his Peoples desire gave them a King to judge them like all the Nations How was that In most Nations we read of at that time and perhaps in some from the Confusion of Tongues it was the Peoples part to chuse who should rule over them And that either upon every Vacancy as in Elective Kingdoms or at the first once for all as in those that were Hereditary God was pleas'd so far to grant his Peoples Request that they should be an Hereditary Kingdom But for the first King of the reigning Line God would have the chusing of him himself And accordingly first he chose Saul whose Kingdom should have been Hereditary if he had not hindred it by his Disobedience to God Then God made choice of David a Man after his own heart and David having many Sons among them all God chose Solomon to continue the Succession in him and his Heirs as he did till the Babylonian Captivity This Account that I have given runs through half the Age of the World And so far I think it is worth the observing that there was no other standing Government in that Nation which God chose to be his peculiar People but what was administred by single Persons And those Persons Title to the Government was either Patriarchical or by Divine Nomination Both which ways of coming into Power were so wholly of God that the People had nothing to do but to accept the Choice of God and to submit to it § 11. In other Nations indeed that did not keep up the Patriarchical Right there the Peoples Consent was required except in the Case of Conquest before-mention'd And this Consent being merely an human Act it may seem that the Authority it gives is not as we are here taught from God only But to set this Matter right we are to consider by what Motives it is that the People are generally led to chuse any one to rule over them All their Motives may be reduc'd to these two either Merit or Favor If there be any other they are but Compositions of these § 12. The first Choise of Kings I conceive to have been made on account of Merit the People being led to it by a sense of the Benefits they had receiv'd I judge so from that which having been already shewn I take now for granted that the Earth was peopl'd at first by great Families Now when those by Oppression of powerful Neighbors or by Civil Discord among themselves came to be in great Distress such as made them see the Necessity of being united in greater Bodies for their own Preservation those Heroic Men that shew'd them the way of it and that brought them under Government and Laws these were called the FOUNDERS of the Nations Such was Moses among the People of Israel When he had brought them out of Egypt they own'd this as a Title to Government that he would have had even without Divine Nomination Such was Cecrops among the Athenians and Romulus among the Romans and other first Kings in other Nations who were so sensible of the Benefits that they receiv'd by them that they not only believ'd them sent from God but they made them Gods themselves and worship'd them as the Tutelar Deities of their Nations § 13. Next to these and something like them were the first Planters of Colonies Such as Cadmus was at Thebes AEneas in Latium and the like In England such were Hengist and the rest that began the Seven Kingdoms of the Saxon Heptarchy From one of these namely from Cerdic King of the West-Saxons the Descent of our Royal Family is unquestionable § 14. But the most like to Founders are they whom God raises up to be the Restorers and Deliverers of a People when they are either brought low by Tyranny and Oppression or when they are torn in pieces by Factions among themselves Thus when the Jews were oppress'd by Antiochus Epiphanes who had Right indeed to a Tribute from that People but not content with that would usurp an absolute Dominion over them Mattathias and his Sons stood up for their Religion and Liberty and by asserting both they so won the People to themselves that with their Consent the Government was establisht in that Family And thus when the Roman State being torn by a long Civil War had even bled it self to death it had certainly expir'd if it had been left to it self Augustus came in and not only bound up the Wounds but put as it were a new Soul into the Body He made it not only live but flourish by his great Care and Wisdom and Industry which so oblig'd the People that they even forc'd him to accept of the Empire These were such Benefits to Mankind as whosoever was enabl'd to do it was as if God had put a Glory about his Head it so markt him out to the People that they could not go beside him in their Choise they took him as one already chosen of God § 15. Where Kings have been chosen on account of less Benefits there have been grains of Favor thrown in to make up weight Favor is a Motive as I have shewn which works as well singly as when it is join'd with any other Consideration For it is grounded not so much upon real Worth as upon the Opinion they have conceiv'd of any Person It is Opinion that governs the unthinking sort of Men which are far the greatest part of the Body of a Nation And when all these go together they are like the Atoms of Air which though taken apart they are too light to be felt yet being gather'd into a Wind they are too strong to be withstood But he that brings the Winds out of his Treasures he also governs these and turns them which way he pleases It is the same great God that rules the roaring Waves of the Sea and the Multitude of the People § 16. For Examples of this in the Electing of Kings we are not to look for them in Scripture because all the Kings that God set over his People were as I have shewn by Divine Nomination But since there were other ways by which Kings were made in other Nations and since we are sure the Psalmist's words are as true of these as of any that we read of in Scripture therefore I conclude that in these also Promotion came from God by those ways which his Providence us'd in setting up the first Kings in other Nations S. 21. This Doctrin is as true of the following Kings that came in by Hereditary Succession where that way was taken in the Constitution of any Kingdom These Kings are indeed so much more the Creatures of God as they owe less to Men than any others except only those that came in by Patriarchical Right or by Divine Nomination There was the Act of Man in that general Consent by which their Ancestors came first into the Government And by this
