's unnatural Treachery but he turn'd Traytor to his natural Lord When he observ'd the Wind to blow another way he follow'd the blast and set his Sails according to the Weather which made David after complain but it was thou O Man even my Companion my Guide and Familiar We took sweet Counsel together c. Wherefore let great Men without Grace profess and pretend what they will and protest the Impossibility of any such thing as Hazael did in another Case yet ordinarily in such tumultuous times and of universal confusion for the securing of their temporal happiness which without timely turning on God's side is all the Heaven they are like to have in this World or the World to come I say upon a point of great Advantage and Advancement with safety they would fly from the declining State and down-fall of their old Master tho formerly the mightiest Monarch upon earth as from the Ruins of a falling House And it can be no otherwise for they have no internal Principle or supernatural Power to illighten and enable them to set their shoulders against the Torrent of the times and be overflown with it But now he that truly fears God would rather lose his high Place nay his Posterity as much Hearts-blood if he had it as would animate a whole Kingdom than leave his lawful Sovereign Lord in such a Case upon any terms tho he might have even the Imperial Crown set upon his own Head. For Conscience that poor neglected thing nay in these last and looser times even laughed at by Men of the World yet a stronger tye of Subjects hearts unto their Sovereigns than Man or Devil is able to dissolve ever holds up his Loyal Heart erect and unshaken when all Shebnas Hamans and Achitophels would hide their heads and shrink in the wetting Which Conscience of his if upon such occasion he should unhappily wound he knows full well it would follow him with guilty Cries for his so base temporizing and traytorous flinking all the days of his life Mr. To. 2. Ser. 8. p. 637. Faringdon If we make no better use of our Liberty than to fling it over our shoulders and wear it as a Cloak of Maliciousness the spirit is ready to pull it off and tell us our duty that for all our liberty we are to serve one another that Christianity destroys not relations of Son to Father of Servant to Master of Wife to Husband of Inferior to Superior but establisheth them rather and his Practice was according to his Doctrin for he was an Eminent Confessor to Loyalty in that great Rebellion as was also his dear Friend Mr. Chillingworth between whom there was a great Sympathy of Sentiments and Sufferings for both were harass'd for Preaching the same truth His first Ser. before the King on 2 Tim. 3.1 2 c. p. 6 7 c. especially the later but nothing could affright him from his duty which obliged him freely to reprove the vices of the Age he lived in the chief actors in this bloody Tragedy which is now upon the Stage who have robb'd our Sovereign Lord the King of his Forts of the Persons of many of his Subjects and as much as lies in them of the hearts of all of them is it credible that they know and remember and consider the example of David recorded for their instruction whose heart smote him when he cut off the hem of Saul 's garment they that make no scruple at all of fighting against his Sacred Majesty and shooting Muskets and Ordnance at him which sure have not the skill to choose a Subject from a King to the extreme hazard of his Sacred Person whom by all possible obligations they are bound to defend do they know think you the general rule without exception or limitation left by the Holy Ghost for our direction in all such cases