or Injustice As for your second Question you will find its Answer easily deducible from what has been said already For allowing that the Parliament have power which yet without every individual persons Consent they cannot have either by Nature or their own Constitutions to alter the Succession yet no motives can be sufficient to induce men in their senses to such an Act but plain transgressions and violations of the Laws in being nothing else being a Crime or penal The Apostle tells us If there had been no Law there would have been no sin and that though sin was in the world before yet till after the Law it neither was nor could be imputed i. e. Yesterday I killed my neighbour but that was not unlawful consequently not punishable because the Act against it was but this day enjoyned and every man is left to the use of his natural power in such instances as the Laws do not restrain This is so plain a truth in all Countries where Men are not govern'd like Beasts that 't is not onely folly but madness to assert the contrary The Abettors are not to be convinc'd by Arguments and Reasons but by Hellebore and Bedlam Now there being no Laws in being that enjoyn the Heir of the Crown of England to believe as the Church of England his departure from that to any other Church can be no Argument for his Disinherison But the other part his giving life and birth to the plot is of another consideration and if true deserved not only his being put by the Crown but his Life And therfore I conceive if that had been evident he had not escap'd so easily nor indeed could he without the imputation of great partiality and injustice upon the House of Commons No mean Argument of the Duk 's Innocence to any considering person For if they proceeded so far upon an Illogical Consequence or unreasonable Proposition to wit That his going over to the Church of Rome must have given birth and life to the Hellish Plot what would they not have done farther if they could have prov'd that he was indeed the Author which he must have been of necessity if he gave birth and life to it Now lest the World should take every thing done by any Factious number to be the Act of all the Commons much less of the Parliament and so defame the Justice and Integrity of the English Nation and lest the people should believe whatever they assert as Oraculous as the Vulgar do of things in Print 't is necessary to examine this matter very narrowly and enquire how they came by this Discovery or why if it were real they inflicted no severer a punishment than an Act that the best Lawyers tell us would have been of no force had it pass'd even the Royal Assent which I cannot think it ever would because contrary to the King's Oath at Coronation his Promise Resolution declar'd even in that very Parliament where many doubt its passing the third time among the Commons and none dispute but that the Lords would have rejected it upon the first reading The grand Discoverer Dr. Oats has not accus'd his R. H. but one the contrary in publick and private acquitted him from any guilt or knowledge as beside his printed Narrative and Depositions in Parliament may be made out by Persons of unquestionable Honour Could then a Vote make matters of Fact Truth or Fals-hood That depends upon natural and eternal Causes and Connexions of unalterable Principles Surely no nor would any man in his Sense have given the more credit though it had pass'd 500000 Votes instead of 500. If twenty Colledges of Virtuoso's or Greshamites should conspire to vote the old Philosopher in the right who every where asserted Snow was black yet could they not persuade one Plowman to disbelieve his Senses and subscribe to so ridiculous an Opinion And as to Capt. Bedlow and upon these two the whole Hinge of the Plot does turn for the rest came in but in subsidiam probationis he pretended at first to know no more than the inhumane Murder of Sir Edmondbury Godsrey and yet however he became more knowing after he never accus'd his R. H. which he wold certainly have done had he found one probable Circumstance even upon his Death he acquitted him Yet to say Truth his accusation wold have been of less credit for his having been so mistaken in his main Discovery as to be contradicted by Prance the reason I suppose why no Narrative in Capt. Bedlow's Name was ever publish'd Read Mr. Oates his Depositions and you will find the D. was to run the same fate of his Brother whose sacred Life God long preserve if he would not approve of all their Villanies and after his Majesties Murder accept the Crown as Feudatory from the Pope And without dispute the villanous Contrivers of the Plot would have spared neither which is plain by Mr. Oates his asserting upon Oath in the Name of the Jesuits that no good was ever to be expected from the Race of the Stewarts with other Reflections on the R. Family with submission not fit to have been published And further that they had resolved notwithstanding his Love to their Religion not to trust him with a Secret his great affection for his Brother would perswade him to reveal It is then impossible he could give Birth and Life to a Plot to which he never was privy as for Colman's Letters in my Lord Danby's Words the best evidence we yet have of the Plot they were not writ by the D's allowance or consent nor do they speak of introducing Popery otherwise than by gaining an Indulgence and that by a Parliament Besides 't is notoriously known he was offered his Pardon and large Rewards if he would confesse the Plot. And 't is senseless to imagine none can but an unthinking Crowd that he would not speak a Truth to save his Life at least not damn his Soul by dying with 〈◊〉 in his Mouth after which nor previous to it there could be no Absolution but to the last notwithstanding the repeated offers of Pardon and Reward he protested his Ignorance and Innocency Oh but say some how then could the Commons proceed as they did Why perhaps the publisher of that designed Bill abuses them but if he did not they do who conclude the Major part consented to it Those that did may be supposed hurryed on by misguided Zeal passion or prejudice imposed upon by Suggestions as agreable to the King's pleasure to banish him for ever by Law who in Obedience went into a voluntary exile for a season If this be not I confesse I am at a losse for the Reason But of this they were soon convinc'd by his Majesty's Speech to the contrary Besides it had been but equal to have given his R. H. liberty to make his Defence to condemn a Man unheard is no where practised where there is the least shadow of Government The Laws of God and