A DISCOURSE of God's ways of DISPOSING OF KINGDOMS By the Bishop of S. ASAPH Lord Almoner to THEIR MAJESTIES A DISCOURSE of God's ways of DISPOSING OF KINGDOMS PART I. By the Bishop of S. ASAPH Lord Almoner to THEIR MAJESTIES King Charles I. Works p. 711. in his Letter to his Son With God I would have you begin and end who is King of Kings the Soverain disposer of the Kingdoms of the World who putteth down one and setteth up another Publish'd by Authority LONDON Printed by H. Hills for Thomas Jones at the White-Horse without Temple-Bar 1691. TO THE READER HAVING had the honor to preach before their Majesties on the fift day of November last and afterward to be commanded by Them to print my Sermon which contain'd many things concerning the late Revolution I humbly crav'd leave to put my thoughts into another form wherein I might not only say those things more at large but also prove what I had said in that Sermon knowing I could do it by such Authorities as would be sufficient to clear me from that charge of Singularity or Novelty which hath been too liberally thrown upon others that have preach'd or written on that subject I know I am not better then my Brethren that have been thus us'd and therefore I expect to be treated no better then they have been But I think I have taken a Course to prevent the bringing of any charge against me on that head It will appear that I have deliver'd no other Doctrin then that which has been receiv'd and past for current in the Church of England ever since the Reformation And I hope it will be some service to that excellent Church to shew that what some have reported of her Doctrins hath had no other ground but the mistakes of some of her Sons who tho excellent men and such as our Church may justly glory of upon other accounts yet I must needs say have judg'd too hastily of this matter and seem to be too jealous of themselves for fear some wordly consideration should strike in with those second thoughts that would make them judge otherwise We are not to answer for the private Opinions of all that are or have been of our Communion But God be prais'd we may safely stand by the Doctrins of our Church and the most approv'd Writers thereof They are those that I have endeavour'd to set forth in this following Discourse While we adhere to them it will be for the honor of our Church that as it hath been always accounted the Bulwark of the Protestant Religion and prov'd it self to be so most eminently in the last Reign so it will appear to be the only unshaken strength of this Monarchy especially by the encouragment it hath now under their Majesties Government which I beseech God long to continue to his Glory and the peace and prosperity of these Kingdoms THE CONTENTS OF CHAPTER I. 1. THE Occasion of Psalm LXXV pag. 1. 2. The Scope of the Words vers 6 7. 1. 3. I. That Power is from God 2. 4. II. That he gives it Judicially 3. 5. The Heads of the following Discourse 4. 6. Of the Institution of Government 5. 7. Of the several sorts of it 6. I. Of God's Conferring it on Persons 1st Immediately 8. I. In the Patriarchical times 7. 9. 2. In the Jewish Theocracy 9. 10. 3. In their hereditary Kingdom 9. 11. 2dly Mediately by the Peoples consent 10. 12. 1st On Account of Merit 11. Thus especially on Founders of Nations 11. 13. On first Planters 12. 14. On Restorers and Deliverers 12. 15. 2dly On Account of Favour 14. 16. In the first Elections of Kings pag. 14. 21. In the hereditary Successions from them 15. 22. In Elective Kingdoms 16. 23. In Free States 16. 24. II. Of God's Transferring it from one to another 17. 25. That this is the Act of God 18. 26. By giving one a Conquest over the other 19. 27. That God doth this Judicially 21. 28. I. By way of Judgment on King or People 21. 29. Particularly on Kings 23. 29. For neglect of Government 23. 30. For Oppressing their People 24. 31. This is Just and necessary 25. 32. II. By way of Justice for 27. 33. 1. War is an Appeal to God 28. 34. 2. It is proper to Kings 29. 35. 3. 'T is lawful when they have Just Cause 33. 36. Great danger makes it Necessary 34. 37. Especially when also Religion is concern'd 37. 38. When Religion is opprest in another Kingdom 39. 39. Example of this in Queen Elizabeth's time 42. 40. Especially where it is settl'd by Law 45. 41. 4. Such a Cause makes a Just Conquest 49. 42. And that Conquest gives Right 50. 43. Doubted when the Cause is certainly unjust 55. 44. No doubt when the Cause is certainly Just. 58. 45. A doubtful Cause is enough for the Prince in Possession 59. 46. The People◠ought to be satisfi'd with this 61. 47. But much more when they see a certain Just Cause 33. 48. When the Cause is for their sake it is to them not a Conquest but a Deliverance 66. A DISCOURSE of God's ways of DISPOSING OF KINGDOMS Psalm LXXV verses 6 7. For Promotion cometh neither from the East nor from the West nor from the South But God is the Judge He putteth down one and setteth up another § 1. THIS Psalm was compos'd by David as I take it considering the State of Affairs that was immediatly after Saul's death When as it is here ver 3. the Land and the Inhabiters thereof were dissolv'd and even ready to fall but that David bore up the Pillars of it § 2. Then being in the nearest prospect of the Kingdom he called to remembrance what he had formerly said what warnings he had given to those Fools and wicked men that laid about them in Saul's time as if there would be no end of it I said to the fools deal not so foolishly and to the wicked lift not up your horn Do not bear your selves so high as it seems they did on that unhappy King's Favor Do not boast your selves of the power you have to do mischief That 's the common use of Power when it comes in the hands of Fools and wicked men § 3. To teach them better David shews whence it is that Power comes into Mens hands and upon what terms they are to hold it These two things the Psalmist shews in the words of this Text. First for the true Original of Power This in David's time all men took to be from Heaven but from whom there many knew not The Eastern Nations who were generally given to Astrology took it to come from their Stars and especially from the Sun which was the chief Object of their Worship The Psalmist tells them No. Promotion cometh not that way Neither from the Planet's rising nor setting nor from its exaltation in mid-Heaven That 's the meaning of the words from the East nor from the West
