of Germany confirmed in the Regency by the States following the example of the Bastards is Crowned King and afterwards was degraded from the Empire and the Crown Charles the Simple after Twenty two years was forced to renounce his Crown though a lawful King. Lewis the Fourth his Son carried into England by his Mother c. And Ralf or Raoul Duke of Burgundy called to the Crown though an Usurper after whose death the said Lewis the Fourth called Doutremer is restored to the Crown Lewis the Pious though the Son of Charles the Great yet was elected anno 812. in whose Will extant in Naucler Charles the Great besought the People that they would chuse one of his Nephews which they pleased by the publick Council of the Kingdom and commanded his Uncles by the publick decree of his People to acquiesce Hence Carolus Calvus Charles the Bald a Nephew by Lodovicus Pius and Juditha confesseth himself chosen King. Aymoinus Historiogr 85. From the Merovingiens being Twenty two Kings of the Merovees to the Garlovingiens by Charles Martel Major of the Palace in name but King in effect of which Race there have been Thirteen Kings then the Crown came to the Capets In the choice of Pharamond first King of France after many Harangues pro and con about all kinds of Government at last they resolved on Kingly Government as the best sort of Government then the Lords Peers Magistrates and chief Captains as Representatives of all the People chose him King and was Inaugurated or Crowned by setting him on a great Shield or Target and carrying him into the Field where also both the common Soldiers in Arms and the People were assembled who confirmed and approved the choice by their Acclamations about the Year 419 or 420. And then they did Swear to the King to keep Faith and Allegiance to Honour Serve Maintain and Defend him against his Enemies but on condition that he be Religious Valiant Just Merciful Impartial Diligent understanding in management of Affairs skilful to resist their Enemies to punish Evil doers and to preserve the Good and to defend the Christian Faith likewise This Mutual and Reciprocal Swearing and Covenanting equally obligatory on both sides was the Custom from Pharamond to Pepin and afterwards in the Race of the Carliens descended of Pepin the French of their own free will chusing their Kings the Crown in those Days not descending Hereditarily If at any time the Crown came to the Son or Brother did succeed the Father or Brother it was not by any right of Inheritance or Succession to which they could not possibly have any right or pretence by any Law of God or Nature that wholly depending on consent of Parties to be governed but only through the affection which the French did bear to the memory of the good King deceased After Pharamond they chose one Daniel a Monk whom they sirnamed Chilperick whom for his Debauchery they banished and chose one Gillon or Gilles a Roman Senator or Master of the Roman Militia for their King who Governing as ill as Chilperick they sent and intreated Sigibert King of Metz to take the Crown of France and Crowned him Les Burguignons and les Austrasiens having made Peace with the other French chose Clotaire for their King in all the Three Kingdoms and afterwards chose Childerick King of Austrasie who delaying to come they chose one Odon After the decease of Dagobert his Son Clovis being young they chose him after his decease they chose his Son Clotaire King who dying Four years after they chose Thyerre his Brother whom they afterwards deposed and chose Childerick in his room Histories are full of the like examples in other Kingdoms Afterwards in the Posterity of Pepin who having been Ten years Master of the Palace to Childerick a weak Prince set up for himself and by his Power and Artifices by the help of Pope Zachary his ghostly Father dispensing with the Oath of Allegiance which the People had Sworn to Childerick the last King of the Race of Clovis whom the People caused to be put into a Monastery And after the death of Pepin the French by common consent chose Charles and Carloman his Son for their King with a charge that they did equally part and share the Kingdom between them At the end of the Race of Pepin Lewis King of the Francs being dead they being willing to transfer the Kingdom to Charles King of Austrasie or according to others Duke of Lorrain but whilst he deferred his coming Hugh Capit took possession of the Crown It is also evident in Story that one Kings Son hath been rejected and another inthroned For the French not being pleased with the Infancy and Weakness of Charles Son of Loys de Begue about Nine or Ten years old chose for their King Odon Son of Robert Saxon which was killed by the Normans in Battel and that Two years after they being displeased with the Government of Odon they discharged him of the Government and set up Charles again who misbehaving himself was imprisoned and they put in his place Raoul King of Bourgongue by which examples it is apparent the Kings of France were Elective not Hereditary But after they