respect not to this life only but to that of a better even to Eternity which no other Lawgivers had therefore Moses exhorted the Israelites that when they should possess the Land whether they were going that they should keep and do the statutes and judgments as the Lord had commanded him and it should be their wisdom and their understanding in the sight of the Nations which shall hear all those statutes and say surely this great Nation is a wise and understanding people And what Nation is there so great that hath Statutes and Judgments so righteous as all this Law which I set before you this day Deut. 4. 4 5 6 7 8. Having declared the necessity usefulness and benefit of Government and the final end thereof it is now requisite to show the true and efficient cause and right of Government where and in whom the just right of appointing Governours and Government is undoubtedly inherent and instated God beyond all contradiction reigns by his own Plenipotentiary Power and doth whatsoevor he pleaseth in Heaven above and in Earth beneath and in the Waters under the Earth Kings and other Governours only precariò at the good will and pleasure of others God by himself Kings by God and the Governed God by his own Jurisdiction Kings by deligated Authority from others the Jurisdiction of God is immense that of Kings limited So the power of God infinite that of Kings not so the Kingdom of God endless boundless that of Kings limited to certain Regions and fading When God sets Kings upon Thrones he sets them there as his Substitutes to go in and out before his people and to do Judgment and Justice 2 Chron. 9. 8. and upon condition that the governed should still be the Lords people 2 King. 11. 17. 2 Chron. 1. 10. So that God still remains Lord and Proprietor of the same People but sets Kings and other Magistrates over them to govern and feed them like good Shepherds not to pill poll and fley them so all good Kings acknowledged as David Solomon Jehosaphat and others So Nebuchadnezzar tho an Ethnick did acknowledge Dan. 2. 47. Hence it necessarily follows that Kings are set over a People to nourish and cherish them as God himself and not to wrong or oppress them So Jehojada made a Covenant between the Lord and the King and the People that they should be the Lords People and between the King also and the People 2 King. 11. 17. In the Inauguration of Joae we read of a holy Covenant between God and the King and the people as it is elsewhere expressed between Jorada the chief Priest and all the people and the King that they should be the people of God. So Josiah and all the people made Covenant with God 2 King. 11. 11. 2 Chr. 23. 13 16. 2 King. 23. from which is to be understood that the high Priest in the name of God covenanted between the Lord and the King and the People that they should be the Lords People and between the King also and the People that God should be truly and purely worshipped by both King and People of Judah And was not the King so to reign that he should suffer the People to serve God according to the Law of God and the People so to obey the King that in the first place they were to obey God and both King and People sworn by Solemn Sacrament in the first place to worship God and keep his Laws matter of Fact doth manifest it And all the People of the Land went into the House of Baal and brake it down his Altars and his Images brake they in pieces c. and restored the Worship of God the sum of the Covenant being that all should worship God and all should take care that God be worshipped according to his own Precepts and Prescript which if they did perform God would be with them and bless them if not then he would destroy them So Moses before his death rehearsâ—th the Conditions of the Covenant made with their Forefathers and all the Blessings and Curses attending the breach or performance thereof Deut. 29. 30 31. commanding them to take the book of the Law and put it in the side of the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God that it may be there for a witness against thee c. Deut. 31. 26 27 28. After Moses was dead God himself constituted Joshua to go in and out before his People on the same conditions Josh 1. which if they transgressed they should be delivered into the hands of the Canaanites One and the self-same Covenant which was made between God and the People under the Judges was made under and with the Kings After Saul was constituted King Samuel said to the People Fear the Lord and serve him in truth with all your heart but if you shall still do wickedly ye shall be consumed both ye and your King Josh 12. 24 25. thereby shewing that God expects as strickt performance of his Laws from Kings as from the People Saul being rejected because he brake Covenant David was constituted King on the same Conditions and so Solomon his Son which Covenant was That if they and their Children kept his Commandments and observed his Statutes they should sit on the Throne of Israel for ever if otherwise they should be destroyed 1 Kings ch 2. ver 12. 2 Chron. 6. 16. ch 7. 17. Hence the Book of the Law found in the Temple in the days of Josiah is called the Book of the Covenant of the Lord which he commanded his People to deliver to the King 2 King. 23. 2. Deut. 7. 18. which Samuel did to Saul 1 Sam. 10. 25. and Josiah accordingly did covenant before the Lord So the Law which was kept in the Ark is called the Covenant of the Lord with the Children of Israel who being delivered from the Babylonish Captivity renewed their Covenantwith God which they had violated 2 Chron. 6. 11. whereby it is manifest that Kings as Vassalls to the Law of God solemnly swear to be obedient thereunto We make a sure Covenant and write it and our Princes Levites and Priests seal unto it Nehem. 9. 38. the breach of which Covenant is a like penal to King and People which is manifested in Saul who for offering Sacrifice and for sparing Agag King of the Amalekites was accounted a Rebel and punished accordingly 1 Sam. 13. 12 13. and thereby taught that Kings if they break the Laws are as truly Rebels as Subjects and that obedience is better than sacrifice thou hast rejected the wâ—rd of the Lord and the Lord hath rejected thee from being King over Israel 1 Sam. 15. 26 27. which crime doth not terminate only in the Persons of Kings so rebelling but is extensive also to their Children So God did rend the Kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and gave ten tribes to his servant Jeroboam because he forsook God and worshipped 〈◊〉 c. 1 King. 11. 32 33.
set a stranger over thee which is not thy brother 2. By the constant practice of the jews under the Prophets and since And not without this moral reason That one from among themselves being by their consent and suffrages set King over them that what Authority soever they grant unto Kings they may acknowledge to have had it from the People and therefore obliged more readily to imploy all their times studies strengths and endeavours for the good of them who set them over themselves to take the burden of the Government upon their Shoulders and therefore they consent to pay them all Honour allow them great Priviledges and Prerogatives and give them Munificent Tributes and Maintainance for the Support of them and the Governm nt and swearing Allegiance unto their Kings and the Kings swearing unto the People to keep Faith with them in the due performance and execution of the Laws already made and to be made The reason formerly set down doth warrant this viz. No Man hath or can have any lawful Power to Govern Kingdoms and States but he must have it either immediately from God himself which no Man now can possibly pretend unto or by consent of the Paâ—tâ—â—s The Elders of Israel being the representative 1 Sam. 10. 19. of the whole Kingdom for by that name are generally meant Centurions Captains Judges Princes of all the Tribes â—f Israel c. came to Samuel in Ramah desiring a King to 〈◊〉 in and out before 〈◊〉 like the Nations at whose instance Samuel did anoint Saul to be their King neverless Samuel that Saul might know that he was chosen by the People called all the Peâ—â—â— together in Mizpeh by their Tribes and by their Thousands where as if the farmer Election and Anointing had been insignificant they cast lots which â—ell upon the Tribe of Benjamin and Saul the Son of Kish was taken and all the People shouted and said God save the King 1 Sam. 10. 17 c. All which was done at the Peoples instanceâ— And lest the Election of the King should be attributed wholly to the chance of Lots all the People by the advice of Samuel some few grumbling Dissenters excepted having said Shall Saul reign over us 1 Sam. 11. 13. went to Gilgal and renewed the Kingdom there and made Saul King before the Lord in Gilgal ver 14. 15. Which manifests that though Saul was chosen by God himself and also by Lot yet was constituted confirmed and approved by the suffrages of the People God indeed before ever there was a King in Israel knowing that they would reject him and foolishly desire a King like all the Nations round about them prescribed Rules and Laws whereby they ought to Govern Deut. 17. So David Samuel Saul being rejected by God from Reigning over Israel by God's command anointed David at â—ethlâ—m whom God had chosen King over Israel Did David therefore Reign though so chosen by God himself and anointed by his own command No sure he was so far from it that he avoided the presence of Saul hiding himself from him and arming himself with the Sword of Goliah and armed Men against the evil designs which Saul had against him and fled from him wandring up and down and became as it were an exiled and Out lawed Person and was not King till Saul was dead nor then neither until all the People of Judah first chose him King of Judah by their suffrages And seven years after all the Tribes of Israel and all the Elders of Israel came â—o Hebron and made a Covenant with him before the Lord and then they anointed David King over Israel 1 Sam. 16. 13. 1 Chron. 11. 3. 2 Sam. 5. 