't in Lewis the Son of Philip the French King the People in general not living like Men nor dying like Christians nor having Chrstian Burial the whole Nation one dismal Scene of Horrid Misfortunes Behold the Effect of Violated Faith and Arbitrary Oppression But it is no great Credit to Prerogative That this King who had no very good Title unless it were Election was the first Vindicator of it in a violent manner And asserted the Right to Absolute Power with the same Justice as he did That to the Crown in the time of Arthur his Nephew who was the Undoubted Heir By these means he brought himself and People into Troubles which never ended but with his Life HENRY III. HERE we may perceive as also in another Reign or two hereafter how the Irregularities of a Father or Predecessor involve the Son and Successor in a Remainder of Troubles and the Nation also in their intail'd Misfortunes For although those Lords as Sir Richard Baker tells us who had been constant to the Father notwithstanding his Faults were also more tender of the Son who was Innocent and so stuck to him That by the Interest chiefly of William Marshal Earl of Pembroke who married his Aunt they prevail'd so that Young Henry was Crown'd King yet he could not come to the Crown upon the square but was forc'd to do Homage to Pope Innocent for his Kingdom of England and Ireland when he took his Coronation-Oath and to take an Oath to pay the Church of Rome the Thousand Marks which his Father had granted And though after his Coronation most of the Lords maintain'd him in his Throne preferring their Natural Allegiance to Henry before their Artificial Obligations to Lewis and Beat or Compounded the latter out of the Kingdom yet this King Henry so soon as he was got out of Protection and came to Administer the Government himself immediately in gratitude Cancels and Annuls the Charters which he had granted on pretence forsooth of Minority altho' he had taken an Oath as well as the Legate Guallo and the Protector to restore unto the Barons of the Realm and other his Subjects All their Rights and Privileges for which the Discord began between the Late King and his People These Rights and Privileges were several times enquired into and ascertain'd by the Returns of the Knights who were charged to examine them were what were enjoy'd in the time of the Saxon Kings and especially under Edward the Confessor and what the Charters of King John and his own express'd For 't is ridiculous to imagine That William II. Henry I. Stephen and King John should pretend to an Arbitrary Power virtually who all came in by the Consent if not Election of the People We may see how a Favourite can Absolve a King in Law and Conscience too And what a pretty Creature a King is when Prerogative and Humour are Synonimous and he Acts by Advice of a single Person or Party counter to that of his Parliament Hence as the Historians say grew Storms and Tumults no quietness to the Subject or to himself nothing but Grievances all the long time of his Reign He displaceth his English Officers to make room for Foreiners and all the Chief Councellors Bishops Earls and Barons of the Kingdom are removed as distrusted that is for giving him Good Counsel and only Strangers preferred to their Places and Honors and Castles the King's House and Treasury committed to their Care and Government These Indignities put upon the Lords put them also upon Confederating to reduce the King to the sense of his former Obligations but to their Petitions he returns Dilatory and Frivolous Answers and to requite their Favours sends for whole Legions of Poictavins to Enslave the Nation and to crown the matter marries himself without Advice to a Daughter of the Earl of Provence by which he brought nothing but Poverty into this Kingdom Afterwards in the Long Story of this King we hear of nothing but Grievance upon Grievance Confederacy upon Confederacy Parliament upon Parliament and Christmas upon Christmas were kept here now there in as many Places as he call'd his Parliaments and to as much purpose Bickerings upon Bickerings and Battle upon Battle till it grew to that height That the Lords threaten'd to Expel him and his New Councels out of the Land and to create a New King and the Bishops threaten'd him with Excommunication whilst through a various Scene of Confusion and Hurly-Burly sometimes one Party being too peremptory sometimes t'other with an Interchangeable undecent Shuffling on the King's Side and a Rude Jealousy on the Lords and various Turns of Arbitrary Fraud and Obstinate Disputes for above Forty Years wherein Prerogative and Liberty grew Extravagant and Mad by turns till the Nation was brought to the last Gasp at length the King in the Fifty second Year of his Reign in most solemn manner confirms the Charters That Magna Charta which was granted in the Ninth Year and pretended to be avoided by reason of Infancy and the Statute of Marlebridge which he had granted upon his Second Coronation in the Twentieth Year Wherein Magna Charta and Charta de Foresta were confirm'd with this Clause Quod contravenientes graviter puniantur Upon which as is said Peace and Tranquillity ensued And these Charters have never since been Impugn'd or Question'd but Confirm'd Establish'd and commanded to be put in Execution by Thirty two several Acts of Parliament And from the Authority whereof no Man ought to be permitted to recede even in his Writing to flatter any King whatever and Sir Robert Filmer Dr. Brady and Mr. Bohun c. perhaps deserv'd as severe a Correction as Collonel Sidney for writing Books and Papers only for I do not think he deserv'd Hanging if not greater for their's were dispers'd by an ill-tim'd-publication whereas t'others lay still only in his Study We date our Non Obstantes from this King which Matthew Paris calls an Odious and Detestable Clause and Roger de Thursby with a sigh said it was a Stream deriv'd from the Sulphurious Fountain of the Clergy EDWARD I. I Know not whether this King may come up to the Character which some of our Historians give of him in all Respects yet without doubt he stands an Instance and Example of Princely Qualities and Virtues fit to be imitated and at least as he is stiled the Second Ornament of Great Britain And as a Wise Just and Fortunate because Wise and Just Prince who in regard of his Noble Accomplishments and Heroical and Generous Mind deserves to be ranged amongst the Principal and Best Kings that ever were as Walsingham and Cambden Polyd. Virgil and Others relate Baker divides his Acts into five Parts 1. His Acts with his Temporal Lords 2. His Acts with his Clergy 3. With Wales 4. With Scotland And lastly With France And First He gave his Lords good Contentment in the beginning of his Reign by granting them Easier Laws and particularly in the
give the Remainder to their Subjects clogg'd and incumbred with a Condition to defend the Realm This is but an ill sign of a Limited Monarchy by Original Constitution or Contract At this rate a Man who writes with the Fancy of a Government may expose any thing even himself But why doth this necessarily follow May not several Privileges and Powers be lodged in the Crown for Conformity and Dignity of Government by Consent And so May not Estates or the Lands of a Kingdom be divided by Contract with the acknowledgment of the Tenure and to express the Service How come Lands to Escheat to the Crown for they are forfeited for Treason I mean of Cities but that there is no Heir How comes the King to have the Year Day and Waste of Lands which Escheat to the Lord By what Law if not of Contract To say they moved from the King and were Limitations of his Bounty is as much suppos'd on the other hand and gratis dictum If he had virtually all Lands Why not all Goods c. too No man will say that If he had I confess there would be then no use of Parliaments But to proceed the King by his Prerogative may Call and Prorogue and Dissolve Parliaments By what Law had he this Prerogative If not by Law of Compact and Consent of Necessity to avoid Confusion for if he could Command his Subjects Purses c. there could not otherwise be any Original use of them He might and would no doubt have call'd and made use of only a Privy or Cabinet Council or Cabal for after this way of Inference no King would certainly have Clogg'd himself with the impertinent Formalities of a Parliament their Predecessors were very Weak or Prodigal to Clip their own Wings and give their Subjects a share in the Legislative Power This is but an ill sign of an Original Absolute Arbitrary Power And 't was upon this pretence though those Gentlemen don't care to own it That they would have endeavoured to Disengage their King from the use of Parliaments and would conclude That the King might chuse whether he would ever call any or not at least in this Form Thus they would beg the Question and presume the Consequence on their side because equally absurd The King may Proclaim War c. Does it follow therefore that he may make it without other Heads and Hands Thus they confound the Executive and Legislative Authority They say Scribling is a sign of a Licentious Age and some think of a Decaying State too Ought not some Creaturs to be Muzled There were many odd sort of extravagant Books published on Subjects of this Nature in the Reign of King Charles the II d not without Reason as we may suppose But all these violent pursuits in both Extremes are suspitious and where all Parties mean nothing but the Publick Good there 's nothing of this nature worth contending for And whoever will reflect on the Circumstances and Occasions or Times of such Publications and the advancing these high-flown Notions with