obtained Hereditary Possession of the Crown the Custom of the Election by the People which had lasted long being laid aside the Kings were Crowned and Chosen at Rhemes by the Peers of France in the name of the Church of the Nobles and of the People Bernard de Gerard. Sieur Mezeray Jean de Serres In summ All Kings were at first Elected and Chosen by the People and though now many succeed by Inheritance as by much the better way yet that way also is Constituted Approved and Confirmed by the People or their Representatives No Kings drop out of the Clouds neither do they start out of the Earth though the People chuse the Root yet do they not so absolutely chuse the Stems or Branch but if they do degenerate they in Prudence and Justice may make a better choice The Heirs of such Roots are not so much born Kings as adopted so not so much Kings as fair Candidates for Crowns Presumptive Kings only where Succession is not settled by Laws made by publick consent CHAP. V. Some Opinions of Hobs's Machiavil Pulpits and others examined The Peoples Power asserted in chusing refusing and rejecting Kings according as they did or did not observe Laws and Covenants Covenants equally oblige If broken by one the other is thereby set free Vsages and Customs of other Nations Sad examples of Perjury IT is true that Machiavil Hobs the Pulpits and others do inculcate That Kingly Power is so founded by God immediately that there remaineth nothing human in it and that publick consent is nothing at all requisite and that Kings are responsible to God only which is the ground of all Tyrannical Arbitrary and Unbounden Sway. For if Kingdoms by common consent can neither set Bounds nor Conditions nor judg of
you be moderate and mild towards your Subjects and that you govern them with Justice and Piety and that none of you in your own Person give Judgment on any Captive or guilty Person but that it be done by the publick Judgment of the Judges appointed thereunto using both Severity and Indulgence with great Wisdom and Moderation that whilst a pious Temper is used by us all the King may rejoyce in his People and the People in their King and God both in King and People And concerning our future Kings we pronounce this Sentence That if any of them contrary to the Reverence of our Laws by Regal Haughtiness and proud Domination shall treat us Tyrannically Anathema sit Let him be accursed from Christ and be separate from God for that he presumed to bring the Kingdom into trouble and distress De Smithilane vero c. As for King Smithilane who being guilty and sensible of his own hainous Enormities and Wickednesses deprived himself of the Kingdom and laid down his Royal Ensigns and we decreed with the consent of the Nation that neither he nor his Wife nor his Children for his Tyrannical Government should never be joined to our Society neither would we at any time promote them to Honour or Dignities This is a singular and excellent Example to which we may add a another Decree of the sixth Synod Toledo cap. 3. In which after the Statute of banishing the Jews it is said That in vain they did ordain good Laws except they did also provide that they should be kept Therefore afterwards if the King having the Reins of Government do violate the Observation of his Faith promised Let him be Anathema Maranatha in the sight of God and made Fuel of Eternal Fire and whoever else Priest or Christian shall comply with him in so doing By which it is plain what Power the States of that Kingdom have over their Kings if they violate their Oath when by the Feudary Right which comprehends the Kingdom a Vassal or Slave owes no Service to his Master if excommunicated but is free from his Oath of Fidelity lib. 2. Feud tit 28. § 1. v. de Jure Magstr p. 67 68 69. Take here also the ancient Form whereby the Kingdom of Arragon did oblige their King not only at his Inauguration but iterated it also in their Triennial Conventions in which the King was present that he might receive his Power from them and they theirs from him where after many Ceremonies performed and past between that which is called the Justice of Arragon which represents the Person of the Supream Power and to which the King by Oath is obliged to submit and the King himself either to be created or already created Formula qua Hispaniarum reges inaugurantur Nos qui volemos tanto comme vos y podemos Mas que vos Elegimos Rey con est as y est as conditiones intra vos y nos un que manda mas que vos i. e. We that are as great as you and can do more than you choose you King on these and these Conditions between you and us and one can command more than you By which you may see that that wise and Prudent People do honour their Kings as they ought Ibid 71 72. If we consult the Empire of Germany what Power the Princes Electors have there it is manifest to all the World both in choosing the Emperor and deposing of him as it hapned to Adolphus Anno 1296. and to Wenceslaâ—s Anno 1400. Emperors for there was such an Oath whereby their Caesars were bound and obliged as is