who may therefore allow or reject at pleasure whatever Ordinances his Houses judge advisable The contrary would be a Solecism in Government giving to the King the Title only and leaving to his Subjects the Power of Kingship This making the Governed the Governours and therefore implying in it self a manifest Contradiction needs I hope no further Confutation Now in order to answer your first Question you must remember that Magna Charta provides That no Freeman shall be disseized of his Free-hold put out of his Inheritance or forejudged of Life or Limb but by Legal Process the Laws of the Land and Judgement of his Peers and by another Branch That the Kings Rights and Priviledges shall be preserved untouch'd One of the chiefest and upon which all the rest depend as on a Corner-stone is the Hereditarinesse of the Monarchy so that no attainder by Parliament or otherwise should hinder the Descent of the Crown upon the next of Blood the Laws supposing the King never dies which he must do if the Empire were Elective and to the observation of these Laws on pain of Damnation the present and former Kings have all been sworn So that the King having no power to act contrary to his Oath at Coronation and the Laws in being and the two Houses having none at all but what is derived from him 't is plain the next Heir cannot be put by the Succession without great impiety and violation of Justice And this has been declared so in all preceeding Parliaments not aw'd by Usurpers as well as by the practice of our Ancestors And that which most confirms it is That never any yet claimed the Crown in Parliament but under the pretence of Lineal Descent which was never allowed when false but when there was not a power in the true Owner equal to the Invader's Nor does the King alone in this particular lie under the obligation of Oaths The Lords and Commons have not only bound themselves by act of Parliament 1 Jac. cap. 1. to defend the true and lawful Heirs of the King acknowledged the undoubted Successors with their Lives and Fortunes to the Worlds end but do also swear as often as they meet or take the Oaths of Allegeance and Supremacy to defend all the Priviledges Rights and Preheminences of the Crown under which none can doubt but Descent in the Right Line is included against all Pretenders whatsoever whether Forraign or Domestick But because there are a sort of Men who from the foregoing Considerations being conscious they cannot maintain the Power of Parliament in this particular have recourse to the Law of Nature I will give you a Scheme of that even in their own Sence and Theorems The Law of Nature is co extended with the Power of Nature there is therefore nothing naturally unlawful and every man whether he be wise or whether he be a fool is sui juris Every thing endeavours to conserve it self within the State of Nature and to be sui juris i. e. to do what he will to repel all Force to live ex ingenio suo i. e. to be an enemie to every man but himself if he contradicts his Will Men are lyable to several Passions i. e. have several Appetites by which naturally they are engaged against one another and by the Law of Nature they inforce i. e. they contend equally jure naturae which I English by the Law of Power One man is stronger than another by force and so compels him who before was sui juris to be alterius juri when he hath him bound disarmed or takes away all his Power of offending or holds him in fear or obliges him by benefit or expectation of benefit by which last means he subjects both his Body and his Mind as long as his Fear or Hope lasts but no longer By the former he subjects his Body only which is the safer way Again One man may be stronger than another by Wit and so are men subjected to be alterius juris by Opinion Religion or Superstition Errour and Deceit Two then are stronger than one and therefore the more consenting have the greater right of Nature against the fewer dissenting may urge and compel and deprive them of their Natural Right and in brief treat them as enemies And because no man can secure himself against a whole World of single men who have every one the same Right against me that I alone have against every one and much less against a number joyned together 't is therefore necessary for me who else can have no security to enjoy what I have nor probability to acquire many of the Desirables of Life to associate my self and depart from so much of my natural Right as prudence and reason oblige me to do which is pacto vivere i. e. jus civitatis the Law Right or Power of the Commonwealth So that I have henceforth no more Right to the Law of Nature than is allowed me or not forbidden I say not forbidden because what is not forbidden I retain And this is the Foundation of Laws and though a Law be Positive yet the Virtue of it is Negative and as much as to say You shall not use your Liberty of Nature in this particular By which 't is very evident that after men have entred into Society those things that before were lawful cease to be so any longer Right and Wrong Just and Unjust depending on the Concessions Covenants and Agreements