a little pains of Comparison will easily see through the Mystery of their Policy It is very extraordinary That Subjects make Kings Conquerors in spight of their Teeths and against their own Professions and Declarations on purpose to make themselves Slaves by their own Consequence though this really is neither the true Signification nor Import as Mr Spelman makes appear in his Glossary let them take it in their own sense but we may assure our selves they did not intend to inslave themselves They tell us That William the I st was a Conqueror and therefore we were all Slaves c. though at other times Force and Success will make no Right Yet afterwards they also tell us when we come to insist on our Rights as Subjects That Magna Charta was obtained by Force c. What then So had the Crown been before it seems by them Either the People of England had some Legal Rights before the Conquest or not If they had as is confess'd 't was time to endeavour the Restoring of them If William the I st were an Intruder and came in by Force of Arms only he was but a Successful Usurper and the People being under a Force could not lose their Rights If he came in with pretence of Title Title continued them in their Rights and either way was justifiable I am engaged in this matter before I am aware and beyond my first intention and I shall meet with these Gentlemen anon But not to forestal you in the History I can't avoid a Hint upon those times being upon Magna Charta and that being by that Act declared to be Declaratory of the Fundamental Rights and Common Laws of the Realm To shew the Arts of Debauching Kings and the end of such Attempts in one previous Instance Hubert de Burgo as you may see in Sir Edward Coke's Preface to Magna Charta c. meaning to make his step to Ambition which ever Rideth without Reins persuaded and humoured that King That he might avoid that Charter of his Father King John by Duress and his own great Charter and Charta de Foresta also for that he was within Age whereupon the King got one of the great Charters and that of the Forest into his Hands and by his Councel unjustly Cancell'd both the said Charters though this Hubert de Burgo was Primier Witness of all the Temporal Lords to both the said Charters whereupon he became in high Favour with the King c. But soon after for Flattery and Flatterers have no sure Foundation he fell into the King's heavy Indignation and after many fearful and miserable Troubles he was Justly and according to Law Sentenc'd by his Peers in open Parliament and as justly Degraded of the Dignity which he had unjustly obtained c. So that other Notion of Paternal Right is as Extraordinary This takes a short way and makes Mankind Rebels from the Creation or from the Flood Who could have imagined That this Paternal Dominion from Adam could have been inferr'd from that Expression of the Psalmist The earth hath he given to the children of men Which Sir Robert Filmer learnedly says Doth shew that the Title of Government comes from Fatherhood Methinks it seems a more plausible and literal Argument to Exclude Fathers or to lay them aside as they do in some Countries at such an Age Why have not this Party a scruple of Conscience about all other Variations of Government even by God himself At this rate they ought to procure Masses for the Souls of their Progenitors who lived in the Heptarchy It is certain no body living under any Commonwealth can hope to be Saved as remaining in a continued state of Rebellion Thus they create a double Obligation on Men and harrass their very Souls between their Natural and Political Parents in virtue of the Fifth Commandment But as much a Frenchman as he seems to be I know not how he will excuse
can only attribute this to the Character Stow gives of him viz. That he advanced Persons to Dignities for Merit only and who did excel others in Innocency of Life RICHARD II. SOME Princes have Erred upon a mistaken Consideration some through a wilful and rash Inconsideration some have taken Measures by Advice of Friends as they thought and have been deceived by Misrepresentations these may be pittied Others have Miscarried by hearkening only to Minions and Favourites are head-strong and resolvedly deaf and obstinate against Advice But the Actions and Conduct of this King are so Unaccountable that it would puzzle a Matchiavel to assign him a Character or to fix him in any Rule or Principle of Government Good or Bad. The Rebellion of John or Wat Tyler ought not to be laid at his Door it is called an Accident though it had some dismal Effects in it but the occasion which appears was the Abuse of a Collector who gathered the Poll-Money yet it may teach Kings that it is a ticklish and dangerous Experiment to let out a Revenue or Tax to Farm so that it may be scrued up into what may be called in the Country Oppression This King's first Misunderstanding in earnest or Misdemeanor if I may so speak after his coming to Age was imposed upon him by way of Surprise and Artificial Insinuation of Favourites it might be the result of a hot Indiscretion not of a premeditated Violence or Invasion of Ill-natur'd Policy And if the Duke of Ireland Michael de la Pool the Chancellor or the Archbishop of York were in fault on the one side neither was the Duke of Gloucester the Bishop of Ely c. to be altogether excused on the other and the Parliament imposing on the King Thirteen Lords to have oversight under the King as they called it was an unsufferable Encroachment on the Spirit of a Young Prince And he had reason to have recourse to the Judges for their Opinions and Directions touching what had passed in that Parliament as to their Participation of the Government with him whose Opinion though they had the misfortune to suffer for it was not so Illegal but Justifiable by the Laws saving only in Two or Three of the Questions to which they gave their Answers But Law is not always measured by its own Rule it stands or falls according to the Circumstance of Times A Man may at some time sooner and better Steal a Horse as they say than look on at others This first Affront so put upon the King gave him a prejudice to Parliaments ever after and consequently put him upon indirect Means and Practices to Debauch the Constitution and we may be sure Kings will never want Tools fit for their purpose Hence were conceived those prejudices also against the Duke of Glocester and the other Lords the King had Reason to be out of Tuition when he came to be of full Age 'T is true the Attempting of the Duke of Glocester's Life in that Treacherous manner was not to be excused neither was his Behaviour to be pardoned towards the King he reproached him too severely on all Occasions for though he was the King's Uncle he was not always to be his Governor they were both in Fault no doubt and both equally Unfortunate in their End 'T was an unhappy Reign divided between too haughty Subjects and Ill-designing Favourites too powerful for a Young Inconsiderate King to Manage with Prudence and equal Power Whether Chief Justice Tresilian did according to Law or not 't is certain his Death was not according to Law and as the Duke of Glocester had taken his Life so his own was soon after taken away without Trial also in an Arbitrary manner And the Earl of Arundel had the same Measure he meeted to Calvery one of the Queens Esquires The Banishing the Duke of Norfolk and Hereford and the Archbishop of Canterbury was rather a fault in the Politicks of those times for it seems it was the Custom then to Punish the Faults of Great Men only with Banishment but an ill-advised Custom than want of Consideration in the King Sir John Bushy the Speaker of Parliament was the most in fault in attributing Vain and almost Blasphemous Titles to the King Titles fitter as is observed for the Majesty of God and putting him upon a piece of Omnipotence in Recalling his Pardons which the Lords Spiritual and Temporal Adjudged in the Affirmative That the King might Revoke but the Lawyers and Judges having been burnt before designed to give Judgment t'other way and had no mind to Determine of Transactions in Parliament any more nor of the Kings Prerogative in such Ticklish Times Though at the next Parliament at Chester the Judges were drawn in to give another Extraordinary Judgment viz. That when Articles are propounded by the King to be handled in Parliament that if other Articles are handled before those are determined it is Treason in them that do it What was there Extravagant that was not done in this Parliament He brought it about as the History says That he obtained the whole Power of the Parliament to be Conferred upon certain few Persons who proceeded to Conclude upon many things which concerned generally the things of the whole Parliament to the great Prejudice of the State and dangerous Example in time to come What could we expect from a King who was Taught That the Laws of the Realm were in his Head and his Breast By reason of which fantastical Opinion he Destroyed Noblemen and Impoverished the Commons which was one of the Articles against him and which was much such a worthy fancy as Wat Tyler had who putting his Hand to his Lips said Before Four Days come to an End all the Laws of England should proceed from his Mouth But I am weary of the Medley of this King's Story In short if we survey him in his Taxations in his Laws and Ordinances after all and in the Station of a Christian and Man as well as King we shall with a little Charity or good Nature conclude him Blameable rather by Accident than natural Temper And as to his Conditions That they were more the Fault of his Education than Inclination and at the bottom those Failings that were in him retained the tincture of the light Inconstancy of his Mother He is another unfortunate Instance of the Instability and Misery of a King when he leaves the Track of Law and Justice for the Ways of Humour and Passion Sir Robert Cotton Observes That Bushy's Contrivance of Compounding with Delinquents wrought such Distaste in the Affections of the People that it grew the Death of the One and Deposition of the Other HENRY IV. IN the next Six Reigns during the Divisions of the Houses of York and Lancaster the Kingdom was scarce ever cool enough for Observations of Civil Polity and Administration The Thirteen Years of this King were divided between Conspiracies and Wars And as he came to the Crown without a Title with