described in a Treatise entituled Speculum Saxonicum lib. 3. § 54. For when the King is chosen he is obliged by Oath to perform Faith and Homage to the Empire and promise that with all his might he will promote the Administration of Justice and punish all Injuries and by all endeavours maintain the Rights of the Empire Now that they that had power to chuse them Kings had power also to curb and punish them is manifest by undisputable reason and matter of Fact. Ejus est tollere cujus est ponere Childerick was expulsed Anno 361. and Gilo substituted who was not of the Family of the Meroves and Chilperick Anno 578. and Theodorick Anno 667. Moreover Anno 890. the States neglecting Charles the Son of Lewis Balbus chose Euden alias Oden to be King. We read also that Hugh Capet cheated Charles the Brother of Lâ—thariâ—s whilst he neglected the Government In short if the Kingdom of Fraâ—cegalli had no Power to choose then neither Pepin nor Capet had any right to the Crown there being no want of Heir Males of Merovey when Pepin usurped the Crown nor were wanting Sons of Charles the Great when Capet challenged the Crown How great the Power of the States ordines regni of that Kingdom in the first Constitution thereof was and how long it continued so and how the Face of that Government is now altered and degenerated into Tyranny Histories are full which no Prescription of what date soever by any Law of God Man Nature or Reason can justifie it being contrary to the Solemn Oaths they take at their Inauguration which justifies all the rest It was but about Anno 1380. that the States of that Kingdom cancelled and made void the Will of Charles the Fifth surnamed the Wise and but Anno 1467. when Lewis the XI endeavouring to turn that Monarchy into Tyranny was deservedly impeached for Male-Government and therefore the States being assembled at Turin they appointed Thirty Curators alias 20. 16. by whom he should be governed but he soon got quit of them because under pretence of the Idol Claronensis which he worshipped with great Superstition he slighted and ridiculed all his Oaths and Promises but with so much unsuccessfulness horrour and unquietness even to his death that he sadly experienced which was the better and more happy Condition to be loved or feared of his Subjects Take the sad Example following of Perjury Charles VII whilst yet the Dauphin most wickedly caused John the last Duke of Burgundy of the Stock of the Gallick Kings to be miserably slain in his presence contrary to all Faith Peace and Friendship plighted unto him a little before near Melo dunum i. e. Melun This Perjury was afterwards expiated by the death of many Millions of Souls almost to the subversion of the Kingdom and Charles himself the King reduced to that misery that he was disinherited of his Father and saw his Capital Enemy Inaugurated by the Kingdom at Paris and from thence was rather Rex Biturigum i. e. King of a People of Aquitane inhabiting Bourge then King of France at last was forced to redeem his Peace on shameful and dishonourable Terms as may appear in a treatise Apud Atrabates with the People of the Province of Artois in which the King himself treated with Duke Phillip Son of the said murdered John his Subject this Clause was
against their Kingdom and their Laws as the People are against them and the Laws when they transgress Do Subjects obey the commands of their Princes which they may lawfully command and which they of right ought to obey without intrenching on God's commands Do they pay them Tribute Sute and Service not contrary to God's Laws as they ought So to obey Cesar is just lawful and praise-worthy But to obey Cesar's exceeding their just bounds commanding without warrant of Law affecting and designing a greater Impery without the consent of the governed or if they invade or violate the Laws of God perverting the right Worship of God who is above all Kings and Governments it is unjust and to assist Cesar's in such cases is unlawful and they that do make themselves partakers of other Men's Crimes Anno Domini 1300. Pope Boniface VIII challenged some Regalia which belonged unto Phillip the Fair King of France whereupon Philip sharply reproved the Pope by his Letter even in those days when the Pope was accounted the Vicar of Christ on Earth and Head of the Universal Church according to Communis error Juris loco erat Notwithstanding the Sorban answered That both King and Kingdom might safely withdraw themselves from their Obedience to the Pope without any guilt of Schism because not Separation but the Cause made Schism and that they did not oppose the Vicar of Christ but a wicked Man guilty of many Crimes Sieur de Mezerai Annales Franciae Archivae Camerae Ratiociniorum Lutet L. Barbar Ph. de Senat. If the Cause be just the Separation is from the high Priest or Bishop not from the Church Or more properly from Boniface not from the high Priest Unless such distinctions and discriminations are allowed for true and Authentick how can the Souls of whole Kingdoms be distinguished and