Consent the Government being made Hereditary there was no need of any other Human Act for the Continuance of it in their Family There is nothing more Sacred among Men than a Right of Inheritance But for the Derivation of that Right to their Persons they owe it only to God For it comes to them by their Birth and they owe their Birth only to God S. 22. In those Kingdoms wherein the Succession is continu'd by a new Election upon every Vacancy or wherein a new Election is made upon the Extinguishing of the Royal Family the Person on whom the Election falls in either Case ows his promotion to God from whom it comes the same way to him as it came to his first Predecessor in that Kingdom S. 23. I do not speak all this while of Free States or Commonwealths because I do not believe there was any such Government known in the World in David's time For as we read of no such in Scripture so it is agreed among the most learned Heathen Writers that the first Government every where was by Kings But wheresoever upon the Cession of Kings or the ceasing of the Royal Family or the like there has followed a Change of the Government from a Monarchy to a Free State or Commonwealth there also the Sovereign Power was of God and they that were invested with it had their Promotion from him by that Act of his Providence by which the Change was made namely by the Consent of the People And the same way the Providence of God brings in others to succeed them in their Power from time to time It has been prov'd in all sorts of Government that as the Sovereign Power in every Country or Nation is of God so they that are invested with it whether one or many are in the place of God and have their Promotion from him which was the first Part of the Doctrin of this Text. S. 24. The 2d Part is that the Transferring of this Power from one to another is the Act of God And this he does proceeding Judicially as being Judge saith our Psalmist Here are two things to be consider'd First that it is God that does this and Secondly that he does it Judicially S. 25. For the first of these that the transferring of power from one to another is the Act God this adds much to that which went before in the Text. It shews that God has such an Interest in the disposing of power as none can pretend to but himself Men have their part in setting up what they cannot put down again It is a Woman's Consent makes a Man be her Husband the Fellows of a Colledge chuse one to be their Head a Corporation chuse one to be their Mayor All these do only chuse the person they do not give him the Authority It is the Law that gives that and that Law so binds their hands that they cannot undo what they have done No more can a Nation a undo its own Act in chusing Men into Sovereign power I do not say but they may chuse Men into Government expresly with that Condition that they shall be accountable to the people and then the Government remains in the Body of the Nation it is that which we properly call a Commonwealth But for Sovereign Princes and Kings even where they are chosen by the Nation and much more in Hereditary Kingdoms as they have their Authority from God so they are only accountable to him For he is the only Potentate King of Kings and Lord of Lords He alone both makes Kings by his Sovereign Power and by the same he can unmake them when he pleases Nay more than so He puts down one and sets up another Both the Words imply something of an High Place and here they are used of Civil Government or Dominion Of this it is said that God so deprives one of it as that he advances another in his stead S. 26. This can be understood of nothing else but the Conquest of one Prince over another For what one resigns by a Voluntary Act he is said to lay down or to give it up to another But putting down is the Act of a Superior by which one 's place is taken from him against his Will Now God being the Superior that does this by the Act of his Providence it must be such an Act as gives the Power from one against his Will to another whom God is pleased to set up in his stead Thus in giving one Prince a Conquest over another he thereby puts one in Possession of the other's Dominions he makes the other's Subjects become his Subjects or his Slaves accordingly as they come in upon Conditions or at the Will of the Conqueror In short he giveth him the whole Right and Power of the other Prince But how can this be For if the other had a Right to his Kingdom it cannot be taken from him without Injury and that cannot ordinarily be without a War and all the Evils contained in it which are so much Inhumanity and Impiety together that whoseever has a true Notion of God cannot think he would approve of things so contrary to his Justice and Goodness much less that he would be the Author of them as he must be according to this Doctrin S. 27. Thus some may object But in Answer to this Consider how we judge of the Actions of Kings when they take away the Lives and Estates of Offenders To do the same things would be Murder and Robbery in private Men. But we know they are Acts of Judgment in them that have the power of the Sword and they would not be faithful to their Trust if they did not do them In this Text we are taught to think so of God that when he puts down one and sets up another he doth it as a Judge even Judge among Gods He deals with them as they ought to do with their Subjects Think of that and you will not stick at this Objection As a Judge he administreth Judgment and Justice both which are said to be the habitation of his Throne Particularly when he decrees a Conquest of any King or Kingdom it is either as a Judgment on them for Offences against himself or it is by way of Justice to others whom they have injured And both these ways he does what is best for the glory of God and the good of Mankind S. 28. First by way of Judgment or punishment for the Sins of a Prince or People or both God ordinarily suffers a Rebellion to arise within the Kingdom or a Foreign power to break in upon it And though these Rebels or this Foreign power may be such as have receiv'd no provocation nor mind nothing else but Dominion and Prey yet God makes use of them in this Case as he doth of an Inundation at other times He lets them loose to over-run and waste and spoil the Country to overthrow