3. Besides if Samuel's first anointing of David King had formerly made him King then either Saul was thereby deposed or else there were two Kings of Israel at one time which is monâ—â—ous to conceive for according to their Doctrine Kings have no Royal Power from the People but it is manifest David was not King for that after his being so anointed he oâ—ten called Saul the Lord 's anointed and that by the Inspiration of God's Spirit Moreover he neither challenged nor executed any Royal Authority till he was crowned King by all Israel at Hebron but was persecuted and hunted as a Partridge on the Mountains and that as a Rebel to Saul of which he acquitted himself when he had the Life of Saul in his power and yet would not take it which he justly might have done had he been really King and it had been a crime in him being King not to have executed his Royal Authority in doing Justice and Judgment by cutting off Saul a murtherâ—r who killed the Priests of the Lord especially seeing Saul according to such doctrine must be but a private murtherâ—r and David the only lawful King. Whereby it is apparent that not Samuâ—â— s Oil but the consent and suffrages of the People that made both Saul and David Kings Whereby it is apparent that though God appointed David to be their King yet not so Absolute but that he should be under and subject to agreements with his People and make a Covenant with them on tearms to which he should be obliged to perform with them as they with him and this before the Lord by which Covenant he was obliged to keep within the Boundaries which God and the People had set So David was twice anointed 1. By the Prophets by God's command in token of his Election 2. By the instance and suffrages of the People in Confirmation of his being constituted King by them 2 Sam. 4. 11. 5. 13. So it is true that by God Kings Reign yet so as not without the Peoples Consent Approbation and Covenants first had that he may Reign over them for their good Besides Kings receive not their Kingship immediately from God nor the Sword because the People were first girt with the Sword. Moreover will any Christian say that the Kings of Nations who lived without God in the World did Rule and Reign by Gods immediate appointment I trow not The like is observable in Constituting Solomon King who though David 's Son and God chose him to sit upon his Fathers Throne and to be a Father unto him as he had promised David 2. Sam. 7. 13 14 15. And though David had promised his People that Solomon should succeed him and sit upon his Throne yet this was not sufficient and therefore David assembled all the Princes of Israel and the princes of the Tribes and the captains of the companies and captains over the thousands and the stewards over all the substance of the possession of the King and of his Sons with the officers and with the mighty men and with all the valiant men which bear any publick office and as it were the representative of all Israel and consequently had a share in the Government and in the Election unto Jerusalem This great congregation made Solomon the Son of David King the second time and anointed him unto the Lord to be chief Governour and Zadock to be Priest 1 Chron. 28. 1. 29. 22 24. Solomon being dead all Israel came to Sechem to make Rehoboam King 1
be manifest that the People even in such choice had their share their influence and their power also as in Saul And all the People went to Gilgal and there they made Saul King before the Lord in Gilgal 1 Sam. 10. 15. And several Writers are of opinion that Saul was not only anointed with Oyle first privately by Samuel 1 Sam. 10. 12. but also at two other times before the People once at Mizpah an another time at Gilgal So David though he were anointed of the Lord by Samuel yet all the mâ—n of Israel came with a perfect heart to Hebron and anointed David King over Israel and made a Covenant with him before the Lord 1 Chron. 11. 2. 12. 38. In summ Many Writers of several Persuations from these examples conclude that the People under God make the King. Beside the want of the publick Stamp of the People made Zimri who had usurped that Title and Office no King and yet made Omri King 1 Kings 16. 16. And those whom the rulers of Jezreel at Samaria 2 Kings 10. refused to make a King were no Kings This Power of the People made Athaliah a Princess no Princess by their translation of the Crown to Joah 2 Cron. 23. There 's now no Voice no immediate Oracle from Heaven no Samuel no Elisha no inspired Prophets to anoint David not Eliab Solomon not Adoniah no particular persons and therefore no persons can have a just Title to Crowns but by choice and approbation publick God hath only ratified the Kingly Office and described fit qualifications viz. Men of truth hating covetousness c. Exod. 18. 21. Deut. 1. 16 17. but doth not now name or appoint particular Persons but hath left it wholly and freely to the People to chuse for themselves and make their own Conditions It is farther observable that Saul after Samuel from the Lord had anointed him remained a private Person and no King till the People had elected and made him a King. So David though anointed by the same Divine Authority yet remained formally a Subject and not a King till Israel made him King at Hebron So Solomon though by God designed and ordained to be King yet never was King till the people made him King 1 Kings 1. What greater demonstration can there possibly be than such Scriptural both Precepts and Examples as are here set down for justifying of the right of the People in the choice of Kings and not only in the free choice of this or that Person to the Diadem or to this or that Government but also in the alteration and granting of Succession and in the change and alteration of the very Form of Government Moreover by God's owning Kings to reign by him Prov. 8. 16. is no more than God's general owning and constituting all things else viz. thine is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty for all that is in Heaven and Earth is thine thine is the Kingdom O Lord and thou art exalted above all both riches and honour come of thee and thou reignest over all and in thine hand is power and might and in thine hand it is to make great and to give strength unto all 1 Chron. 29. 11 12. This general Right and Power of the Almighty doth not abolish or impeach the Natural Right of his People in chusing themselves a King on their own Tearms and Laws woful experience having taught them that to live by one Man's will would be the cause of all Mens miseries the truth whereof we see experienced to this very day both in the Eastern and Western Empires which constrained them to devise Laws for the Regulation of every Man 's just Right that no Man might by lawless Dominion oppress another but that all should be governed by their own consent by Laws of their own making respect always being had Christianly speaking to the Laws of the Almighty Cui plus licet quam par est plus vult quam licet A People may be without a King but there can be no King without a People and therefore Kings not particularly and immediately named by God must own their Establishment and Inthronization to the People and ought to be accountable in some cases to them for they that give Power are by just Reason accounted greater and more honourable than they that receive it according to that old Maxime Quicquid efficit tale est magis tale and though Kings are to be accounted singulis majores yet are universis minores For Kings are not Patrons of their Kingly Power but Administrators and deputed Executioners thereof Now it necessarily follows that by the same Reason Kings have their Authority from the People so to them they are of right to be accountable for they chuse them and covenant with them for their own good If by God Kings do reign by God also the People have right and liberties to be governed how they please for the immediate appointment of Kings by God himself by his Prophets being now ceased the application of the Powers of the governed to this or that Person is left wholly to the common consent of themselves Be the right of Kings and of the People what it will from God they both equally derive it Wherever the People create themselves a King by the same right he is accountable to them and it participates as much of Divine right for the People to curb and oppose oppressing wicked Kings as to make Kings according to the 149 Psalm 8 9. To bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron To execute upon them the judgment written this honour have all his Saints Nay God 's own People on whom he had set his Love had his own Command that when he had brought them into the Land whither they were going to possess That they should smite them and utterly destroy them and shew no mercy unto them Deut. 7. 1 2. Kings are constituted by God and Man to go in and out before them for Protection and Comfort not for Violence and Oppression and it is by righteousness that the Throne is established and iniquity will be the ruine of any Nation fury is not in him Isaiah 27. 4. And God himself hath given no Power to Kings Princes or Potentates but what is just and honest and hath tied them up and bound them by Laws viz. He shall not multiply horses to himself he shall not multiply wives to himself that his heart turn not away neither shall be greatly multiply to himself silver and gold And it shall be when he sitteth upon the Throne of his kingdom that he shall write him a copy of this Law in a Book And he shall read therein all the days of his life that he may learn to fear the Lord his God to keep all the words of this law and these statutes to do them That his heart be not lifted up above his Brethren and that he turn not aside from the
Kings and Princes but what is just and right and equal Righteousness and Judgment are the Basis and establishment of his own Throne and shall Kings pretend to govern otherwise When the Pharisees pretending kindness but designing mischief to Jesus advised him to depart out of their Coasts for that Herod sought to kill him Luke 13. 32 33. Christ did not depart nor yet return any low pittiful answer but boldly answered Go tell that Fox I do cast out Devils and do cures to day and to morrow c. thereby intimating that Kings have no lawful Power to wrong their Subjects or to hinder any from doing good to others or their duty towards God though by Fox-like advisoes they usurp dominion beyond all just right and that God himself esteems them no other or better than Bruits according to Psal 49. 20. Man that is in honour and understandeth not is like the Beasts that perish now what is here meant by understanding is declared by Job the greatest man of the East Job 28. 28. The fear of the Lord that is wisdom and to depart from evil that is understanding So David a King tells us the same Psal 111. 10. and so King Solomon the wisest of men Prov. 1. 7 8 9. ch 10. with promises of great Blessings He that feareth the Lord his soul shall dwell at ease and his seed shall inherit the Earth and the secret of the Lord is with them that fear him and he will shew them his Covenant Psal 25. 12 13 14. All other wordly wisdom that hath not respect to eternity is but foolishness and bruitish and the esteem that God himself hath of the greatest men on earth without this wisdom is but as that of Bruits So John Baptist esteemed the Pharisees and Sadducees but as a generation of Vipers Matth. 3. 