separated from the Church If Kings invade the Rights of God Almighty and oppress his People who are the Temple of God with servitude denying their Rights Priviledges and Liberties which God hath given them and for which Christ died we may much more use the same distinction and in opposition to such Kings or rather Tyrants we may justly say That not the King but the Tyranny is opposed Anno 1408. Benedict XIII did grieviously oppress the Gallican Church with Tributes and Exactions whence a Convocation of the French Clergy being called by Charles VI. they decreed That the King and Kingdom ought not to obey Benedict as being an Heretick and Schismatick and unworthy of any honour which the States of the Kingdom allowed and the Parliament of Paris approved by their Arrest Annales Car. 6. Monstreletus Moreover they whom Benedict did excommunicate as Enemies of the Church they judged them forthwith absolved of such Excommunications and that thereby they were not excluded or deprived of any Benefit or Priviledge of the Church Ibid. The like we read to have been done as at other times in France so in other Kingdoms Which evidently shews That if Kings and Princes or States do tyrannize or extend their Power beyond it's just bounds Subjects may without any just imputation of Delinquency or Rebellion withhold their Tributes withdraw themselves from their Obedience or resist their Tyranny It being one thing to resist an evil Pope another thing to resist the Church one thing to resist a King another thing to resist a Kingdom or Tyranny We read That Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah and made a King over themselves And Libnah revolted from Jehoram 2 Kings 8. 20 22. yet after the true Worship of God was restored we find Libnah numbred among the subjects of Ezekiah Chap. 19. 8. If this distinction be of force when the Pope who arrogantly assumes to himself Superiority over Kings and Princes invades their Rights or the Rights of the Church is it not much more just if Princes I might say Vassals invade the Rights and Regalia of the great God of Heaven and of Earth It stands therefore sure that Princes commanding unlawful things or forbidding Holy things or introducing a False or Idolatrous worship the People or rather Parliaments Dyets Senates the several Officers or inferior Magistrates having a share in the Government and intrusted with the common concerns of the Kingdom by the People both may and ought to hinder or resist unlawful commands All or at least the Governing Magistrates of Kingdoms and Cities as first impowered by God and then constituted by Princes by Authority derived from the People ought to promote in their several Stations and Provinces first the Glory of God and of Holy Church and then the Good and Welfare of Kingdoms Cities and Free States and if they do not it is in them Crimen laesae Magistatis and they become participes criminis by such their sinful connivence Let us now consider what Bishop Bilson Bishop of Winchester as learned and as honest a Bishop and as sound a Divine as ever sate on that See and who hath written a most learned Treatise of the difference between Christian Subjection and Unchristian Rebellion in the days of Queen Elizabeth The Romans did not love the name of King and the Commonwealth of Venice Millan Florence and Genoa are of the same mind many States have Governors for Life and for Years and yet a Sovereignty still remaining in the People or Senate or in the Prelates and Nobles that elect or assist the Magistrate who hath his Jurisdiction allotted and prefixt unto him and may be resisted and recalled from any tyrannous excess by the general and publick consent of the whole State. In Germany the Emperor himself hath his bounds appointed him which he may not pass by the Laws of the Empire and the Princes Dukes and Cities that are under him have Power to use and govern the Sword as God's Ministers in their own charges And though for the Maintenance of the Empire they be subject to such orders as shall be decreed in the Convent of all their States and according to that direction are to furnish the Emperor with Men and Mony for his necessary Wars and Defences yet if he touch their Policies infringe their Liberties or violate the Specialties which he by Oath and Order of the Empire is bound to keep they may lawfully resist him and by force reduce him to the Ancient Government or else repel him as a Tyrant and set another in his place by the Right and Freedom of their Country Bilson's Subjection p. 513. Zuinglius saith That if the Empire of Rome or any other Sovereign should oppress the Truth and they negligently suffer the same they shall be charged with contempt no less than the Oppressors themselves Zuingl lib. 4. Epist Zuing. Occol f. 186. And elsewhere when Kings rule unfaithfully and otherwise than the Rule of the Gospel prescribeth they may with God be deposed as when they punish not wicked Persons but especially when they advance the ungodly and idle Priests such may be deprived of their Dignity as Saul