the Government and to make themselves Lords of it and therein to execute God's Judgment on that wicked Prince or Nation This was Saul's Case on which this Psalm seems to have been made He had driven out David the Terror of the Philistines and put the Priests to death for relieving him for which Injustice and Cruelty together with his other Sins God brought in the Philistines upon him and made him feel the want of those brave Men that he had driven away for in the day of Battel he had none to stand by him and so he lost both his Kingdom and his Life S. 29. So it commonly happens to those Kings that living in a setled Kingdom will not govern according to the Laws thereof It is a breach of Faith not only to their people but to God also where they are sworn to the observing of Laws And though they are not therefore to be deposed by the people yet they cannot escape the vengeance of God who ordinarily punishes them with the natural effects of their Sin S. 30. Thus in the Case of not execution of Laws especially those that are a check upon Irreligion and Immorality the very neglect of the due administration of Justice though it seems to be nothing at present yet in time it will destroy the Government It bringeth the people into a Contempt of Authority and they are not much to be blamed for it for what are they the better for such a Government It lets them loose to all manner of Sins many of which are destructive to Society and all expose them to the wrath of God Both these ways they are disposed for Rebellion at home and so enfeebled withal that they cannot withstand a Foreign Enemy In this corrupt and weak Estate of a Government it is almost impossible that there should not be an Alteration S. 31. On the other hand if a Prince will have no Law but his Will if he tramples and oppresseth his people their patience will not hold out always they will at one time or other shew themselves to be but Men. At least they will have no heart to fight for their Oppressor So that if a Foreign Enemy breaks in upon him he is gone without remedy unless God interpose But how can that be when God is Judge himself Should the Judge hinder the doing of Justice It is God's Work that Foreigner comes to do Howbeit he meaneth not so He means nothing perhaps but the satisfying of his own Lust. But though he knoweth it not he is sent in God's Message for which all things being prepared by natural Causes and God not hindering his own Work but rather hastening it no wonder that it succeeds and that oftentimes very easily S. 32. If there seems in all this to be any hard measure put upon Kings it ought to be consider'd how much harder it would be upon the People if it were otherwise When it happens as it doth sometimes and that especially for the Sins of a Nation that they come to be under weak or wicked Kings even these they must not resist God hath taught them otherwise What then Must they be left to the Wills of these Tyrants Or of them that govern weak Kings which is commonly worse Must they endure all the load of Oppression that these will lay upon them that is for a few Mens pleasure must a Nation be made miserable This is far from God's design in the Institution of Government He makes Kings his Ministers for the good of their People If any will take that Office upon them they must behave themselves accordingly Otherwise if they take it as given them only for themselves it is such a breach of Trust that God cannot but punish them for it But how should he do this so as that the punishment may have its effect in warning others not to transgress in like manner He cannot do this better than by making Men his Instruments in it And therefore it is that God though he has infinite ways yet commonly chuses to employ Men in this Service He either finds them at home that are not afraid of the Power as they ought to be or he brings them in from Foreign Countries Whistling for the Fly out of Egypt or the Bee out of the Land of Assyria In plain words stirring up a Pharaoh or a Nebuchadnezzar against them God may employ such if he will though none is too good for this work to execute his righteous Judgments And when God doth his work by their hands whatsoever the Instruments may be the Cause being so Just and so evident as we have supposed All Men that see it will say Doubtless there is a God that judges on the Earth S. 33. In the way of Justice God acts as a Judge between two Soveraign Powers when they bring their Causes before him that is when they make War upon one another And when he seeth his time that is when he finds the Cause ripe for Judgment if it proceeds so far then he gives Sentence for him that is injur'd against him that hath done the Injury The effect of this Sentence is a just Conquest and that is the other way in which God proceeding Judicially puts down one and sets up another That this may be the better understood there are four things to be consider'd particularly First That War is an Appeal to the Justice of God Secondly That none can be Parties to this but they that are in Sovereign Power Thirdly That to make it a just War there must be a just and sufficient Cause Fourthly That Conquest in such a War is a decisive Judgment of God and gives one a Right to the Dominions that he has conquer'd from the other S. 34. That War is an Appeal to God this appears in the nature of the thing For it is the Act of two Parties that differ about their Right And they put it upon such an issue as none but God can give For both agree in effect that the Right shall be adjudg'd to him that has the Victory And it is God alone that is the Giver of Victory Therefore the Judgment of God has been solemnly appeal'd to by Nations when they were engaging in War We see a notable Instance of this in the History of Jephtha When his Country was invaded by the Ammonites he stood up to defend it with this express Declaration to their King I have not sinned against thee But thou dost me wrong to war against me The Lord the Judge be Judge this day between the Children of Israel and the Children of Ammon The like Declarations are frequent in the ancient Roman History S. 35. The Parties to this Appeal are properly such as have no Superior but God For them that have an earthly Superior their Appeal lies to him as God's Minister attending continually on this very thing So that Subjects know