put Men and Kings too often upon poor spirited Actions But letting this pass Another touch of his over-Wisdom viz. his Disposition to squeeze Money out of his Subjects Purses by Forfeitures on Penal Laws was an Excess of Policy scarce to be excused and as is said without all doubt proved the Blot of his Time and as Sir Robert Cotton observes There is no string will sooner jarr in the Commonwealth than this if it be generally touched This was that which passed for the Disgrace of his Reign though what may pass under the Name of Severe Justice And though he escaped the Violent Consequences of it himself yet the fatal Return overtook Empson and Dudley in the beginning of the next Reign who were both executed for Treason for extending this Summum Jus to Violence and Injury and turning Law and Justice into Rapin Though it will puzzle a Lawer to determine what Species of Treason this is unless it be against the Laws by traiterously betraying the Trust reposed in them But no Government King or Person is without some Failing and Wisdom it self may be overacted HENRY VIII I Am not to determine how it came about yet it may be observable That though this King came to the Crown by an Undoubted Right of Succession as Heir of the House of Lancaster by his Father and of the House of York by his Mother yet upon his Coronation the People were ask'd Whether they would receive him for their King But I know this will be thought a trivial Matter of Form not worth taking notice of It is said his first Years were a Reign by Book having come from the Instruction and Contemplation of Good to Action his Notions stuck by him some Years And not to pretend to single Sufficience at those Years at least That he might know how to perform his Coronation Oath he chose a Wise Councel to direct him in the Observation of the Laws and as they generally do in all New Reigns He redress'd the Grievances of the former by making Examples of the Oppressors in the last He did not enter into the War with France upon his own Head neither upon the Advice of his Privy Council but had it debated in Parliament where it was resolved That Himself with a Royal Army should invade France and then for that purpose an Extraordinary Subsidy was willingly granted towards the Charges thereof These were the beginnings of his Reign and he might have finish'd it with the same Honour and Wisdom if Woolsey had not piously told him He might lay aside the use of his Understanding and his own Consideration no doubt to rely on his That he should not need to trouble himself with frequenting the Council-Table but might take his Pleasure c. Admirable Councel for a Priest And he himself would give him Information c. Thus he ingrossed the King disobliged the King's Friends caus'd the Archbishop of Canterbury Bishop of Winchester Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk to withdraw from Court and Topp'd his Prerogative upon the King 's and led him away by the Misdirections of his own False Oracle persuades and puts the King upon Lending the Emperor Money who was poor and Insolvent because forsooth the French King had withheld the Revenue of the Bishop of Tourney that is his Own After he had tired the People with his Civil Justice before he sets up for an Arbitrary Spiritual Power in himself Obtains an Office from the Pope to dispence with Offences against Spiritual Laws and erects a Trade for Sin to make Virtue and Religion Venial and betrays the King into the Restoring or Surrendring Tourney for great Gifts and greater Promises after that he found it did not turn to Account and he could make nothing of it by way of Yearly Income And thus dishonour'd the King and Nation and like a very Godly Prelate dissolv'd the King and Court into all sort of Luxury and the Priesthood it self into Licentiousness and Disorder And so far the Artificial Malice and Villany of this Sawcy and Bloody Butcher's Son went who had neither Honour or Religion That he persuaded the King to sacrifice his Nobility to him and the Duke of Buckingham must be made an Example and Martyr to his Revenge for only pouring a little Water into his Shooes when he had the Impudence to dip his Hands in the Bason whilst the Duke held it to the King to wash He alone could create Misunderstandings between the King Lords and Commons by vertue of his Lies and Misrepresentations of Matters from one to the other altho' he had been caught in them more than once He dissolv'd Convocations by vertue of his Power Legantine which were convok'd by the Archbishop and calls Him and all the Clergy to another Place according to his own Imperious Fancy diverts the Laws of the Land and seeks to raise Money by Commission which the People opposed and the King was afterwards forced to Disclaim On the other hand abuses the King's Grace and takes it upon himself alters the State of the King's House Retrenches the Allowance of his Servants and in short arrogates the Power over Servants and Master also and assumes the Power and Honour of the King and Stiles and Directs Ego Rex meus in his Writings and Letters to Rome and Foreign Parts This could an humble Successor of the Apostles do And by the bye It may be worth observing how far Pride can inspire these Prelatical Sparks with Presumption who pretend to be but the Representatives of the Apostles to exalt themselves above and Lord it over Kings whom yet they themselves acknowledge to represent God I regard not their Distinctions neither before nor since their Compliment of the Supremacy which they would resume if they could without a Pope But it happen'd the Cardinal carried on the Scene and State of Pageantry too far even to his own Ruin and the King's Eyes were open'd at length after that the Cardinal had cut him out a way for the Ruin or Reformation rather of the Church as well as himself and by his Exorbitant Behaviour had open'd the Door to the Parliament to Redress the Grievances and provide for a Remedy against them by restraining and wholsome Laws I am the more particular upon this Prelate because he was the Hinge upon which every thing turn'd and would set a Mark upon him for Kings to know whom to avoid and for what Reasons And would upon all Occasions also remind them how wretched and inconsiderable a Creature a King is when he abdicates his own Reason to submit it to another's and waves the Publick for any private Whispers of Admonition I desire to be excused from medling with the long Story of the King's Quarrel with the Pope and the Occasion and shall pass over the Alterations in Religion in this King's time or what was more considerable the Change and Dissolution of Religious Houses I have nothing to do with his Shifting and Dissolving of Wives neither
There are particular Histories of the Reformation enow and fresh in every one's Memory having had an occasion not long since to review them and consider them afresh There are Plays and Novels also of the other to gratify the Female Politicians who whether they ought to be severe upon him or not I know not and leave to them to determine This is besides my Design as being out of all Ordinary Rules of Civil Policy Therefore waving all Enquiry into the Reasons or Provocations of one or t'other though I know some are assign'd and remark'd to his Disadvantage others to his Advantage I shall dismiss my self with this general Remark upon the Qualities of a Man or King That when Either have once broke through the first Obligations of Justice or Virtue he makes but little difficulty in the proceeding upon Attempts of the same Nature Though after all to speak impartially and without Reflection I am not satisfied but the first Occasion of Divorce and Reformation too was in its self justifiable though the Circumstances inducing it are suspected and it was concluded a Reason sought not offer'd But certainly Sir Walter Raleigh's Character of him is not to be justified who says That if all the Pictures and Paterns of a Merciless Prince were lost in the World they might all again be painted to the life out of the Story of this King And that of Sir Robert Naunton is as ill-natur'd viz. Having a Design to marry within the Degrees Unlawful he set his Learned Men at work to prove it lawful and after a while being cloy'd and desiring Change set them again on work to prove it unlawful He never spared Man in his Anger or Woman in his Lust This is Satyrically said but not truly For he had no mind to marry at first where he did but did it in Obedience to his Father's Will and against the Grain with himself And he liv'd with this first Wife Twenty Years and never took notice of the Unlawfulness of that Marriage till it was objected against him again and the President of Paris started and moved it on the Proposal of Marriage between the Lady Mary his Daughter by Katherine and the Duke of Orleance the second Son to the French King And as to the Cruelty towards Men the Death of the Lord Cromwell and that of the Duke of Norfolk's Son