7. So God by Jeremy to the voluptuous when he had fed them to the full they then committed Adultery and assemble themselves by Troops in Harlots Houses they were as fed Horses c. Jer. 5. 8. So David Dogs have compassed me the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me Psal 22. 16. So Isaiah calls ignorant and blind Watchmen Dogs ye greedy Dogs Isaiah 56. 10 11. And Christ forewarned them not to give that which is holy unto Dogs neither cast Pearl before Swine Matth. 7. 6. So was Paul's caution to the Philippians 3. 2. Beware of Dogs beware of evil workers whereby it is apparent that there is no mean between a Saint and a Bruit be they great or small rich or poor Heaven and Hell will divide the whole world without respect of Persons And therefore the advice of David a King is to be followed Be ye not like Horse and Mule which have no understanding Psal 32. 9. A Bruitish man knoweth not neither doth a Fool understand this Psal 92. 6. All the Machiavilians and Leviathans and time-serving Pulpiteers of the world and their Council without such understanding are but as Bruits and Bruitish void of true sense and understanding Christ suffered under a Tyrant true but how could be suffer but under a Tyrant that feared neither God nor Man Christ came into the world in the form of a Servant and to suffer what for not to bring us under but to free us from the yoke of Bondage both Spiritual and Temporal Consider well the answer which Christ gave to the Mother of Zebedee's Children desiring that her two Sons might sit the one on his right the other on his left hand in his Kingdom viz. Ye know that the Princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them and they that are great exercise Authority over them but it shall not be so among you but whoever will be great among you let him be your Servant even as the Son of Man came not to be ministred unto but to minister Zebedee's Sons dreaming of a Kingdom that Christ should suddenly have on Earth and affecting to be chief in that Kingdom and next unto him there arose among them a strife through Pride cometh Contention who should be greatest among them whence that proud demand that one might sit on his right hand and the other on his left But Christ gently rebuked their proud aspiring humour and in them all Christians shewing that the Princes of the Gentiles did domineer and play Rex among their Brethren a temper very ill beseeming Christians but it shall not be so among you in whom the spirit of the living God should dwell but whoever will be great among you let him be your Minister and whoever will be chief among you let him be your Servant and made himself the great exemplar of so great humility who came not to be ministred unto but to minister of which he gave real testimony through the whole course of his life first coming down from Heaven his Imperial Residence then refusing to be made a King here on Earth when 5000 designed to have taken him by force to have made him a King. Then by washing his Disciples feet breaking Bread unto them And to consummate all he became obedient to death even that shameful death the death of the Cross for us men and for our Salvation and indeed the whole course of his Life was but administration of all good to all Rich or Poor without respect of Persons which is the proper duty of all Kings But it shall not be so among you i. e. Proud and aspiring domination ought not to be among Christians though they bear the glorious Titles of Evargitae or Benefactors nay of Emperors Kings or Princes Kings Christians especially though Kings by name and title yet in truth are but Servants to the governed So Moses who certainly had as great and as unquestionable authority over the Israelites as ever mortal had to whom God himself did dictate Laws yet did he never proudly domineer over them tho' provoked to the uttermost so that he desired God to kill him that he might not see his wretchedness to their prejudice or detriment but did bear the burden of them all carried them in his bosom as a nursing Father beareth the nursing Child and pleaded importunately with God himself to save them from destruction when the Fire of the Lord was consuming them at Taberah and prevailed worthy the imitation of all those who stile themselves Gods Vicegerents then should the governed have no oppression no complaining in our Streets but should every man sit quietly under his own Vine and under his own Fig-tree So Plato called Magistrates not Lords but Ministers and Servants of the People and calleth the People not Servants but Benefactors as those that allow and give them in gratitude and recompence for their service wherewithal to keep a Kingly State and Grandeur and depute them also their Conservators and Executioners of their Laws So Aristotle calls them Ministers and Keepers of their Laws the Apostles call them Ministers both of the Laws of God and of the People and no doubt but they are so
all his Saints Ps 149. 4 5 8 9. It is Piety alone that enobles Kings gives them a mighty Character and establisheth their Thrones Therefore Kings ought to be like the Sun in the Firmament comfortably influencing all their Subjects by governing justly and living uprightly having their Eyes on the faithful of the land and on them that excel in virtue and not suffering those that make Kings glad with their wickedness and Princes with their Lies Hos 7. 3. to tarry in their sights it being an abomination in Kings to work wickedness for the throne is established by righteousness if Solomon the wisest King that ever did or ever will sit upon a Throne can judge Prov. 16. 12. So Pope Leo Ep. 7. to the Emperor Theodosius Tune est optimus regni vestri status quando sempiternae incommutabili Trinitati unius Dei confessione servitur Then is the State of your Kingdom in it its Glory when it serveth and acknowledgeth one eternal God in the Immutable Trinity This God hath demonstrated by an Iliad of Examples both of old and more puny daies by punishing Kings governing tyrannically more signally and especially in Nebuchadnezzar who not conforming to the Counsel of Daniel by breaking off his sins by righteousness and his iniqities by shewing mercy unto the poor was turned into a very Brute being driven from men to dwell with wild asses to eat grass with Oxen till seven times had passed over him his body wet with the dew of Heaven his hairs grown like eagles feathers and his nails like birds claws before his understanding returned unto him to bless God and to acknowledge that the most high ruleth in the kingdom of men Dan. 4. So averred David a King after God's own heart Man that is in honour and understandeth not is like the beasts that perish Psalm 49. ver 20. What this Vnderstanding is is declared Job 28. 28. The fear of the Lord that is wisdom and to depart from evil that is understanding All other Wisdom in respect of this is but Brutish which made Constantine the Great to esteem all Principalities not subservient to the Laws of Heaven to be far worse than the Government of Goat-Keepers Shepherds and Cow-herds Euseb Orat. In the Kingdom of Insidels who have no right knowledge of God nor of his Laws the Supreme Law is only the safety of the Civil State and its Temporal Happiness but when a Gentile State becomes Christian then consequently it becomes also a Church whereby it loseth nothing which it had before but acquires a new Perfection by accrument of Divine Powers added to the Civil and consequently a greater Duty incumbent on the Governors thereof to seek and procure the Welfare and Happiness Such Kingdoms so united and so interwoven are in a more special manner the Inheritance and Kingdoms of our Lord Jesus Christ which his Father gave him as the Purchase of his bitter Passion Ask of me and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession Psalm 2. 8. And Christ doth imbrace the Glory of this his Kingdom so incorporated with so much more tenderness and affection than the Pomp and Pride of all earthly Kingdoms as that he threatneth those Kings Nations and Kingdoms that will not serve him shall perish and be utterly wasted Isaiah 60. 12. Speak every man truth in his heart to his neighbour execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates therefore love the truth and peace Zechar. 8. 16 19. are Divine Oracles and shall challenge Obedience from every Individual but more particularly and especially they seem to have respect unto those that sit at the Helm that execute the Judgment of Truth and Peace in the Gates It is no doubt as great a fault to be silent when one ought to speak as to speak when one should hold his peace sins of Omission being no less dangerous than sins of Commission I think I do no dis-service to the Publick or transgress the duty of Honesty or Loyalty if I endeavour by Pen to set the Right of Government on a sure and right Foundation when I see daily so many false Principles exorbitant Powers and Vnaccountableness attributed to Cheif Magistrates as may make very Saints to transgress in Government that happily otherwise would not and these not Written by vulgar Pens only but Preached and Printed by Ministers of the Gospel that they might be delivered with the better grace and greater authority though not without most palpable wresting of Scripture to wrong senses and purposes which in Ministers of the Gospel is the more abominable but God shall cut off all flattering lips and tongues that speak proud things Psalm 12. 3. There are so many Sermons full fraught with such Principles that they who are esteemed the Governors of our Church cannot be ignorant of them yet they whom it most concerns to take notice of true and false Doctrines being silent which seems to argue consent hath encouraged me to put Pen to Paper to assert the truth It ought not to be imputed as a Crime to any who bring the Actions of Princes Popes or Prelates to the Touch-stone of Truth Truth though it begets hatred to the Asserters thereof yet like the Sun is a publick good which neither exempteth Princes Popes private Men no nor Angels from her Laws I have followed as near as I can the Beams of that Sun by adhering close to true Principles of Nature of Reason and of Scripture If any Light I have given hath discovered false Glosses or Truth from Error no reason to quarrel either with the Truths themselves or with the Assertor of them Truth seasonably spoken can hurt no Body If false Principles are censured and adjudged by Divine by Laws of Nature and Reason and disapproved by Christian Religion be pleased or displeased who will it matters not the care is taken It being more than human Tyranny to deprive Faith and Truth of Tongue or Pen for their Defence where Truth maketh no distinction of Persons I dare not I only condemn what she doth without respect had to Persons great or small if they clash with Truth or endeavour to obscure her brightness To assert Truth is no point of Arrogance and to search for Truth when it is concealed is the beginning of Charity and to assert it with constancy when it is apparent is the consummation of Charity and to walk in the Light thereof is the beginning and consummation of Happiness For who can be more blessed than he who enjoyeth Truth in its Excellency Constancy and Immutability I am not ignorant that Fear Honour and Reverence are due to Magistrates but more to Truth for God is Truth Nor is it Reverence with base flattery or ignorant blindness to hide the publick Blemishes and Miscarriages of the Actions of great Men. No no it 's downright flattering Profaneness dissembling and betraying the Truths of God. It 's much more Christian