expose not only themselves to be ruin'd but also their Friends and Allies to perish with them in that Case Saevitia est voluisse mori it is a sort of bloody Peaceableness it is cruelty to Mankind to go to that degree of suffering Injuries § 37. But especially when the Cause of God is concern'd to whom we owe all things and ought to venture all for his sake Surely 't is his Cause when it touches Religion which is all that is dear to him in this World And tho' Religion it Self teaches us if it be possible as much as in us lyes to live peaceably with all Men yet as 't is there suppos'd there may be Cause to break the Peace so it adds infinitely to that Cause when it comes to concern our Religion I do not say that Religion is to be propagated with the Sword No nor that Princes may force it on their own Subjects much less upon other Princes or their Kingdoms These are things we justly abhor among those inhumane Doctrins and Practices by which Popery has distinguisht it Self from all other Religions We have the more Cause to abhor it for the sake of a Prince that is the very Scandal of Popery that hath not only exceeded all Heathen Cruelty in the persecuting of his own Protestant Subjects but even forc'd a neighbour Prince to give him Game in his Dominions His butchering the poor Vaudois was barbarity beyond all Example We have reason to believe he would have hunted here next His Dogs had been upon us ' ere this time if God had not wonderfully preserved us God preserve us still from Kings that have that way of propagating Religion § 38. Yet it may be a Question whether such Tyrannies being used on the account of Religion give a just Cause of War to other Princes of the same Religion I speak now of Persecution in such Countries where their Religion is not established by Law It is certainly true which the Apostle says We are all Members of one and the same Body and it is the duty of Members to have the same Care of one another and whether one Member suffer all the Members suffer with it or one Member be honoured all the Members rejoyce with it It is true that Christian Princes especially as they have the charge of that part of Christ's Body that is in their own Dominions so they ought to extend their Care and Compassion to their Fellow-Members elsewhere But whether they ought to concern themselves for them so far as to make War on their account against their Kings by whom they are persecuted nay whether they may lawfully do this is a doubt that may deserve some farther Consideration The Christian Emperors seem to have made no doubt of this For they made War sometimes for no other Cause but that of Religion against such Kings as persecuted the Christians in Their own Dominions Sometimes when they had other Causes of War they preferr'd this before all the rest which certainly they would not have done if it had not weighed much in their Opinion Of them of the Roman Communion there hath been enough already said to shew their Opinion of this Cause They that are for propagating Religion by the Sword cannot but think it a just Cause of War against any Prince that he persecutes those of their Religion We have a notable Instance of this in Cardinal Pool who was one of the moderatest Papists of his age and yet writ a Book wherein he prest it most earnestly upon the Emperor Charles V. as his Duty to give over his War with the Turk and to turn his Arms against King Henry VIII for oppressing the Catholicks in his Dominions Pope Pius V. whom they have lately made a Saint was as earnest with the Emperor Maximilian and with the Kings of Spain France and Portugal He would have them all make War against Queen Elizabeth for persecuting his Catholicks though she never touch'd one of them till that Pope had forc'd her to it by stirring them up to Rebellion against her with his famous Bull of Deprivation § 39. For the Opinion of Protestants in this matter we have it sufficiently declared in the Reign of that excellent Queen who made War first or last against all the Popish Princes in her neighborhood for persecuting the Protestants in their Kingdoms And herein she was not only justified by the Pens of our greatest Lawyers and Divines but she had also the approbation and assistance of our Parliaments and Convocations It appears she was the rather inclin'd to do this by a Jealousy of State for which there was an evident Cause in those Popish Doctrins before-mentioned For she knew that those Kings accounted her and her People to be Hereticks as well as they did their own Subjects whom they used so very ill for no other Cause but because they were of her Religion And therefore she had Reason to fear that when they had done their Work in the destroying of that Religion at home in their own Kingdoms the same blind Zeal acted by the same Principles would bring them hither at last for the finishing of their Work or as some have worded it since for the rooting out of the Northern Heresie This was such a danger that if she had suffer'd it to grow upon her it had been a betraying of her Trust which she could not have answer'd to God And yet there being no way to prevent it but by making War upon them in their own Kingdoms this ought to be accounted a Defensive War and that made upon very just Cause as hath been already shewn We have Reason to hope that all Popish Princes are not under the Power of those Principles But yet when any of them persecutes his Subjects that are of another Religion beyond the standing Laws of his Kingdom they cannot expect that other Princes which are of that Suffering Religion can be so confident of this as to stand idle and look on and not rather when they see the danger comes towards them to defend themselves from it if they can by beginning a War in that Prince's Dominions § 40. There is yet a greater Cause for this when the Suffering Religion is that which is establisht by the Laws of that Kingdom and yet the King that is sworn to those Laws and therefore bound to support that Religion is manifestly practising against it and endeavours to supplant and oppress and extinguish it What should other Princes or States that profess the same Religion do in this Case They see that such a King is set upon the destroying of their Religion He hath declar'd a hostile mind towards the Professors of it in judging them not capable of enjoying their Temporal Rights If he deals thus with his own People what are Forreigners to expect at his hands Can they think themselves secure because they are at Peace with