Henry Earl of Surry sound most of Severity yet as to the first he had rais'd him from a Smith's Son he was Cardinal Woolsey's Pupil and trod in his Steps He was Attainted by Parliament and the Record says for Crimes of Heresy and Treason perhaps the Advice of the Match with the Lady Ann of Cleve but I think it doth not argue Cruelty in the King neither towards him or her He dismiss'd her with a gentle Farewel after her Marriage was declared Unlawful by the Convocation and adjudged so in Parliament and she lived sixteen Years after and died in the Fourth Year of Queen Mary As to the other It is plain it was not to gratify his Personal Cruelty For being no Lord of Parliament he was Arraigned at Guildhall before a Special Commission and found guilty by a Jury the Charge of bearing Arms which belonged to the King and Prince may seem somewhat slight yet it is always dangerous to play with Edged Tools and the Ragion di stato may in part excuse it In the main he appears a King of a great deal of Honour not without a Good-natur'd Generosity He was careful also to maintain the Civil Constitution and devout to the Privileges of Parliament He carried it fair with his Subjects in the general and was never Ill-natur'd or Froward as far as I can perceive without some Colour of Justice I know not whether I can justify him in his Politicks so well in his contradicting by the Will the Disposition of the Crown and its Succession which he had before Established in Parliament especially to bring in Queen Mary after his Subjects had sworn to the Parliamentary Succession of his Daughter Elizabeth Besides That this was subsequently by Implication to affirm the Legitimacy of his Mariage with Katharine of Spain which was with so much Solemnity laboured and declared Unlawful All that can be said is That he might in respect to the Mother be unwilling to suffer the Daughter to be Bastardised And we always ought to construe the Actions of Princes in mitiori sensu and to take them by the best part of the Handle in History To speak well of them if we can any ways justify it and to be silent in Doubtful Characters if we cannot Commend EDWARD VI. I Am at a loss in speaking to the Short Reign of Edward the Sixth He seems born and design'd for the Advancement of Ecclesiastical and Civil Polity and to be snatched away to the Disappointment of Human Expectations to intimate That there is no Establishment of Happiness to be relied on here below However that Government which might have come to something in himself was Unfortunate in the Administration of the Councel which his Father with so much Care had assign'd him and impertinently enough shuffled between the Aspiring Conduct of the Great Men and the Foolish Ambition of Pretending Women These interrupted the Wisdom of Councels though the Protector did his part well enough at first till he came to pull down a Church and two Bishops Houses in the Strand to make him a Mansion-House c. For after the Disturbances of the Nation on the Account of Religion and the Inclosures at Home and with relation to the French and Scots Abroad had been managed with Prudence and Honour and the Kingdom began to appear with a Face of Peace and Satisfaction How vain are Mortal Considerations Behold the whole Oeconomy is on a sudden Discomposed and the Frame of Government Subverted And a Frivolous Pretence of Place between two Women Unhinges the Constitution and first exposes and then destroys and ruins the Husbands by vertue of the False Designs of a Third Person behind the Curtain who grafted Villany artificially upon their Follies and at last as was suspected brought in the King himself whose Death also is laid at the same Door What the Sense of our Neighbours was concerning it you may read in Mezeray France and England held pretty good Correspondence when Death cut the Thread of Young King Edward's Days It was believ'd to proceed from a slow Poyson and John Dudley Duke of Northumberland was suspected guilty of the Crime he having suggested to him to Institute Jane of Suffolk for Heiress to the Crown However it were it prov'd a Fatal Policy to the poor Lady Jane and himself too I confess I cannot see why Edward the Sixth might not make bold with Mary as well as his Father had done before him and dispose of the Crown by Will as he did especially for the Propagating and Establishing the Infant Reformation if that Age had been serious and well agreed in the
giving the Pope a Lifting-hand and rais'd his drooping Head here so early after the Reformation and when at the same time the Protestants in Germany France and the Low-Countries were groaning under a Persecution Which made Du Plessis complain Que Sa Majestie D'Angleterre trop arreste à quelques petits dissensions entre les Siens n'evoit pas assez de soin de la guerison de plus profondes playes qui sont en l'Eglise and which made the House of Commons Petition and Remonstrate in the Force of Fourteen Reasons and Ten Remedies in the XIXth Year of his Reign which had only this Effect to make him fly to his old Refuge of Prerogative with a Huff And that the Mariage of his Children Peace and War c. were Matters of State and Government above their Considerations And Speeching it backwards and forwards which he took great Delight in till his Son-in-Law was despoiled of his Ancient Patrimony which he at last ingenuously confess'd was through his Default Here 's the Effect of Prerogative These Proceedings I suppose put Sir Robert Cotton upon Enquiry what the Kings of England had done in the like Cases And after great pains in the search of Records he informs us That the Kings of this Nation ever since the Conquest so soon as they were cool enough for Councels have usually consulted with their Peers in the great Council and Commons in Parliament of Mariage Peace and War He might have said before the Conquest also for Harold who had promised William Duke of Normandy to take one of his Daughters to Wife Answers That he should be very injurious to his own Nobility if he should without their Consent and Advice take a Stranger to Wife If we look into our Neighbour Kingdoms Mezeray will tell us That the French during the two first Races and part of the third had a Right to intermeddle and controul the Mariages of their Kings and neither could the King make War without the Lords In earnest I know not whether Kings in Reason ought to be permitted to Converse with Ambassadors on t'other side of Forms upon their own Heads without a Quorum of their Councils For Nations generally send the sharpest Men on such Errands and sometimes Kings are not a Match in Politicks for them as it plainly appeared by this Story this King was not for Gondomar who outwitted him who pretended to be the wisest But King James came over to us Tinctur'd with his Scotch Notions of Monarchical and Sovereign Absolute Power without vouchsafing ever after to consider the English Constitution and he lets us see what Opinion he had of Parliaments in his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wherein he Advises his Son to hold no Parliaments but for Necessity of new Laws which would be but seldom Not it seems for the State Matters of War Mariage c. No not for raising Money neither so long as he could get it by Privy-Seals and Benevolences Besides after all he did not come hither without some Prejudices to the English People though he had none to the Crown of England Thus there may seem to be some inconveniences in a Learn'd Crown'd Head This King thought himself too Wise and too Knowing He was above Advice or Instruction because as he thought he was capable of giving it He was too wise in himself to be taught by others and yet not wise enough always to follow those Rules of Wisdom which he had given As is evident by the Observation of his Theory and Practice and by his inconsistent Directions to his Sons Henry and Charles He was a little too much addicted to the Pedantry of a Scholar and affected with Polemical Controversies in Words which he dreaded in Action Was more for determining Quarrels by the Pen than the Sword And perhaps might have made a better Bishop than a King a better Father of a Family than Country as being better seen in the Oeconomicks than Political Government of a Nation CHARLES I. MOntaign whom I confess I delight to bring in as often as I can though I know the Philosophers are angry with him for I do not pretend to be a better Politician or any thing else than he was The Grave have Gravity in them but I know not what besides says That about a Month since he read over two Scotch Authors of which he who stands for the People makes Kings to be in a worse condition than a Carter and he who writes for Monarchy places him some Degrees above God Almighty in Power and Sovereignty I 'm sorry there is no Medium and I know no Necessity for Either Who those two Scotch Authors were ev'ry one knows King James complain'd of one of them and advanc'd t'other as it always happens to them who stretch for Kings Such have been the Notions of Government in both Extremes and both were unhappily experimented in this Reign This King flush'd I doubt with such Authors as the last and perhaps withal observing what was done in France under Lewis the XIth who boasted that he had mis le Royaum hors du Page as he calls it and who as Mezeray observes had even Government without Council and most commonly without Justice and Reason Who thought it the finest Policy to go out of that great and beaten Road of his Predecessors to change ev'ry thing were it from better to worse that he might be fear'd His Judgment which was very clear but too subtle and refin'd as was that of King James was the greatest Enemy to his own and his Kingdom 's quiet having as it seems taken pleasure in putting things into disorder and throwing the most Obedient into Rebellion Who rather lov'd to follow the bent of his own irregular fancies than the wise Laws of the Land and made his Grandeur consist in the Oppression of his People c. And also in the Reign of Henry the IVth who gave the last stroke to Parliamentary Formalities and Huff'd the People into a new Law that from thenceforth the King's Edicts should be ratified on sight without those formal triflings of Dispute by Virtue of Living and Ruling always with his Sword in his Hand might conceive some such great Hopes These Reflections might perhaps inspire King Charles with the French Ayre of Grandeur but a People is sometimes quick-sighted too And hence on a sudden grew an impertinent as it then seem'd Jealousy between King and People One pretending to too much after one Author and t'other yielding too little by the other Whilst the former might be Nibbling at Arbitrary Power in an Extended Prerogative and the latter enlarging their Liberties somewhat beyond a modest bound and there were Courtiers in those Days also such as Philip de Comines observ'd in Court Language to Complement a King call'd it Rebellion to mention a Parliament and Lewis also was a superstitious Friend to the Church whilst he was assaulting and oppress'd the State In these and such like Circumstances of Notional