who carefully defend and govern the Church and People of God imitating David King of Israel Psalm 101. He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house he that telleth lyes shall not tarry in my sight I will early destroy all the wicked of the land that I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of the Lord c. The King ought in all truth and sincerity fully and wholly to observe all the Dignities Rights and Liberties of the Kingdom and to reduce them to their Pristine condition The King also ought to do all things in his Kingdom righteously and that by the judgment of the Nobles of the Kingdom and Right and Justice ought rather to bear Rule in a Kingdom than sinful Wills and Pleasures Law is always that which doth right but Will and Pleasure is violence and force is not right And much more to the same purpose by Edward the First to whose Laws also William the Conqueror subscribed Vid. Lambert Collect p. 142. N o 17. The true Religion of God and honest Conversation even of Priests themselves is our chiefest care saith Justinian Novel constit 6. The search of true Religion we find to be the chiefest care of Imperial Majesty Legum Theodos Novel tit 2. de Judaeis Samaritanis So Gregory the Great earnestly exhorted Edelbert unto the first that was Christned of the Saxon Kings in England For this cause the Almighty God brings the good Princes to the Regiment of his People that by them he may bestow the gifts of his mercy upon all that are under them Beda hist Aug. 32. Consider in the Creation we were all created in Adam equal and equally innocent and upright and had we so continued in that state of Innocency there would have been no need of Impery one over another every one would have been a King to himself God and Nature their only Law-givers but lapsed Man sought out many Inventions and broke the Laws both of God and Nature and thereby provoked God to anger and to vengeance and instead of being homo homini Deus as in their fist Creation and state of Innocency they soon became homo homini Lupus which unavoidably introduced a necessity of Government framed by human Wisdom that they may not like Brutes devour one another but live in Unity Wealth Peace and Godliness that they might have Liberty preserved Justice equally distribute◠Honesty upheld Religion and Piety maintained and propagated all which could not be done when the Race of lapsed Mankind was multiplyed but by Laws ordained by Common Consent as sociable Parts united into one Body which Laws in common Prudence and of right do bind each to serve other and all to prefer the good of the whole before what good soever of any particular without which no House no City no Nation can long subsist in any happy condition For to govern and to be governed is not to be esteemed amongst things only necessary but as things profitable also for the benefit and sollace of all Mankind and hath its ground and warrant in Scripture in Nature in Heaven Hell the Creatures Mans nature and Conscience In Scripture by me Kings and consequently all other Forms of Government reign and Princes decree Justice By me Princes rule and Nobles even all the Judges of the earth Pro. 8. 15 16. saith Gods essential wisdom viz. not only by the secret disposition of his Providence but by the express warrant of his Ordinance by Divine Institution not by naked approbation there being no power but of God either by his commission or permission The powers that are i. e. the several Forms of Government are ordained by God Rom. 13. 1 2 3 4 5 6. i. e. politick Power in general is warranted by a Divine Law but the several Forms of Government is by the Law of Nations Princedom Empire Kingdom and Jurisdiction have their Rise from a positive and secondary Law of Nations and not absolutely from the Law of God or of pure Nature which the Lawyers call Secundariò Jus naturale or Jus gentium secundarium In sum Government is immediately from God but this or that Form of Government is immediately from God by the Interposition and Mediation of the publick consent of Kingdoms and States and so the application of the Persons to the Office is wholly in the Governed The several Forms of Government differ not in nature Morally and Theologically speaking the end of all Government being the very self same but only politically and positively For God appointed not Kings absolute and solely Independent but constituted with them also Judges who were equally obliged to judge according to the Law of God. 2. Chron. 19. 6. as Kings 17. Deut. 15. and have a co-ordinate share in the Government because the Judgment is neither the Kings nor the Judges but the Lords and both their Consciences are in immediate subjection to the King of Kings 2 Chron. 19. 6 7. The persons are sometimes Usurpers sometimes Abusers of their Authority as when they tyrannize or oppress such powers God owns not the Rulers that he ordains are not to be a Terrour unto good works but to the evil for they are the Ministers of God to the governed for good revengers to execute wrath upon them that do evil To such Rulers we must needs be subject not only for wrath but also for Conscience sake therefore whosoever resisteth such powers resisteth the ordinance of God And for this cause pay we tribute but not to those that are a terrour to good works the reason subjoyned is for they are Gods Ministers attending continually on this very thing but if they attend not continually on this very thing there is no absolute necessary Obligation expressed incumbent upon us for our Obedience or for our paying of Tribute Sute or Service but rather on the contary It is better to obey God than Man Acts 5. 29. The same Power St. Peter terms human Ordinances Submit your self to every ordinance of man for the Lords sake whether it be to the King as supreme or unto Governours as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evil doers and for the praise of them that do well 1 Pet. 2. 13 14. so that S. Paul and S. Peter run parallel to one and the self same Sense and the Sword in the Magistrates Hand to revenge is not a material Sword to hack and hew kill and slay at pleasure but the Laws made by the common consent are the true Sword so Bishop Bilson to which both Magistrates and People are equally obliged to submit the Magistrates being but the Conduit and Pipe the Administrators not Patrons of the Powers for the sake of order through which and by whom all Laws are to pass and be executed and by the same Texts they have the like Obligation to praise them that do well as to punish those that do ill so David was taught and practised I will not know a wicked person mine eyes
is so natural an obligation that it cannot be dispensed with And for Governors to procure the good of Commonweals is but to do their duty he that is above all should be best of all for Example prevails more than Law and there can be no reason for sin violence or oppression Princes Councils Love and Hate Must do homage to the Law of State The Peoples Safety hath no Mate So King James of happy Memory in his Speech to the Parliament 1603. When I have done all that I can for you I do nothing but that which I am bound to do and am accountable to God upon the contrary For I do acknowledge that the special and greatest point of difference that is between a Rightful King and an Usurping Tyrant is in this That whereas the proud and ambitious Tyrant doth think his Kingdom and People are only ordained for satisfaction of his Desires and unreasonable Appetites the righteous and just King doth by the contrary acknowledge himself to be ordained for the procuring of the Wealth and Prosperity of his People and that his greatest and principle Worldly Felicity must consist in their Prosperity If you be rich I cannot be poor if you be happy I cannot but be fortunate and I protest that your Welfare shall ever be my greatest care and contentment and that I am a Servant it is most true that as I am Head and Governor of all the People in my Dominions who are my natural Vassals and Subjects considering them in numbers and distinct ranks so if we will take the whole People as one Body and Mass then as the Head is ordained for the Body and not the Body for the Head so must a righteous King know himself to be ordained for his People and not his People for him For though a King and People be relata yet there can be no King if he want People and Subjects but there be many People in the World that lack a Head wherefore I will never be ashamed to confess it my principal honour to be the great Servant of the Commonwealth and ever think the Prosperity thereof to be my greatest Felicity 494 495. The reason is demonstrable viz. God not the King made the People and those all equally of one and the self-same Mould but the People make Kings Nature was Father to the People but the People make some of themselves Kings and are the rightful Patrons of all their Power Honours Priviledges and Prerogatives and therefore as God ordained the Sabbath for man and not man for the Sabbath Mark 2. 27 so 〈◊〉 ordained Kings and all other Governors and Governments for 〈◊〉 and not Men for Kings The prospect and foresight of the wise That to be governed by one Mans Will might become the cause of all Mens misery prevailed with them 〈…〉 and 〈…〉 Laws 〈◊〉 all might see their Duties and 〈…〉 There are that 〈◊〉 with great 〈…〉 truth that Kings receive their 〈…〉 according to Prov. 8. 