signifie one and the same thing For the Chaldeans reckon'd the Times and the Seasons by the Years of their Kings Reigns as we do by the Years of our Kings Reigns at this day And therefore according to the Change of their Kings there was also a change of the Times and the Seasons They were the Changes of Four great Empires which God here considered not as being the greatest in the World but as being those to which his People were to be subject They were subject successively to those Four great Empires of the Babylonians the Persians the Greeks and the Romans Those Four are understood in this Vision by Josephus and by all the Jews that have written and by all the Primitive Christians But these words being so understood afford us a plain Instance of this Doctrine They shew that it is by way of Conquest that God puts down one and sets up another For so the Babylonian Empire was put down by Cyrus who set up the Persian in its stead The Persian Empire was put down in their last King Darius and Alexander set up the Macedon in its stead The Macedon Kingdom was put down in their last King Perseus and the Roman was set up in its stead All these Kingdoms were changed by Conquests that they made one upon another And so it was by those Conquests that God removed Kings and set up Kings Which though we see not yet that it was any more than by the Permissive Providence of God yet that was enough to make the People of God become Subjects to those Kings that came in by no other Title I do not say but they would have opposed the making of one of those Conquests namely that of Alexander the Great because King Darius was then living But when they saw they could not Oppose the Conquest being already made then Just or Unjust they submitted to it and having submitted they were subject without any more Controversie Therefore also Just and Religious Kings have reckoned their Conquests 〈◊〉 the great things that God wrought in 〈◊〉 means and accounted them as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Subjects whom they had gain'd by 〈◊〉 Sword as them that were born in thâ—â—â— Dominions Therefore also God hath commanded his People to give Obedience to the Kings that came in by Conquest without any other Title Nay to such as were capable of no other for they were forbidden to set a Stranger over them which was not their Brother And yet they were Subjects to Strangers such as Cushan Eglon and Jabin c. And in Zedekia's time God commanded them upon pain of Death to become the Subjects of Nebuchadnezzar who had made a full Conquest over them and held their Lawful King Jeconia then in Captivity This is plainly the Doctrine of that Convocation which sate in the beginning of King James I. his time and therefore it cannot but be very Unjust to charge any Man with Singularity or Novelty that goes in the Steps of so many and so great Authors § 43. Yet it cannot be denied that many others and those also Men of great Learning and Judgment have not gone on so smooth with this Doctrine they think it gives too much to the Success of a War without due regard to the Cause on which it was made But it is the Cause that makes a War either Just or Unjust And though the Events of both these may be the same for either of them may end in a Conquest by which God puts down one and sets up another yet whether this be Justly obtained or Unjustly it makes a great Difference For whereas the latter happens through the Judgment of God for the Punishing of a Sinful Prince or Nation it doth not appear that he that is the Instrument of this acquires any Right by it more that those Pirates or Robbers who are Instrumental likewise in the Punishing of Inferior Transgressors And if God gives no Right to him whom he sets up then it remains still in him whom he has put down So that he is rightful King still though he is out of Possession and the other is but an Usurper that is in Possession In this Case if the Usurper has no Pretence of Right no Prescription of time no Consent of the People but only an unjust Possession how a Subject ought to behave himself towards him even this is a DIFFICULT QUESTION in a most learned Man's Judgment Who yet Judges that even here it may be not only Lawful but a Duty to obey him that is in Possession when the Legal King is reduced to that pass that he can no more do the Office of a King to his People For saith he the Kingdom cannot be without Government and if the Usurper preserves the Kingdom a Lover of his Country ought not as things are to give any farther cause of trouble by his unprofitable Contumacy But then put case the Usurper hath Sworn the People to him and doth the Office of a King which it seems in his Judgment doth not take away the Duty that is owing to that former King how one can pay his Duty to both the expel'd Legal King and to such an Usurper This our Author says is A MOST DIFFICULT SCRUPLE and so it seems both by his and our most Learned Casuist's handling the Question where they shew how far one ought and how far one ought not to comply with such an Usurpation But these Difficulties are only in case the Possession is obtained by a War that was certainly unjust for if the Cause of the War was but doubtful and a Conquest follows upon it there is no place for these Difficulties Much less where the cause of War was certainly Just for if a Conquest follows upon this it gives a Right and then there is no Usurpation § 44. We judge of doubtful things by those that are certain and therefore to speak of these first Being certain that the Cause of War is Just we are as certain of the Effect of it So that if it be suffer'd to run on to a Conquest this also is Just and we ought to look upon it as the Execution of a Sentence of God by which acting as a Judge in the way of Justice he puts down one and sets up another And this being follow'd by the Peoples attorning their Allegiance the Right is as fully settled in him that comes in in this manner as if he came in by the ordinary way of Succession § 45. The Right of a Conquest being so clear when the Justice of the War is certain there is the less to be said of the Case when there is a doubtful Cause of War If the Effect of such a War be a Conquest it is evident that the Right of this Conquest ought to be judged of very favourably for he that hath Conquered is now in Possession And therefore according to that common Saying which is most true in