Kings such our Ministers and such were the People to be But all these Kings of the Scotch Line seem to have differ'd in their Ideas and Methods of Government King James the First Philosophised upon it Charles the First Reason'd on it with too much Opiniatretie and King Charles the Second Banter'd it and I 'm sure King James the Second did not Moralize upon it JAMES II. IF what Sir William Temple says of King Charles the II d be true and he gives good Authority for it viz. That the Prince of Orange upon Discourse c. said to him That the King Charles II d was as he had reason to be confident in his Heart a Roman Catholick though he durst not profess it It will go a great way towards the justification of those Gentlemen and their Conduct in the Oxford Parliament c. in relation to the past King and much more the Behaviour of the Nation towards King James of whom there was no doubt of being one and who dar'd own it at last though he very meanly prosecuted One upon a Scandalum Magnatum for having said so once For no doubt they both came over as much Papists as they ever were and if the first dyed such I can't but believe he had lived one for Thirty Years at least and they will both stand in need of a very great Dispensation somewhere else for their Hypocrisy so many Years If King Charles believ'd nothing of the Popish Plot as is said I know not whether it will diminish the Credit of it But 't is certain his Successor King James abundantly confirm'd its Credibility even so much as to give a Reputation to the intended Bill of Exclusion though the Loyalty of the People then ran so high that they were not willing to part with him without Experience nor then neither it seems by some vainly imagining that the Honour of a Popish King could supersede and take place of his Religion The Books and Pamphlets of that Season have sufficiently exposed or demonstrated the Character of this King and the Principles of that Religion And 't was as Evident to any body that would see what he had been doing in his Brother's Reign as what he did in his own Whether we conclude his Practice from his Principles or his Principles from his Practice there 's enough to convince for the past and to caution for the time to come If Declarations repeated with so much Solemnity and broke through with so much Ease and a Coronation-Oath Discharged and Violated so plainly though with an impertinent Distinction of the Judges to keep up a feeble Countenance of Law For what will not Judges in Commission during pleasure say or do For our Judges are not Sworn as those Judges whom the Kings of Egypt made solemnly to take an Oath that they would not do any thing contrary to their Conscience though commanded to it by themselves If the Business of the Irish at Portsmouth If the sending the Lord Castlemain to Rome and receiving a Nuntio here which was never suffer'd in a Protestant Country nor at Treaties where Protestant Ministers have been If the Letters from Liege to the Jesuits at Friburg If sending the Lord Preston to France which sufficiently implies a French League to mention no other Evidence of it nor the Story of sending out the Fleet Half-Mann'd If these or any of these did not unvail the Designs of that King we shall ever be in the Dark and nothing on this side of Dragooning could have open'd their Eyes they must also be persuaded That the Pope King Lewis and King James were all well-wishers to the Protestant Religion and to the Heretick Prosperity of England as by Law Establish'd That inviduous little Management of Magdalen-College Affair with Huffing a parcel of poor naked Fellows of a College for not swallowing Perjury without a Dispensation shews his good Nature equally with his Policy and sets forth in Epitome his Devout Observation of an Allowance to Church-of-England Consciences The prosecuting the Bishops so Barbarously First One for refusing to do what was not in his power by Law and then the rest for humbly begging to be allowed to have Souls The turning all the Nobility and Gentry out of all Commissions Offices and Places for pretending to Honour and refusing to concur in Dissolving the Reformation was a Master-stroke that we might be subdued and over-run with Jesuits Councels and Irish Courage and Conduct Some of his Friends are so Hardy to fancy and pretend to say He could not have introduced Popery if he had endeavoured it they should have put in Arbitrary Power too For what cannot a King do over a passive People Disarm'd in Power and Defective in Notion and Thought Cependant les Anglois se doivent souvenir le Massacre D'Ireland c. says a late French Author but I forbear to give you any Account from the French Refugees 'T is true he could not subdue our Understandings but he might exercise a fatal Tyranny over our Wills Besides King James never tried fair means which would have went a great way he went the false way to work upon Englishmen I doubt we are not so much Temptation-proof And it might for ought I know have been a dangerous Experiment to have trusted the Church with it self so long in an Enemy's Quarter We see King James hath lived a great many Years enow to have gone a great way with us with the Assistance of French and Irish and such Subjects as were inclinable to be of the King's Religion at Home and he must have gone as far as he could No doubt the Nation had been as easily supplied as Magdalen-College But it happen'd very luckily for England that King James discover'd his Temper of Spirit a little too soon We all knew of what force Edicts-had been in Hungary and France the Copies whereof our Kings had been so apt to follow and what the Duke of Savoy had been doing in the Valleys of Piedmont but we would not believe King James was Cruel was a Persecutor scarce that he was a Papist because he had the Art to Conceal and Disguise himself a little before it was in his power to use the Rod. But presently Father Petre shew'd that he would do as much in England as la Chaise had done in France and the first was observ'd to be the hottest of the two And not to aggravate or mince Matters They must all have done what lay in their power in Obedience to what their Councils Decree towards the Extirpation of Hereticks But God be thanked King James did not shew himself that Prince of Resolution at least he fail'd them in one Character as they would have had him deceiv'd us by another He was pleased for some Considerations whether of Fear or Guilt to leave us abruptly and we have taken that Advantage of parting with him fairly And I wish him all the Happiness that is consistent with the Welfare of England Only let us as
that And Dr Hicks says also Only the Laws of Men are God's Ordinances St. Paul speaking of Authority in general says Ordinance of God St. Peter of the particular Persons administring Authority calls it the Ordinance of Man Sir Robert Filmer upon that Render unto Cesar the things that are Cesars and unto God the things that are God's divides all between God and the King and leaves nothing to the poor Subject which doth not very well consist with our Saviour's Advice to him whom he bid Sell All that he had and give to the poor which grieved the Young Man for he had Great possessions It seems by this our Saviour implies the Subject had Property otherwise he could not have Sold it Thus they make their own Idol We see then by the better Opinions of Divines and Learned Men all Forms of Power are Authentick with respect to the Laws and Constitutions of Places and submit to all Powers imports only Obedience according to Law the Ordinance of Man To render unto Cesar c. implies certainly that something was left in him who rendred It is not said Give all to Cesar So no Man will controvert the submitting to every ordinance with the Context for Rulers are a Terror to the Evil and not to the Good There never was any King in Israel but had some Engagement and Tye upon him Formally with God or by Covenant with Man To keep the Laws to judge righteously to seek the Good of the People c. Besides the Case of the Apostles is wonderfully different in all respects As to Property c. the Government of the Roman Emperors was Absolute taking it at worst and therefore Christians who had no Law on their side could not resist This is said by some