15. and not from the 〈…〉 are set and that they are accountable to nonâ— bu◠〈…〉 on the just Right of all Polâ—â—â—â—k Power 〈…〉 and of Nature and of Reason is originally in the 〈…〉 use thereof from them may be transferred and deligated unto whom 〈…〉 devesting 〈…〉 their Administrator◠〈…〉 them who deligated it and to 〈…〉 countable If such Assâ—â—tor◠〈…〉 old when God by 〈…〉 the People had 〈…〉 Prophets for Rules 〈…〉 much more might have 〈…〉 yet even in those days the 〈…〉 far complied with common consent 〈…〉 change of that Government his own Wisdom 〈…〉 him and his Government 〈…〉 his peculiar People only because they 〈…〉 King over us maugre all that Samuel could 〈…〉 as Solomon was dead all Israel come 〈…〉 King who refusing to be a Servant to the◠〈…〉 for ever threatning that his little finger should be 〈…〉 would whip them with Scorpions c. they soon 〈…〉 have we in David neither have we inheritance in the 〈…〉 and see to thine house David 1 King 12. and then chose 〈…〉 Rehoboam the Son of Solomon But such choice being now quite out of doors and 〈…〉 the least pretence of Title from such Nomination and therefore 〈…〉 can only be meant the institution of the Office and not the designation 〈…〉 and cannot possibly be understood any other ways 〈…〉 instituted hath together with other Governmentâ— th◠〈…〉 And it standeth sure that all Royal Power 〈…〉 in the People as in the first Subject which they may confer on this or that Man with â—â—at â—â—mitations they please and on condition that if conditions be not performed they 〈…〉 Power they intrusted him withal And therefore no King can have 〈…〉 so just Powers as from the suffrages of the People all other Governments 〈…〉 Tyrannies and continued Injuries of which the People may ease themselves when they have just reason and a neat opportunity so to do because their just and natural Right is wrongfully invaded for that naturally no sort of Men have full and lawful Power to command whole politick multitudes of Men and therefore utterly without the Peoples consent they ought not to be at any Man's commandment living This is plain and natural reason and ought to have the stamp of a publick Law. Laws positive are mutable natural not so and therefore these Laws ought to stand unrepealed because they always bind The Kings of Israel and Judâ—â— were not so immediately and absolutely from God as that the People were 〈…〉 excluded from their Right and Power of Electing and Approving and 〈…〉 of them that had been to deprive them of that Power that God and the 〈…〉 Nature had given them to Covenant and Agree with them before they would admit of them that had been to wrong the People and to bind them up from the use of their reason by Covenanting for their own Happiness and against Tyranny in ease they should break Laws and Covenants solemnly made with them by Oath which cannot be broke without Perjury By me Kings reign was only an Index and Declaration of God's Will and Pleasure which doth not take away or destroy the Peoples Right or Liberty Saul was not King so absolutely and so immediately from God that it excluded all Election of the People but was afterwards chosen by Lot by all the People at Mizpeh And all the People shouted and said God save the King 1 Sam. 10. 17 24. and afterwards Behold the King whom ye have chosen Chap. 12. 23. Did not all the Elders of Israel Capitulate and Covenant with David before the Lord in Hebron and then and not till then anointed him King over Israel 1 Chron. 11 13. All the Men of War came with a perfect Heart to Hebron to make David King over all Israel and all the rest also of Israel were of one Heart to make David King chap. 12. 38. Did not all the People of Judah take Azariah who was Sixteen years old and made him King instead of his Father Amaziah 2
expressed to which the King himself did assent and by his Diploma approved of it Which Transaction if violated by him all his Subjects Feudataries c. both present and to come shall neither obey nor serve him but shall rather be subject to obey the Duke of Burgundy and his Successors Such was the issue of the violation of Royal Faith plighted And may not all Kingdoms expect the just performance of their Oaths and Stipulations made by their Kings at their Inaugurations who are thereby made the Keepers and Protectors of their Laws And what better Issue can any Kings expect that violate their Oaths and Trusts though by Wiles and Shams and Royal Influences only on Judges and other Officers of their Kingdoms through whose Hands the management of Laws do pass Judges Sheriffs Justices of the Peace Constables Privy-Counsellors Juries c. In summ The chief Impery is so in Kings and other Supreme Magistrates that if they transgress the Laws and turn Tyrants and will not be governed by just Laws unto which they have Sworn it is the just right of Inferior Magistrates and Ordines regni to hinder their Tyranny and reduce the Government to its Pristine State and Condition And in so doing they are so far from being seditious or rebellious as that they do but their Duty to God and their Country as by the above-recited examples appeareth The truth of which appears by many reasons 1. By the Law of Nature on which depends the preservation of all human Societies of which there can be no doubt In all Pacts and Contracts mutually made and consented unto the same Parties by whom the Obligation was made have the same Power to dissolve the same as often as just Reason shall require So they that have Power to create Kings have Power also to curb and censure them So if the Essential Conditions of the Contract for which the Contract was made be manifestly violated and broken the Contract as between Rahab and the Spies is absolutely void Let those that hold Kings accountable to God only shew if they can any Nation so foolish and unwise that willingly and wittingly without force or fear ever submitted so absolutely to any King or Government that they did not expresly or tacitely provide for their own safety and good by observance of their own good Laws It a Conqueror oblige the conquered by Oaths then according to the Civil Law that those that are extorted by force and unjust fear ought not to be accounted Lawful I confess the Pulpits Preach a contrary Doctrine but it is not possible that irreligious or unnatural Conditions got by force unjust fear fraud or wicked practices should be binding or esteemed as Lawful it being a general Rule of right and just founded on the common Principles of Nature so firm and jure that nothing that is manifestly adverse and repugnant to the Laws of Nature can be held for right and just amongst Men. This is generally to be understood of Pacts manifestly unjust or irreligious which no Man can justly require nor any Man justly submit unto though required Such was the reproachful condition required of them of Gabesh Gilead by Nahash the Ammonite that he might thrust out all their right eyes 1 Sam. 11. 2. Such and worse was the condition required by Antiochus the cruel Tyrant of the Citizens of Jerusalem viz. that they should abjure the true religion 1 Macc. 1. 51. In such cases where the conditions of Temporal estate are only heard and Religion not concerned it is better to have respect to their Oath than to their Lives But when Religion is concerned Oaths must be very strictly observed Though all God's Covenants and Promises are Yea and Amen yet are they all tacitely or expresly conditional so that if they keep not Covenant with God God will not keep Covenant nor Promise with them So though God did solemnly swear unto the children of Israel that he would bring them into that very good land that floweth with milk and hâ—â—y yet suffered he none of them to enter but Caleb who was of another spirit and Joshua doubtless yee shall not come into the land concerning which I swear to make you dwell therein Numb 14. 30. and ye shall know my breach of promise or altering of my Purpose verse 34. I the Lord have said I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation that are gathered together against me verse 35. and that justly because they first broke with him Nehâ—m 9. 16 17 18. there being always some tacite or explicite condition expressed or implied in all such Promises as well as Threatnings Therefore as to one and the other God hath given us this general Rule not only with particular Persons but with Nations Jer. 18. 7 8 9 10. At what instant I shall speak concerning a Nation or concerning a Kingdom to pluck up and to pull down and to destory it if that Nation against whom I have pronounced turn from their evil I will repent of the evil I thought to do unto them So when ever I shall speak concerning a Nation and concerning a Kingdom to build and to plant it if it do evil in my sight that it obey not my voice then will I repent of the good wherewith I said I would benefit them i. e. will not do it Whereupon St. Jerom saith Non ergo quod pollicetur Deus statim futurum est sed in eos sua promissa implet qui custodiunt mandaâ—a illius Covenants and Promises on Conditions are equally obliging whoever fails the other is free It is the same amongst Men that are in mutual Stipulation and Covenant whoever first breaks Covenant is a Rebel to the Law and the other is â—râ—e For which cause God blamed and punished Zedekiah the last King of the Family of David for that contrary to his Oath he fell from the King of the Chaldeans As I live saith the Lord surely in the place where the King dwelleth that made him king whose oath he despised and whose covenant he brake even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die Ezek. 17. 16. ver per 110. And Zedekiah not only by his Oath but by the express Command of God he and his were to be subject to the King of Chaldaea which circumstances made Zedekiah guilty of that Defection and of Perjury I like not that Subjects should on every breach of Oath withdraw their Obedience and depart from their Oath neither do I approve of that Proverb Fragenti fidem fides frangatur cidem but on the contrary do deem it unlawful to break Faith justly plighted but I do deny that Subjects do violate their Faith against Tyrants if they keeping within their own Bounds and Province do use their utmost to make Tyrants keep their Conditions agreed on and hinder them from breaking of them For the Rule is general That Contracts and Covenants either plainly expressed or tacitely to be understood are broken and dissolved by him