Interests that can be in the World § 48. In this Case if another Prince having a just Cause of War is so far Concern'd for such a People as to take them into his Care and to declare that he makes the War for their Deliverance The Effect of this War though We may call it a Conquest because it has Resemblance of it yet it cannot be properly so in any respect whether we consider the Prince on whom it is made or the People that have their Deliverance by it As to Him it is properly an Eviction by the just Sentence of God who thus put 's him out of a Trust that he abus'd to the hurt of them for whose sakes it was given him And as to the People it cannot be a Conquest over them who are so far from having the War made against them that it was made chiefly for their sakes If there be any pretence of a Conquest it is only over them that were their Oppressors But as for them that were Opprest it makes altogether on their side So that They are the Conquerors in Effect for they have the Benefit of it And he that obtain'd this for them hath a much more glorious Title then that of a Conqueror for he is properly their RESTORER and DELIVERER Thus it has been always judg'd by the People of God as it were easy to shew in many Instances but very few may suffice when there is none to be produc'd on the Contrary For that former Doctrin We have the Example of the Jewish Church in the Time of Alexander the Great When by his Victory at Issus he had driven Darius out of Syria the Jews yielded to him They had had no part in the War Even for that Reason he did not use the Right of Conquest upon them He requir'd nothing more at their hands but that they should pay him the same Duties that they had paid to Darius and that as many of them as pleas'd should serve him in his Wars Both which Conditions they accepted and perform'd as if they had been his Natural Subjects Much more in that Case of Cyrus's Conquest When he had taken Babylon where the Jews were in a state of Captivity did he use the Right of Conquest over them Did he sell them for Slaves or take away what they had So far he was from it that he restor'd them from their Captivity Having understood from their Prophets that God had given him those Successes for their sakes he did not look upon them as a Conquer'd People but as them whom God sent Him to deliver And treated them accordingly with all Possible kindness and obligation But there are no Examples more to be observ'd by us Christians then those that happen'd in the Time of Constantin the Great both because he was the first Christian Emperor and because the first General Council was held in his Reign Now in those times of the purest Christianity we find not that in any of those Countries which he had gain'd by the Sword any Christian had the least scruple concerning his Right to the Government nay they welcom'd him to it with all Demonstrations of Joy And though he had acquir'd a Title to it by the Expulsion of those Princes that had been their Oppressors and so might have taken it upon him as a Conqueror which Title he seem'd to affect upon other Occasions yet where he had declar'd his Cause of War to be for a Peoples Deliverance this being so just and so honorable a Title he us'd it and would have no other in all his Inscriptions There might be given many other Instances of this kind But these are enough to shâ—w that one and the same Person may Conquer and drive out an oppressing Prince and yet as to the Subjects of that Prince he may have no Right of Conquest but that which is much better the best that can be now in the World that is the Right of a RESTORER DELIVERER of His People The End of the first Part. A CATALOGUE OF BOOKS Printed for T. Jones at the White-Horse without Temple-Bar 1691. A Letter to Dr Sherlock in Vindication of his late Book Intituled The Case of Allegiance A Sermon preach'd before the Queen January the 30th being the Day of the Martyrdom of King Charles I. By the Bishop of S. Asaph There is newly Publish'd a Choice Collection of Ayrs for 2 and 3 Treble Flutes Compos'd by the best Masters of Musick Price 2. shillings 6. p. The Occasion of this Psalm a Psal. LXXV 3. The scope of these words b Psal. LXXV 45. c Psal. LII 1. I. That all Power is from God a In Aben-Ezra b Psal. XLVIII 1. a Esa. XIV 13. b Psal. LXXXII 1. II. That he gives it Judicially The Heads of the following Discourse Of the Institution of Government a Rom. XIII 1 2. b Rom. Xiii 1. c Vers. â— God's ways of conferring Soverain Power I Immediatly in the Patriarchs times a Gen. X. 32. b Gen. X. 9. c Gen. Xxiâ—i 6. d Gen. Xvi 5. e Gâ—n Xxv. 23. a Exod. I. 14. 2 In the Times of the Theocracy b Exod. Xix. 4 5. 2 Sam. Xii 12. c Psal. Cxxiv 1 2 3 In the Hereditary Kingdom of Israel d 1 Sam. Viii. 5. a 1 Sam. Xiii 13. b Ver. 14. c 1 Chron. Xxviii 5. II Mediatly by consent of the People And that I On account of Merit Thus especially on Founders of Nations a Exod. Xxxii 1. On first Planters On Restorers and Deliverers a 1 Macc. Xiv. 41 49. II On account of Favor a Psal. Lxv. 7. b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In the first Elections of Kings a King James's Works pag. 612. What God did directly by his Word and Oracle among his own People in the Election of Kings he did it only by his secret working in the Hearts of other Nations though themselves knew not whence those Motions came which God by his Finger writ in their Hearts In Hereditary Successions a Iren. adv Haeres V. 24. Cujus jussu homines nascuntur hujus jussu Reges constituuntur By whose Command they are born Men by his Command they are also made Kings Tertull. Apologet. c. 30. Inde est Imperator unde homo antequam Imperator inde Potest as illi unde Spiritus He is from thence made Emperor from whence he has also his Breath In Elective Kingdoms In Free States a Plato de Legibus iii. Aristot Polit l. 3. Polyb. Hist. vi There are others in Sanderson de Oblig Consc. vii 16. Of Transferring the Power from one to another That this is the Act of God a This is Protestant Doctrin See Sanderson de Oblig Conscient Vii 20. Grot. de Jure B. P. l. 3. 8 Pufendorf de Jure Nat. Gent. Vii 6. 1. Popish Writers as Bellarmin Becan c. teach otherwise Suarez de Legibus III. 4. 6 mentioning that Doctrin that a People may depose their King