tho' our Saviour does not seem to mean it so whereas Ours under our Kings is limited and mixt therefore not the same foundation to apply the Injunctions of Non-resistance from the Apostles As to Religion the Apostles came counter to all Laws and therefore were to submit to them Not to raise Rebellion on account of a new Religion which had no foundation in any Law And the proper Talent and Business of the Apostles was suffering for the sake of the Gospel therefore impertinent as well as prophane and wicked for them to think of resisting any Powers What is this to the maintaining a Religion established by a Law But this Construction imposed upon Us towards Passive Obedience is a Conceit against the Opinion of most Learned Men and also contrary to the Common Practise of the Christian World Grotius Selden c. understand submission to every ordinance to be to the Government and the Laws thereof And so in common construction and intendment those Texts may be taken a Direction from the Apostles to their Missionaries and Correspondents who were to travel through variety of Governments to pay all Duties and Civil Respects to Kings and Magistrates and may be satisfied with that particular application of Obedience They were enjoined not to enquire into the Fundamental Rights of Power but to take them as they found them being only Powers of this World with proper Laws for keeping Mankind in Peace and Order in general according to the Respective Customs and Constitutions I believe besides the Gospel is an Universal Instruction for Obedience to the Laws on the severest punishment of disobedience to them 'T was intended to make them good Subjects but not Slaves 'T is too much to be Passive and Martyrs by whole Nations with the Laws and Religion bleeding by our Sides Let 's look into the Customs and Usages of other Ages and Places and enquire into and examine the Principles and Opinions of Learned Divines on the Occasions of Power and the Exercise or Abuse of it If a man should consult the Histories of the first Kings of France and Spain both before and since those Nations receiv'd the Light of the Gospel and the hudled abrupt Succession besides the very odd Partnerships in Kingdoms he will find matter but of small Veneration for Titles to Crowns of Old Times whatever he may fancy is due to the Present Establishments And I doubt we should discover but a faint blind Track of Active Providence in the transferring Kingdoms as 't is call'd but only rather the Effects of a Ludicrous Fortune Suppose we should be free and tell the World we have Elected Made or Appointed call it what you will King William King of Great Britain instead of King James without the formality of Deposing or taking off his Crown or Head to make a Vacancy or without the Ens Rationis of a Vacancy it would be no more than what may be justified by Precedents of no Bad Times in other Countries and our Own too In France the Instance of Childerick degraded and Aegidius or Gillon Master of the Roman Militia who was a Stranger but in Reputation for Probity and Wisdom Elected in his stead It is said the French according to their Ancient Rights conferr'd upon Pepin after Thierry was stripp'd of his Royalty the Sovereignty of Austrasia And afterwards Pepin his Grandson Son of Charles Martel and Father of Charlemain by a Parliament assembled was appointed King although there was One of the Marovignian Race remaining but Young Stupid and Witless And for the Honour of the Church Pope Zachary confirm'd him Upon which in another Parliament at Roymes they degraded Childerick and Elected Pepin And the Archbishop of Mentz Boniface declared to them the Validity of the Pope's Answer And after at the Assembly at Carbonnat the Austrasian Lords and Estates acknowledged Charlemain their King They might do says the History this and if he had not had That Right he had been an Usurper for the Children of Charlemain were living Hugh Capet's best if not only Title was Election For Charles Duke of Lorrain was of the Carolovinian Race and Heir but as is said of little merit In Spain the Visigoths about 1200 years since made and unmade their Kings as they pleas'd I suppose 't will not be said They were the worse Christians for being nearer the time of our Saviour and his Apostles So it was in Denmark too till they lately changed from Elective to Hereditary from a Limited to an Absolute Government and so for ought we know it may again when that Arbitrary Power hath had its full swing To look back here at home formerly it was so And I know not why we may not be permitted to go upwards as far as we please since those on t'other side think fit to go backward to Henry the Third for the beginning as they say of our Constitution Egbert the First sole Saxon King upon the Report of the Death of Britric with great speed returned out of France where during the time of his abode he had serv'd with good Commendation in the Wars under Charles the Great by means whereof his Reputation encreasing amongst his own Countrymen he was thought worthy of the
Government before he obtained it And Ethelwolf a Monk a Deacon and a Bishop yet Elected King because they could not find a fitter Person for the Crown Edwin by his Miscarriage turn'd his Subjects Hearts and the Mercians and Northumbrians revolted and swore Fealty to his Younger Brother Edgar The Danish Kings were approved by the Lords during their short time of Reign here Edward the Confessor by general Consent was admitted King Harold chose himself and ravish'd a Crown and he fared accordingly for his Intrusion without the Consent of the People All that is intended by this short Account is only to shew That Succession was not always esteemed so Sacred and that Non-Resistance hath not been so stanch'd a Doctrine always as some now would pretend To come nearer to our present Case Let 's see the Opinion of Councels and Divines and perhaps we shall not need to be much out of Countenance for assisting the Prince of Orange in the Vindication of our Civil Rights and Religion and I believe the Church of England will stand by Us And Divines of great Reputation gave their Judgment for Subjects defending themselves against their Princes in Cases not near so strong as Ours Queen Elizabeth gave Countenance and Aid to the Revolt of the Low-Countries or Rebellion as it is call'd against the King of Spain and did it by Advice of Learned and Religious Divines as Dr. Bancroft c. And 't was for the sake of Religion Queen Elizabeth also assisted the Protestants in Scotland against the French Faction Cambden says she had a Consultation about that Matter and although it was urged That it was of Ill Example to patronise another Prince's Subjects in Commotion yet it seem'd to be an Impious thing to be wanting to them of the same Religion Bishop Bilson justifies the Defence which the French and Dutch made on supposition that it was for the Maintenance of the Laws If we look into the Affair of the King of Bohemia or Prince Palatine we find tho King James was backward i. e. fearful and had not Courage when the War broke out in Germany the Sense of the Archbishop in his Letter to Sir Robert Naunton Secretary of State when he advised the King to send Aid against the Emperor's Attempts of introducing Popery and Arbitrary Power he encourages the Prince Palatine as King of Bohemia by Election in the matter for propagation of the Gospel and to protect the Oppress'd and declares for his own part He did not dare but give Advice to follow where God leads apprehending the Work of God in This and That of Hungary and that he was satisfied in Conscience that the Bohemians had a Just Cause c. King Charles the First who appeared to be of as Scrupulous a Judgment in the Point as any By the Advice of Archbishop Laud not only assisted the King of Denmark who assisted others against the House of Austria to keep the King of Spain from overrunning the Western part of Christendom and sent Forces and Supplies for the Cause of Religion as his Reasons are emphatically express'd in the Declaration But also some time after published a Declaration of War against France chiefly on Account of that King's Protestant Subjects for Violation of Edicts and Breach of Articles and Contracts with them Whereas Contracts and Articles at other times with Us have by some been pronounced Prophane Absurdities c. The Revolt of Catalonia hath had its due Representation here as well as elsewhere The only Reason for their taking up Arms was in plain Terms to rid themselves of their Oppressors which the Nobility said was their Duty and to preserve their Ancient Form of Government from the Encroachments of the King of Spain who Oppress'd Rich and Poor by Arbitrary Taxations Religion was no Ingredient in their Rebellion Their Acclamations were Long live the new King D'Juan de Braganza and let them dye that govern ill His Accession to the Crown of Portugal was Congratulated and Countenanced by all the Kingdoms and States in Europe upon the Return of his Manifesto's only the Emperor whose Interest it was condemn'd it the Pope himself did not Resent it And they congratulated him upon the Merits as well as Success of the Attempt Where then is this Ambitious Prince Where is that Wicked and Ungodly People as they call Us We have done no more than what hath been done upon a Godly Consideration in like Cases nay not so much and our Case goes farther for these had only Edicts and Acts of Grace to maintain We defend our Religion Establish'd by the Laws of the Land This Family of the Nassaus have the hardest Measure under the Sun To be stiled Daring and Ambitious Spirits and to have Damnation thus Entailed upon them only for undertaking