the Earth to stay the Righteous with the wicked Gen. 18. 25. or take vengeance on the People for the Sins of the King the Soul that sinneth it shall die Ezek. 18. 4. Every Man shall be put to death for his own Sin Deut. 24 16. was it not rather because the People did not resist or restrain but assisted Saul their King violating the Law of God and wickedly persecuting the Man after Gods own Heart and killing the Priests of the Lord. Saul desiring to inlarge thē Borders of the Tribe of Judah at his entrance into Canaan broke publick Faith with the Gibeonites and destroyed many of them the Children of Israel having sworn unto them by which he broke the third Commandment God being witness to his Covenant with the Gibeonites he broke also the sixth Commandment and so the breach of both Tables God himself would revenge the breach of which Covenant and Oath was justly laid to Saul and his Family Now Saul being dead and David constituted King 2 Sam. 21. 1 2. God sent a Famine in the days of David three Years Year after Year upon the whole Land and David inquired of the Lord and the Lord answered It was for Saul and his bloody House because he slew the Gibeonites which Famine ceased not till David delivered seven Sons of Saul to the Gibeonites whom they hanged in Gibeah of Saul unto the Lord v. 6. 8. But was the Famine over all the Land for Sauls fault only No both King and People were both punished the one for breaking Covenant the other for not resisting and not hindring the King or as being accessary to do this Evil. How came it to pass that God never punisheth the sins of the King upon the People nor the sins of the People upon the King and yet he sent a Famine on the whole Land Saul the chief Actor being Dead and consequently Actio moritur cum persona but because the People suffered so manifest a Sin to be committed by their sinful connivance and used no endeavours to resist or hinder him as they ought Can Punishment by any right be inflicted on any for a Crime whereof they are not guilty Alieni secleris quenquam poenas pati Jura non sinunt 2 Kings 14. 6. Wherein did the Israelites sin if not by tolerating Saul to do as he did when they ought and might have hindred him When Menasseh had polluted the Temple of the Lord and shed Innocent Blood which the Lord would not pardon 2 Kings 24. 4. why did the Lord threaten not only Menasseh but his People with Judgments but because they being under the same Covenants with Manasseh they would not restrain the King from persisting in his wickedness but did connive countenance and assist him in his Impieties 2 Chron. 33. 17. Herod and Pilate condemned Christ the Priests delivered him to Death yet the Curse fell upon the whole Nation and why because the People might have delivered him as well as they did Barrabas and did not but impricated Curses upon themselves and their Children It is the duty of all Nations to take care not only that Criminals be punished but that no Crimes be committed which made Hezekiah pull down the Brazen Serpent though set up by Moses when it came to be abused 2 Kings 18. 4. It being the duty of the People by common consent to hinder Kings as much as in them lies from violating the Law of God and from injuring his Church and Saints and if they do not they are guilty of the same crime and liable to the same punishment Resist they may by opposing words to words force to force stratagem to stratagem always avoiding perfidiousness which is always disallowed and hateful to God and Man. For in War it matters not whether it be managed by open Force or secret Stratagems By People is not meant the Many headed-Monster-Multitude but by the Universal People is to be understood those who have any share in the Government or any Authority from the People conferred upon them by any Laws made by publick consent as inferior Magistrates either chosen by the People or any other way constituted to take care of publick Peace and concerns of the Laws of the Land and worship of God in their several qualifications be they Tribunes of the People Ephori Praefects Praetors Judges Justices of the Peace Constables Captains of Thousands Captains of Hundreds Captains of Fifties or other inferior Officers or Magistrates which are as Consorts of the Empire and are in the vacancy of the publick Sanhedrims Dyets Parliaments c. As it were the Epitome of every Kingdom and Ephori of Kings and Conservators of the Publick Peace thereof to and among whom all the publick concerns of a Nation are referred of which sort in a manner were the Seventy Elders in the Kingdom of Israel among which there was a Chief Priest which did judge de Arduis Regni which were not to be Hobby-horsed in and out by the High Priest according as they would or would not serve a sinister turn and they were chosen out of the Seventy Families which went down into Egypt the Elders of which were first chosen and made Heads over the People Rulers of Thousands Rulers of Hundreds Rulers of Tens and the hard causes they brought unto Moses Exod. 18. 25. We read often in Scripture of all Israel of all Judah and Benjamin c. when in all probability every Individual did not at all times meet of which sort and kind there is in all well constituted Kingdoms several Congregations of the Kingdoms Officers of the Kingdom as the Privy Council Peers Patricians Judges Sessions Assizes Lord Lieutenants Deputy Lieutenants Mayors Bayliff's of Towns and Cities as the ordinary Councils and Officers of a Kingdom and as Councils extraordinary chosen out of them all to consider de Arduis Regni which are Officers of the Kingdom and called by several names in several Kingdoms as Dyets Parliaments c. which provide that no detriment come to either Church or State in which tho' every individual be inferior to the King yet the Joynt Body being the Representative of the whole Kingdom is superior and to be preferred before him For as the Council of Basil and Constance decreed that a General Council was superior to the Pope and the Chapter to the Bishop for that they which receive any Authority from any Company of Men must needs be inferior to that Company though he be personally superior to every Individual of that Society So without all doubt Israel which petitioned for and chose Saul from among themselves to be their King as a publick Actor for the common good of them all was superior to Saul When we attribute any power to the People it is to be understood of the Officers Princes Elders Parliaments Dyets that have a share in the Government and in the Legislative Power Take Athaliah 2 Chron. 24. for an Example in which Act the Kingdom was not opposed but
shall be upon the faithful of the Land that they may dwell with me he that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight c. Psal 101. 4 6 7. In Nature it self are found impressions of this Ordinance In Heaven amongst Angels are Principalities and Thrones Eph. 1. 21. and Michael the Archangel Jude 9. Amongst the Sphaers there is a primum Mobile one first moveable Commander of all the inferiour Orbs with his Motion Amongst Stars there are greater and lesser Lights â—â—â—ers amongst the rest the sun to rule by day and the Moon and Stars by night Nay so absolutely necessary is Government that it reaches even to Hell. Devils themselvet have their Principalities Mat. 25. 41. not only over other Creatures but respectively among themselves therefore it is said the Devil and his Angels and Belzebub the Prince of Devils Mat. 12. 24. To say nothing of Brutes amongst which yet Philosophers have observed a perfect form of Regiment and Polity among Bees a Commonwealth Locusts go out by Bands c. And see we not plainly that Obedience of Creatures unto the Law of Nature is the stay of the whole World. In man if nothing else evince it methinks that awful submission to Regiment which natural Conscience suggests to Savages sufficiently proves it As far as that Principle is heard of that there is a King of Kings and Lord of Lords wherever it is known that there is a God that judgeth the Earth it is known also and received that there are Nominal Gods on Earth with reverence next to the Supreme Majesty to be adored But above all natural Conscience amongst other common Notions hath received the impression of this natural Principle how else comes it to pass that a few extravagant Natures and profligated Consciences only excepted such awful Submission is found in all to Men of our own Mould Yet in our Apprehension clad with such venerable Majesty that the guilty scarce behold them without trembling and the Guiltless yield willing reverence to their Persons so every way God hath pleased to make known his Ordinance for Government Magistracy and Laws CHAP. II. Shews the ultimate and final end of all Government Shews the Laws of God and Nature to be the best Guides and that Covenants made between King and People are to be kept both by King and People and the breach thereof alike Penal to King and People and whoever breaks either Laws or Covenants they are Rebels to the Laws and that the People are still the Lords People HAving shewed the absolute necessity of Government it is requisite also to declare the ultimate and final end of all Governments which by confession of all is primarily and especially the Declaration of the infinite Wisdom Goodness and Glory of God propagation of the Gospel and the good of the Governed for whose good all things were created Unto these two all kinds of Governments how variously soever framed according to the different Modes Wisdoms and Understandings of Men and Nations ought to be conformable Let Christ be our great Exemplar who denyed himself his own natural will and life and bestowed himself on us that we likewise might not seek every man his own but every man the good of another imploying our selves on the benefit and service of Church and State and so grow and be built up together in love which is the Consummation and perfecting as of all Saints so of all Governments For as God who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords the only Monarch of the World and whose understanding is infinite in the Government and Administration of this inferiour World designed his own Glory together with the Good and Salvation of the whole Race of Mankind so he expects submission and perfect obedience unto his Laws Statutes and Judgments from all Kings Princes and Governours as his Ministers Be wise now therefore O ye Kings be instructed ye Judges of the Earth and serve the Lord with fear in all your Administrations according to the purport of his Laws and for the ends designed lest the sad Fate of Solomon betide you 1 King. 11. 