saith it is altogether false but corrects this afterward saying nisi fortasse in Tyrannidem declinet unless he happen to become a Tyrant of which this Jesuit allows the People to be Judge He might as well have agreed with his Fellows By giving one a Conquest over the other God gives a Conquest Judicially a Psal. Lxxxii I. I. By way of Judgment a Psal. Lxxv. 8. On Kings a King James's Works pag. 531. Every King in a setled Kingdom is bound to observe the Paction made to his People by his Laws in framing his Government agreeable thereunto Ib. A King governing in a setled Kingdom leaves to be a King and degenerates into a Tyrant as soon as he leaves off to govern according to his Laws in which Case the King's Conscience may speak to him as the poor Widow said to Philip of Macedon either govern according to your Law Aut ne Rex sis b King James's Works pag. 553. I was sworn to maintain the Law of the Land and therefore I had been perjured if I had altered it Ib. pag. 531. All Kings that are not Tyrants or perjured will be glad to bind themselves within the Limits of their Laws And they that persuade them the contrary are Vipers and Pests both against them and the Commonwealth c Pufendorf de Leg. Nat. Gent. VII 6. 10. If he promiseth at his Coronation to govern according to Laws and breaks his Promise he is forsworn and yet that doth not dissolve his Government King James's Works pag. 531. Though no Christian ought to allow any Rebellion of People against their Prince yet doth God never leave Kings unpunisht when they transgress these Limits For Neglect of Government For oppressing the People a Esay X. 7. This is Just and Necessary b Rom. Xiii 2. a Rom. XIII 4. b Rom. XIII 3. c Esay VII 17. a Psal. Lvii. 11. b When Don Pedro King of Castile by his Tyranny had so lost himself at home and gained so many Enemies abroad that his Bastard Brother being set up against him by some of the Neighbouring Kings had driven him out of his Kingdome without Blood he came to our Black Prince who was then at Bourdeaux and desir'd him to bring him back into his Kingdom The Prince called a Council upon it where some of his Friends advised him to forbear telling him the great Evils that this King had done and adding this in the Conclusion All that he hath now to suffer is but the Rod of God sent to chastise him and to give Example to other Christian Kings and Princes of the Earth that they may not do like him Froissart Hist. l. 231. 2 God does this by way of Justice 1 War is an Appeal to God a 1 Chron. Xxix. 11. b Judg. XI 27. 2 It is proper to Kings a Rom. Xiii 6. b 1 Pet. II. 13 14. a Bishop Bramhall's Works p. 834. Private Right and private Justice is between particular Men. Publick Right and publick Justice is between Common-wealths as in a Foreign War b See Pufendorf de Jure Nat. Gent. II. 3. 21. Hooker Eccles. Pol. I. Saith of the Law of Nations that it can be no more prejudiced by the Laws of any Kingdom than these can be by the Resolutions of private Men. c See Grot. de Jure Belli Pacis i. 2. 1. ad 5. d Rom. Xiii 3 4. Mat. xxvi 52. Dudley Digs of the unlawfulness of Subjects taking up Arms London 1675. § 3. p. 75. Equals if injur'd they require Satisfaction and upon denial of it attempt to compass it by force they are esteem'd by the Law of Reason and Nations Just Enemies whereas Subjects if they make War upon their Sovereign tho' when wrong'd are worthily accounted Rebels See Albericus Gentilis de jure Belli B. fol. 1. from Pomponius c. 118. tituli Digest de verb. Signif Ulpian c. 24. tit de Captivis See Grot. de Jure Belli Pacis l. 3. 5. Zouch p. 30 de jure inter Gentes l. 6. 3. When they have Just Cause e Justinian Instit. l. 2. As in fear of great Danger f Lord Bacon's Works London 1670 p. 2. in his Considerations on the War with Spain The second of his three Just Grounds for that War was a just Fear of Subverting our Civil Estate And thereupon he says That Wars preventive upon just Fears are true Defensives as well as upon an actual Invasion In his Works London 1638. among his Sermones Fideles p. 189. he goes further in saying justus metus imminentis periculi etsi violentia aliqua non praecessit proculdubio Belli causa est competens legitima A just Fear of imminent Danger tho there has not been any Violence used is but of all Doubt a sufficient and lawful Cause of War g See Grot. de Jure Belli Pacis II. 20 39. And Pufendorf de Jure Naturae Gentium VIII 6. 3. h Albericus Gentilis de Jure Belli I. fol. C. 3. saith it is Defensio Utilis quando verendum ne petamur And Defensio Honesta quando alios tuemur He brings both these together in the Case of Queen Elizabeth's defending the Dutch against the King of Spain Ib. fol. D. he saith She might justly do it for if the Government of the Netherlands should be changed and the King of Spain become Absolute she her self would be in Danger of him He saith this is ipsa Ratio Imperiorum See Grot. de Jure B. P. II. 25. 8. And Pufendorf de Jur. Nat. Gent. VIII 6. 14. ending See Grotius de Jure Belli Pacis II. 20. 40. Especially when also Religion is concern'd Justinian Coll. VI. 7. 4. It is for this Cause that woâ—â—â— have made so many Wars in Africk and Italy namely for Orthodoxy in Religion and for the Liberty of our Subjects Bishop Bilson of the true difference between Subjection and Rebellion Oxford 1625. p. 381. in the Margin has this Position Princes who bear the Sword may lawfully wage War for Religion i Grot. de Jure Belli Pacis II. 20. 48. k See Concil Lateran IV. Canon 4. that it is every Prince's duty to persecute and that in Case he neglect it he thereby forfeits his Dominions See the Oath that every Popish Bishop takes in the Pontisicale Romanum It has these words in it I will persecute all Hereticks and Schismaticks Rebells to our Lord the Pope and will fight against them to the utmost of my Power Suarez de Legibus III. 5. 8. ending Saith Heathen Kings cannot be deprived of their Power by War unless they abuse it to the injury of Christian Religion or the destruction of the Faithful that are under them as is the constant Opinion of Divines Meaning of them in the Roman Church Again III. 10. 6. If Insidels have the Faithful for their Subjects and would turn them from the Faith or Obedience of the Church then the Church has just Cause of War against them