the Cause of the Oppress'd and Rescuing Abus'd Innocence from the Tyranny of Arbitrary and Barbarous Power Why then are the Gentlemen of the Church of England so resty upon this Revolution There is scarce any Reason to be imagined unless it be for those which they bring themselves such as the Convocation-Settlement Conquest c. If we should enquire into their Opinions and variety of Principles I doubt we shall find them so Un-uniform that we shall never ground any fixt Authority upon them in this Point or any other Tho it seems but an Ungrateful Task to expose their Contradictions and Contrarieties in all Ages But if they have differ'd amongst themselves in their Doctrines and Notions of Obedience or Resistance and the Settlement of Crowns I hope they will give Us leave in Equal Authorities to chuse which we will follow In truth he who will be at the pains to examine their Writings i. e. their General Councels themselves even from the first Four to the Last I 'm sorry to say it will I believe find but a Sandy Foundation to fix his Conscience or Judgment in Articles of Faith What have they been doing with the Trinity of late What have they not been doing to get the Government into the Church-Conusance by way of Success and Providence Tho I would have this Government setled to satisfy and please every one in their own way if it were possible for Men have different Ideas of things Yet I'am unwilling the Government should be trick'd and impos'd upon And that Men should advance their own Stations and Interest by publishing and mis-applying Notions which expose the Church and King both I must confess I think Dr. S Reasons for the Government have been the greatest against it with all Men of Reason and Honour and have hindred many from coming into it What stuff have we produced in a Convocation-Book the greatest Affront to a King and People that was ever offer'd with a salvo to the Church It is said Providence may actually and God will when he sees fit and can serve the Ends of his Providence set up Kings without any Regard to Legal Right or Human Laws and when they are thus set
up they are invested with God's Authority which must be obey'd and this supersedes all Legal Disputes of Right and our old Oaths and our old Allegiance are at an end For when God transfers Kingdoms and hath set over Us a New King and setled him and requires our Obedience to a New King he necessarily transfers our Allegiance c. And the Authority unjustly gotten and wrested from the True and Lawful Possessor being always God's Authority and therefore receiving no Impeachment from the Wickedness of those that have it is ever when any Alterations are truly setled to be obeyed Why all this tho as with a supposing to Us It seems by this That the Nobility and Gentry of this Nation have been bantering God Almighty with Prayers and Praises all this while whereas both Prince and People and All of Us should have been humbling our selves in Sackcloth and Ashes and doing Pennance for our Rebellion and Wickedness I shall not trouble a Serious Thought about this Convocation-Book or the Occasion of it enough hath been said about that and the Doctor already King James I. in his Letter to Dr. Abbot shews his Resentment of the Proceedings of that Convocation Only I will produce another Convocation to shew how the former hath setled the Government The first was in the time of James the First the other in James the Second Now you shall see the Judgment of the Famous University of Oxon They in their Convocation reflecting as they tell Us upon certain Pernicious Books and Damnable Doctrines viz amongst others Proposition 10. That Possession and Strength give a Right to Government and Success in a Cause or Enterprize proclaims it to be Lawful and Just Nota To pursue it Is to comply with the Will of God because it is to follow the Conduct of his Providence Hobbes Owen Baxter Jenkins c. And Proposition 15. If a People who by Oath and Duty are obliged to a Sovereign shall sinfully Dispossess him and contrary to their Covenant chuse and covenant with another they may be obliged by their Latter Covenant notwithstanding their Former Baxter H. C. c. by their Judgment and Decree Ann. 1683. pronounced these amongst many other such like Propositions Heretical and Decreed Judged and Declared them to be False Seditious and Impious Blasphemous and Infamous to Christian Religion and destructive of all Government in Church and State What a Blessed Establishment is here What an Honourable Title hath the King in what a Condition is the Subject Thus we see how unsafe 't is to imply or suppose a Providential Usurper or King de facto which is all one and then to secure him by Arguments out of the Clouds So 't is of a Forcible Usurper or King de facto t'other way to Establish him with a Providential Success as Conqueror without Right As if we come to measure the Mysteries of Providence by our narrow Comprehensions and Rules and tack it to every Success we shall make a very odd Business of it and put Providence upon very Irreverent Offices We know how That and Scripture hath been interpreted upon other Occasions In less than half a Century upon a Certain Revolution One Side said God shewd his Indignation in Thunder and Lightning T'other That he Congraturated the Success with his Guns and Fire-works from above Plato in his time said Lawyers and Physicians were the Pest of a Country Would he not have added Divines also had he lived in some other Ages When these Gentlemen were upon their Providential Disposal and Settlement of Kingdoms They might as justly have brought some Instances from Scripture which would have been for the Honour of the Revolution Where God vouchsaf'd his Assistance to a good Cause for a Blessing to a People as well as always for a Curse to a Bad and Sinful Nation Instances which comply and would have stood with the Ordinary Rules of Morality and Human Justice As the Case of Solomon and his Son between Hezekiah and Josiah and the succeeding Tyrants and Wicked Princes Also in the Case of Rehoboam where God seems to give a Countenance to the Revolt of the Ten Tribes and assist against his Tyranny and Oppression for God says 't was his doing there also David seems to agree with this He sufficiently differences his Expressions according to the Characters of Princes and Rulers as good or bad He tells us the Fate of wicked ones not by executing upon them God's immediate personal Judgments or by the visible Hand of Providence but by Human Mediums of interposing Power to restrain them c. by the Favour of God's Assistance in an Ordinary Course of Providential Justice The Prophets did not preach Passive Obedience to the Idolatrous Kings of Israel and Judah but inveigh'd against them Did not David and his Adherents resist Saul though he spared his Person I do not pretend to plead for a Vindictive Account against the Person of Kings And the Story of Manasses methinks seems something toward ours He Set up Repaired Adorn'd and Furnish'd the Altars Temples and High Places in which the Devil was by the Heathen Worshipp'd forgetting the Piety of his Father and most abominably burnt his Sons for a Sacrifice to the Devil Moloch and shed so much innocent Blood that 't is said Jerusalem was replenish'd therewith And when after all he was reprehended by the Reverend Prophet Esai he caus'd him to be Saw'd asunder with a Wooden Saw Therefore for his Sins the Lord brought upon him the Captains of the Host of the Kings of Ashur who took Manasses and put him in Fetters and bound him in Chains and carried him to Babel where after he had lain Twenty Years as a Captive despoiled of all Honour and Hopes of doing Mischief God inspir'd him with Repentance and afterwards mov'd the Assyrians Heart to deliver him after which he forgot his Impieties and Villanies detested his Idolatry cast down the Idols of his own Erection repaired Jerusalem and at last Dyed in a Religious Peace But 't is not my Province to apply Scripture only to my self And I know not what Commission They have so familiarly to determine the Councils of the Almighty 'T is true as St. Augustin says Nothing is sensibly and visibly done in the World which cometh not from the Interior and Invisible Cabinet of God whether it be commanded or permitted though some will not allow a permissive Providence yet the Psalmist says Oh God! How profound are thy thoughts and how unsearchable to the ignorant and foolish Yet Man must be presently making Inferences Providence is said to take care of the most minute Creatures as well as the greatest And these great Texts and Stories of Prerogative and Supremacy with Complement to each other are only taken notice of whilst Others as positive lye dormant as Resist not evil Turn t'other Cheek and about giving the Cloak also These might do mischief and the Wicked of the World might take Advantage by returning them upon the