11. Because thou hast not kept my Covenants and my Statutes which I have commanded thee I will surely rend thy Kingdom from thee and will give it to thy servant Now without all peradventure the Law of Nature is the best and most equal Law and most fit to be imitated which being strictly observed nothing can be wanting to any body and what every one hath is his own for ever For as those who preside over Celestial Bodies are blessed and just minds and Spirits and every one doth most justly govern his own Body so Nature being derived from those Superiour just Souls keepeth the most just and equal order in all her actings which she makes known to all the World. Now the nearer all human Laws do come to the Laws of God and Nature the more certain and the more glorious must their way of living be who live and are governed by such Laws Unto these Laws had those ancient Law-givers respect which eterniz'd their Names and Memories famous to all succeeding Ages Above the rest are celebrated the Laws of Lacedaemon by Licurgus of Athens by Solon of the Locrenses a Town in Italy by Zalencus of the Thurii a City in Greece by Garondas of the Getae a People of Scythia in Europe by Zamolxis a Scholar of Pythagoras and Divine Plato commends the Laws of Crete Isocrates of the Carthaginians but above all the Roman Laws by the Judgment of Polybiis do excel These Laws of these Law-givers tho not the self-same but differing one from the other yet they all tend to one and the same end the Peace Happiness and welfare of the several Nations and People tho they did not march all in one and the same Road and Path thereunto The first Law givers had always the Laws of Nature in which there 's nothing unequal to be found before their Eyes to imitate and conform to them as near as they could but when they made Judicial Laws as they were not all under one Climate nor suckt the same Air so they had not all the same Reason the same Judgment which made the difference in their Laws but yet they all tended to the good and happiness of the People and Nations for whom they were made All right being either from the Law of Nature which is the Law of God or from Custom or from Human Laws The right of Nature always stands on its own Legs by its self without the assistance of Custom or of other Laws and always points and leads to happy life and condition which every Man Society and Nation might enjoy if they would but follow her Dictates and take her for their Guide and Rule to walk by But above all Laws no Laws like to those of the Almighty who is the Lord alone of all the Kingdoms of the Earth for they had
Disputes as it is now most necessary Tho God appointed David King yet he was to be chosen by the People 2 Sam. 5. 1. So Solomon 1 Chron. 29. 22. and tho the Crown of right did belong to David's Family yet the People did choose which of the Family best pleased them and that by a double Obligation as may appear by the History of Joas 2 King. 11. 4. and 17. For the King and the People by a Solemn Oath did promise to God that they would keep his Laws both Ecclesiastical and Civil Afterwards there was another Oath between King and People at which time there was a Right in the People i. e. Ordinibus Populi to call him to Account whom they had ordained King if he performed not his Duty Which is made out by Examples If it were lawful for David to defend himself from the Tyranny of Saul and for the City of Libnah the City of the Priests and inferiour Magistrates only to withdraw themselves from the Obedience of Joram the sixth Successor from David because he had forsaken the Lord God of his Fathers which City belonging to the Priests it is very apparent that their case was far different from that of the Idumaeans which hapned at the same time under the same King for it is not likely that the Edomites withdrew themselves from the Subjection of the Israelites that they might serve God whom they never served but hated him and the Israelites but desired to free themselves from thier Subjection But the Priests and Inhabitants of Libnah not being able to serve two Masters God and the Tyrant threw of his Yoak that they might the better serve God will it not naturally follow that the States of a Kingdom may lawfully defend and free themselves from Tyranny The Fact also of the Rulers over Hundreds with the Captains by the Advice of Joida against Athalia and of the Israelites against Amasia 2 King. 14. 19. whom they slew which was not seditiously but lawfully done for it is no where said that Amasius was slain by his Servants as it hapned to his Father Joas and to Ammon the Son of Manasses but by the common consent of Jerusalem and that not treacherously the end of most Tyrants but by publick force and publick Authority not tumultuously but after he had fled to the City Lachish from whence his Body was carried to the Sepulchers of his Fathers which is confirmed for that after his death we do not read of any Inquisition made how he came to be slain or that any Body was punished or called in question for it either by the People or his Children as there was for Ammon and Joas 2 King. 12. 10. 14. 5. 21. 24. but on the contrary in respect to Kingly Dignity and his Fathers Family they chose Azariah his Son King. Hence we may conclude that the chief States or Ordines of Jerusalem had a rightful Power to choose a King out of the Family of David whom they pleased and when elected him either to eject or punish according as he did or did not observe the Laws So the Danes dethroned and imprisoned Christiern their Tyrant King till he dyed and chose his Uncle in his room It is not unknown how Gustavus Erickson freed himself and his Subjects from their Subjection to the Danes and also how they kept their King Captive for Male-Government which they translated to his Brother To say nothing of England and Scotland Poland keeps its ancient Right of choosing their Kings on certain Terms and Conditions with this Salvo That it may be lawful to be quit of their Oath if the King keep not his as it may appear by their Election of Henry Brother to the King of France which agrees with Bishop Valentine Procurator for the King in that Election who in his Oration to the People publickly made and printed commended them for that they did limit and circumscribe the Power of the King by wise Laws So the Venetians whose General Council hath Authority of choosing their Duke reserving Power to themselves of deposing or punishing them if he endeavour or do any thing Tyrannically So the Venetians constitute their Duke not as an Idol but as a Prince and Monarch from whom without any danger of Tyranny all the Lawful Priviledges and Prerogatives of Kings do issue and flow Now as their General Council have all the Authority of choosing him observing their ancient Rites and Customs used therein so the same Council retain to themselves the Right of deposing or punishing him if he govern Tyrannically without which Power all the rest would signifie little So consider that Wise and Prudent Nation of Spain In the Fourth Council of Toledo cap. 74. held 1144. according to Sigibert's Computation and consisted both of Ecclesiasticks and of the States of that Kingdom it is thus recorded viz. Nullus apud nos sub presumptione regnum arripiat c. Let no Man presume to take upon him the Government of this Kingdom no Man move or stir up Sedition among the Citizens no Man design the Destruction of the King but when the King dies let the Princes and Peers of the Nation with the Priests constitute the Successor in Common Council that whilst Unity and Concord are preserved amongst us no Discord may arise But if this Admonition do not quiet our Minds and move our Hearts to endeavour the common Good then hear our Sentence Whoever of us or of all the People of this Nation shall by any Conjuration or Study violate the Sacrament of his Faith or Allegiance which for the State of his Country and of the Gothick Nation or for the Preservation of the Welfare of the King he had promised or plighted or shall compass the Kings death or divest him of his Power or by any Tyrannical Presumption shall attempt or usurp the Crown Let him be Anathema Accursed in the sight of God the Father and his Angels and from the Catholick Church which by Perjury he hath profaned and from all the Company of Christians with all his Associates in iniquity be for ever debarred because it must needs be that the same Punishment is due to all the Complices and Companions in the same Crimes which we again the second time repeat Quod iterum secundo replicamus dicentes quicunque à modo c. And therefore may it please all here present by your consent to confirm this Sentence the third time by the Universal Clergy or People it is pronounced that whoever shall presume against this our definitive Sentence Let him be Anathema Maranatha i. e. Accursed at the coming of the Lord and that he and his Fellows may have their Portion with Judas Iscariot Amen Wherefore we admonish the whole Church of God and the People that no Man presume to condemn this dreadful Sentence but that they keep their plighted Faith towards our glorious King Sisenand c. And we humbly require thee our present King and all future Princes that
obliged to the People for the just performance of the same Omnis promittens facit alteri cui promissio facta est jus in promittentem Whoever maketh a Promise to another giveth to that other a right or jurisdiction to challenge the performance of the same Promise But if Rehoboam will make his little finger thicker than his Fathers loins and chastise Israel not with whips only but with Scorpions And will send Adoram to gather tribute without the common and free consent of Israel Israel will stone such Ministers to death and will rebel as in the Text or fall away as in the Margin recesset saith St. Jerom defecerunt say Junius and Tremelius from the house of David and will make Jeroboam King over all Israel as they justly might and without the just imputation of Rebellion And though Rehoboam did raise 180000 Men intending by Force of Arms to bring the Kingdom again to Rehoboam the Son of Solomon yet God would countenance no such act and therefore forbade them by Shemaiah the man of God 1 Kings 12. 19. 2 Chron. 11. 12. Which demonstrates that if Kings keep not Covenants with their People they may withdraw their Tribute and Obedience and chuse another King or another Government and be no Rebels This is not to assert or justifie that for every act of Male government or a few acts of Tyranny or Oppression Kings may be dethroned and devested of their Royal Power but upon supposition that the Violencies Oppressions and Tyrannies are of such a Nature as that thereby the whole intention and ends of the Covenants and Agreements made with the People for the Government of themselves viz. the safety of the People the Laws of God and of the Commonwealth are thereby endangered to be frustrated and that on presumption of such usages and outrages the People would never have conferred their Crowns upon them David held Saul for his Prince and acknowledges him to be the Lord 's anointed so long as the People had not recalled their grant of Royal Dignity so that no single Person though Six hundred Men with him may lawfully Assassinate any King. All Governments are likened to the History of the Gordian Knot which if not so hard tied but that the People may have some ease some relaxation they ordinarily are willing to endure some reasonable bonds but if excessive they ever have and I doubt ever will endeavour to free themselves though by means indirect If the People as God's Instruments Crown Kings on Conditions that he will rule them according to God's Word then are Kings made Kings by the People conditionally and are but adopted Fathers Tutors Politick Servants or Royal Watch men of the Commonwealth and the Royal Honour and Royal Tributes given to them are Rewards of their Labours and Kingly Hire and so expressed by Paul Rom. 13. 