Inviting of him over and the Dissenting Archbishop who thought fit to draw back afterwards was pleased to Countenance his coming to London and to assist with his Counsels He was willing to be in the Sanhedrim upon the Vacancy which by his favour was as far from being Passive as Harnessing and Equipping c. and several Noblemen with their Chaplains at their Elbows agreed upon the first Overtures against King James who only differ'd after in the Form of Administration and supplying the Power There were those who would have been contented and satisfied with a Regency which by the by was as much against the late Notions of Loyalty and 't was once taught that it was as Damnable to put any Restraint upon a King or Fetter his Prerogative or to limit the Measures of our Obedience as to cancel and throw them off If then there be no steady Obstruction in our way no Irrefragable Arguments but what are Overturn'd or Embarrass'd Why may we not throw off the Mask and declare our selves frankly and sincerely And talk as becomes Gentlemen or Free-born Creatures of Reason and tell the World That King James was no longer fit to be entrusted with the Government That he could give no Adequate Security for his Administration That it was no more in his Power than his Will to Rule according to Law That it could not be therefore safe to Re-admit him on any Terms because he would not be restrain'd by any Qualifications In short That King Jamess Character and Administration are inconsistent and incompatible with the Laws of this Realm and that therefore it was necessary absolutely necessary That the Government should be supplied and some Other Person admitted and placed in the Throne from and by whom might be assur'd he would Observe and Maintain the Constitution in Church and State And that for these Reasons we have admitted King William to the Crown allow'd him to take the Government as King of England and consented to transfer our Allegiance to him and have Recognized Acknowledged and Declared His Majesty he having accepted the Crown and Royal Dignity To be of Right and by the Laws of this Realm our Sovereign Lord and King of England France and Ireland and the Dominions thereunto belonging c. If our Principles are just the Consequence must be so too If the Premises be true the Conclusion is warrantable Montaign says Authority is not given in favour of the Magistrate but of the People And 't is the general Opinion That Government was made for them whether originally it were made by them or not All the respective Schemes of it are contrived to provide for the Welfare of the Community and the Laws and Constitutions of Power are the Measures of Submission to it Thus the Notions of Providence and Human Right may be understood and consist in Human Understanding Kings and Subjects may know their Duties Kings may preserve their Rights so long as they continue to be Rational Men and Man may preserve his Native Honour in the Character of his first Creation as he was made after God's Image also Thus I hope this Present King may at last rest in Peace being setled by such a Recognition and guarded by an Association in Parliament Though 't is hard to imagine how the Voluntary one came to be boggled at after such a Declared Right in Parliament before and Oaths of Allegiance taken to it And long may He live to Assert the Rights of the People To administer Justice and to retrieve the Honour of Great Britain by vindicating it from the Encroachments suffer'd not to say consented to in the late Reigns FINIS CORRIGENDA PAge 3. Line 16. read we are p. 6. l. 2. r. off p. 8. l. penult for affecting r. offering at p. 18. l. 17. r. Sir Henry Spelman p. 22. l. 8. r. Aristotle p. 31. l. 15. r. Government p. 35. l. 4. r. they p. 116. l. 8. r. to make War p. 118. l. 5. r. n' avoit p. 123. l. 6. r. ever governed p. 137. l. penult r. souffert p. 152. l. 27. r. Revenue p. 153. l. 29. r. Opiniatreté p. 160. l. 5. r. Noble id l. 24. r. and he p. 161. l. 5. r. dimm p. 180. l. 28. for i e r and even
Statute of Westminster which consists of Fifty one Chapters and is well worth perusing Sir Edward Coke says This and all other Statutes made in the Reign of this King may be stiled by the Name of Establishments because they are more Constant Standing and Durable Laws than have been made ever since and Sir William Herle then Chief Justice of the Common Pleas says Fuit le plus Sage Roy que Vnques fuit And though these Laws were said to be Pour le Commun profit de seint Eglise del Realm yet he thought it expedient to clip the Wings of his Clergy observing as is said their Power too predominant and afterwards by the Statute of Mortmain kept them from ingrossing Lands and increasing their Temporal Possessions and when his Prelates prest him to repeal this Statute he gave them for Answer That it was a Statute made by the whole Body of the Realm and therefore not in his Power who was but one Member of that Body not like some of his Successors who have pretended to dispense with all Acts of Parliaments He united Wales to the Crown of England partly by Force and partly by Policy As to his War in Scotland if it were managed with the same Policy it had not nevertheless the like success at least Scotland was so unfortunate to him that he died there His War with France was but a Trifle and soon ended in a Truce His last Misunderstanding with his Lords was the Effect of Unadvised Obstinacy on both hands for he ought not to have insisted on sending or their going to the Wars in Gascoin without his going himself in Person and they ought not to have refused going with him in Person though in or out of France or Scotland but yet he made up the Breach by his subsequent Prudence and soft Demeanour The worst Action of his Reign to me seems to be Bribing the Pope to absolve him from the Covenant made with his Subjects concerning their Charters which he had confirm'd with an Oath but the other good Laws which he made and observed shall with me excuse one Act of Frailty or Passion And if he be censured for his Taxes he is in part justified by his well bestowing them to his own Honour and Good of his Kingdom EDWARD II. WE are not to expect much good from a King who begins his Reign with the breach of his Father's Admonitions and the Obligations he lay under by him in matters of Duty Commands which his Father gave him in charge with his last Words on pain of a Curse for his Disobedience as Stow says And here it may be observed how wretched and contemptible a Creature pardon the Expression even a King as well as another Man is when he hath once broke loose from the Principles of Honour and Morality when the Natural Bonds of Modesty are unhinged and broken How he wavers and shuffles and is driven about by every Wind that he cannot be steady to himself or any one else When Men have once forsaken the Path of Vertue they walk in an endless Maze they can't rely on themselves and therefore are impos'd upon and misled by every one For when a Man cannot justify himself to himself he can never do it to another and Kings generally stand so much upon the Prerogative of being like Gods that they scorn to be thought to be in the wrong like Men. Here we may see how fatal 't is to prefer a private Person before the Publick and for a Prince to espouse the Interest of a Favourite so far as to put him in competition with all his other Subjects and to oppose his Welfare to theirs The whole Reign of this Poor King is but one Farce of Folly and Misfortune contemn'd by his Subjects and even by his own Wife who revenged upon him the violation of a double Tye of Obedience This was the immediate as well as natural Consequence of relying upon the Opinion and Advice of single Persons contrary to the Counsels and against the Advice of the Wisdom of the Nation After Troubles on the behalf of Gaveston Troubles in Scotland with a faint ill-managed War Troubles on account of the Spencers Troubles in his own Family for he was no wiser in his Oeconomicks than his Politicks with his Wife c. he was at last shamefully Deposed barbarously Used and villanously Murther'd A Person in his Natural Capacity certainly to be lamented as having some Virtues and Good Qualities Fit to make an Accomplish't Gentleman though not a Good King Kingly Government did not seem to be his Talent for he lived as if born for himself not for others and there is certainly a difference in the Quality of governing a Man's self and others between governing and being govern'd To this purpose I must bring in Montaign who seems to have a good Notion of the Thing Doubtless says he it can be no easy Task to Rule others when we find it so hard a matter to govern our selves And as to the Thing Dominion which seems so charming the Frailty of Human Wisdom and the Difficulty in Choice of Things that are New and Doubtful to us consider'd I 'm very much of Opinion That it is far more pleasant to follow than to lead and that it is a great Settlement and Satisfaction of Mind to have only one Path to walk in and to have none to answer for but a Man's self For without doubt says he there is a great and painful Duty incumbent upon a Good King How much doth it import Kings to have a Good Advice of Counsel For I doubt we shall find but few Kings whether of God Almighty's making or our own i. e. whether by Inheritance Solus Deus facit haeredes or Election of Cyrus's Qualifications who says That no Man is fit to Rule but he who in his own Worth is of greater value than all those he is to govern EDWARD III. THE Reign of Edward the Third was more a School of Arms than Civil Polity For having in the beginning patch'd up an Indifferent Peace with Scotland he is immediately embroil'd in a War with France with which and some few Matters in Scotland he was engaged all his Life-time It is true in his Parliament at Westminster Supply and Grievances were pretty warmly Debated And he has his weak Side in the Business of Alice Peirce his Concubine but I let this pass as a Failing And who is without some But when he was at leisure he made Good Laws and particularly in the Affair of Purveying He caus'd all Pleas to be in English that the Subjects might understand the Laws Ordain'd Sumptuary Laws c. and in the general was a Great and Good Prince as Walsingham Fuerat nempe Rex iste inter omnes Reges Orbis Principes Gloriosus Benignus Clemens Magnificus Belliger fuit insignis fortunatus qui de Cunctis Congressibus in Terra Mare semper triumphali gloriâ Victoriam Reportavit I