6. For this cause pay you Tribute also there is their Wages for they are God's Ministers attending continually upon this very thing Qui non implet conditionem a se promissam cadit beneficio The People setting of Kings over themselves is an act warranted by God himself Deut. 17. 15. Rom. 13. 1 2. Which act though done without written Conditions or Oaths and only by a Vive le Roy or God save the King yet even such choice can never be understood or interpreted an Investiture of them with an Absolute but with a Conditional Power for that such a Power is against the Law of God and Nature a preposterous and absurd Power to do good and yet to work wickedness impune Besides the Common Law of Mankind allows all Donors to Interpret and Expound their own meaning why they Crowned Kings over them and why they give such large Tributes so great Priviledges and Prerogatives and certainly they will never Interpret that they conferred Royal Power on them to Oppress Persecute and Destroy themselves without controul and leave themselves without a remedy The Covenant made by Asa and all Judah and Benjamin 2 Chron. 15. 13. that whosoever would not seek the Lord God of their Fathers should be put to death whether small or great man or woman Which did equally oblige the King as also the Princes and People to performance And therefore Asa as in duty bound removed Maacha his Mother from being Queen because she had made an Idol in a grove which Asa also cut down stampt it and burnt it at the brook Kidron verse 14. Diodorus Siculus lib. 17. saith that the Kings of Persia were under an Oath and that they might not change the Laws and so were the Kings of Egypt and Aethiopia The Kings of Sparta which Aristotle calleth just Kings renew their Oaths every Month. Romulus so covenanted with the Senate and People Carolus V. Austriachus sweareth he shall not change the Laws without the consent of the Electors nor make new Laws nor dispose of any thing of great concern belonging to the Empire without the publick consent 1 Sam. 8. 11. This will be the manner of the King who shall reign over you which place is brought to prove the absolute Power of Kings and the unlawfulness of Resistance Which words being rightly interpreted can have no such meaning It only declares what the Manner and Custom was what they would do not what of right they might do For God had long before in Deuteronomy prescribed them what Laws they should Govern by and in this place is only described the Tyranny of Kings what they would do not what they might justly do And to aver that God hath given Power to Kings to Tyrannize Worry Oppress and Destroy Subjects is Blasphemy for God hath not given nor can give any Moral Power to do wickedly which is License to sin against his own Law which is inconsistent with his Holiness and therefore no such Power can be from God. And all best Expositors declare the Law of Kings to be described in Deut. 17. And in 1 Sam. 8. is described the usurpation and tyranny of Kings So it only demonstrates their wicked Usages or Customs not a Law prescribed by God. And it is obvious to common sense that God by his Prophet in this place was not instructing Kings in their Duty but by fore-telling the Israelites the evil of Punishment that they should suffer under tyrannous Kings thereby terrifying them if possible from their wicked purpose of seeking a King and thereby reject not Samuel only but God himself and farther menacing and declaring That in the day when they should cry out because of their King that the Lord would not hear them verse 18. And therefore God did protest against their unlawful course yet nothing at all would prevail nay but we will have a King over us verse 19. If Samuel in this place did not dehort them from Kingly Government how could they be said to refuse to hear the Voice of Samuel In summ All God's Covenants are Yea and Amen and so ought his Vice-gerents to be And for Priests to
equal and he tries the heart verse 2 3. But what signifies this to prove that Kings are accountable to none but God for Male Government Another abused place of Scripture is Psalm 51. 4. Against thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest and be clear when thou judgest That Men of the same temper and complexion with Leviathan should urge places of Scripture and make false glosses upon them I wonder not at all but that the Pulpits should Chime and Ring to the same Tune I am in an amaze Do they believe themselves Or have they forgot their Pater Noster Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us If one Man sin against another the Judge shall judge him but if they sin against the Lord who shall intreat for him 1 Sam. 2. 25. So 1 Cor. 8. 12. when ye sin against the Brethren to commit Murder Adultry c. and yet sin against God only happily may be good Doctrine according to the Alcoran or â—â—viathan but certainly can have no place in Scripture no not in this Psalm which is a Psalm of David's deep repentance confessing his sins to God and begging his pardon David's heart having smote him for these his sins against God and Uriah did in the bitterness and anguish of his Soul prostrate make his court to God his Judge and besought him more especially who only trieth the hearts and reins acknowledging his sins and begging his pardon who only had power of Soul and Body of Life and Death eternal and so only could acquit or punish eternally and to create in him a new heart and to renew a right spirit within him which no mortal had the like and therefore by only in this place can be meant no other but thee chiefly thee especially according to Matth. 10. Luke 12. He did not fear them which had power to kill the Body only but not able to kill the Soul but did fear him which after he had killed the Body had power to cast into hell For David had already condemned himself to death before he knew himself to be the Man mentioned in Nathan's Parable 2 Sam. 12. 5. And David's anger was greatly kindled against the Man and he said to Nathan as the Lord liveth the man that hath done this thing shall surely die Have they not read what Jonathan said to Saul Let not the King sin against his servant against David because he hath not sinned against thee 1 Sam. 19. 4. did Saul a King sin against David a private person and his Subject in seeking his innocent Blood And shall David when King covet his Neighbour Uriah 's Wife and seek the innocent Blood of Uriah himself and yet not sin against Uriah Quis discrevit Who hath made the difference who exempted him Falsest Teachers that would be esteemed Men of God Priests of the most high and yet teach Doctrines more becoming Priests of Baal Men of Belial Did not David sin against the Tenth Commandment and against his Neighbour also when he coveted his Neighbours Wife and purchased her adulterous embraces at the rate of innocent Blood may they not as well plead the like plea and justifie Ahab sinning against God only and not against Naboth when he purchased his Vineyard at the price of his innocent Blood 1 King. 21. 19. 2 King. 9. 33. 36. If David had Power to shed the innocent Blood of Uriah and debauch Bathsheba uncontrolably by Man it is either from God or not from God if it be from God it must be a Power against the Six and Seventh Commandments which God gave to David and not to any Subjects and so David lyed when he confessed it a sin which was none and consequently needed no pardon and so consequently Kings because Kings are under no Obligation of Duties of Mercy Truth Justice c. to their Subjects which is contrary to all Scripture Deut. 1. 15 20. 2 Chron. 19. 6 7. Rom. 13. 3. 4. If this Power be from God as it is unrestrainable and unquestionable by the Subject it cannot be from God at all for God cannot give a Power to do ill that is unpunishable by Men and not give that Power to do ill for in this very thing that God giveth to David a Power to kill and commit Adultery with this respect that it shall be punishable by God only and not by Men God must give it as a sinful Power to do ill i. e. a Power of Dispensation to sin and so not to be punished by either God or Man which is contrary to the whole design and purport of the Scriptures If such a Power as is not restrainable by Man be from God permissivè as in Devils and Men then it is no Regal Power nor any Ordinance of God and then to resist such Power is not to resist the Ordinance of God. For Priests to preach Kings to be Nursing-fathers of the People and to be custodes utriusque tabulae as indeed they ought to be and yet to preach that if Kings do break the Commandments yet they sin against God only and are accountable to God only is Divinity becomming only Micha's Priests that for a little better reward and hope of preferment will with gladness of heart take Ephod take Teraphim take graven Images preach any thing swallow down theft and idolatry together pervert any Text though thereby whole Nations are rob'd and despoiled of their Laws Liberties and Religion Falsest Prophets that thus flatter profaneness betraying God's truth and smothering and dissembling the strictness and purity of his ways striking at sin with the Scabboard and not with the Sword extenuating evil palliating Vice daubing with untempered Morter and by divining Lyes to seduce Kings and Princes If Kings can do no wrong to their People and are accountable to God only what made Samuel to make publick proclamation Behold here I am witness against me before the Lord and before his anointed Whose Ox have I taken or whose Ass have I taken or whom have I defrauded whom have I oppressed or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind my Eyes therewith and I will restore it to you 1 Sam. 12. 3. So Lewis IX for his great Piety and Devotion sirnamed the Saint the French King being fully satisfied in his Conscience that Sovereigns are responsible by Laws both divine and human for all the miscarriages of themselves and of their subordinate Ministers caused to be publish'd through all his Kingdom That whoever had suffered any wrong or damage by him or by any belonging to him should make it known and he would give them satisfaction out of his own Estate which was punctually performed accordingly To me 't is a wonder and I am in an amaze how any Man can be so biassed or corrupted in Judgment except possessed with an evil Spirit as to draw such Conclusions from such Premisses Can any thing be