of the Persons thus combining into one Bodie And therefore nothing is more unreasonable and fallacious than to assert That the Power and original Right of Nature for the forming or altering any Government still continues and may at pleasure be resumed by the major part or their Representatives whereas that Power is restrained and can never more be made use of without every single Persons consent in the whole Community or â—…osning the Bonds of Society and re-instating them in the condition of War and Misery Madness and Folly The ground of the mistake must be Inadvertencie or Inconsideration in not regarding That promises once made can never be broken no not by the greatest number without the free consent of every individual party concerned This Power of restraining the Right of Nature is Empire If in one it is Monarchie if in some it is Aristocracie if in the common Counsels of the People it is Democracie all these Governments are lawful where they are Governments Now to disturb or ruine any of them is Rebellion and returning to the state of Nature and utterly unlawful which yet any man or companie of men may do by the original Law of Nature i. e. by might and Power but at his or their peril under the impeachment of Folly of not obtaining his or their End of losing the benefite of Society and of being â—…ated as Enemies Now because men are not guided or governed by Reason always no man or companie of men are to be trusted to their own discretion and the
of Nations forbid nay make it inconsistent with Society to hang a Man first and convict him after or to punish any one 〈◊〉 post facto My Lord Strafford's Case was never to be brought into president and if that were not sufficient the whole proceedings by Act of Parliament since his Majesties Restauration were condemn'd as illegal and contrary to all Morality And would not the D's Case have been just the same Do you but make it your own and you will be of that Opinion Whence I conclude that the Reasons on which the late House of Commons proceeded against the D. were insufficient because not only not warranted but contrary to the Laws in being as well as to those of Nature and all Societies under Heaven And now I come to your third Question what dangers the Nation may be under in case the Crown descends upon a Popish Successor or more particularly upon his R. H For answer to which we must consider that dangers to any Country are Forraign or Domestick Invasions from abroad or Encroachments a home Against the former every Kingdom is in danger be the Prince of any or no Religion and therefore the People are obliged to be always on their Guard Against the latter the hazard lies in the Princes neglect or breaking of the bounds of his Subjects Liberty Property and Religion and since the safety of all Princes depends upon the contrary why a Popish one should offer it more then another I cannot comprehend and more particularly why his R. H. should design it is not at all likely if we examine either the influence Popery can have over the Government or consider impartially the D's Character Government was first framed for the good of Mankind in this Life without any regard to another and depended upon a due and equal administration of justice in the Governour and Obedience in the governed This was long observed in the World before Religion entered especially Christianity which all allow neither did nor could alter the Laws of the City or Common-wealth Evangelium non abolet politias is every where an allowed Maxim drawn from our Saviour's own Words Friend who made me a Ruler or judge among you The Law is open and by that the controversies between you and your Brother are to be decided He came not to disturb but to enlarge and confirm the peace of the City and his Laws considered a-part are as consistent with those of a Kingdom as the by-Laws of any Corporation within a greater State He declared his Kingdom was not of this World and therefore could not design to alter the grounds of Government and Obedience which are one and the same in all Countries whether Christian or Pagan founded upon self-interest and preservation and continued by mutual Relation of Love and Duty Protection and Obedience things that truly considered can never be altered by the super-induction or change of any new or old Religion If then Christianity make no alteration 't is impossible the sub-divisions or particular Sects should So that whatever Opinion either King or Subject be in point of Religion Popish or Protestant Lutheran or Calvinist Presbyterian or Episcopal the ends of Government peace and quiet Liberty and Property may be secured and enjoy'd and the end of Religion too eternal Salvation this depending on moral Duties and Conformity to the Laws of the Land our Saviour having threatned Damnation to those who resist the higher Powers the greatest of punishments being appointed both by the Jewish and Christian Law to Rebellion called by the first the Sin of Witchraft and in the last a fighting against God himself Now all Laws that concern our temporal estate being made in the times of Popery I cannot find why they should be changed by a Popish Monarch nor how without a change or violation the Subjects can suffer As for the Laws that established the Protestant and abolished the Popish Religion they cannot be otherwise altered but by an equal power with that from whence they had their Being King and Parliament who agreeing can by a change no more prejudice the publick in order to Heaven than they did before that being only accidental and extrinsecal to the Substance of Religion by which alone and not by Forms or Ceremonies Men are to be saved every Country making differences in such things according to the several interest of States or humours of the people as in England the Common-wealth is tempered by the King 's holding the Ballance between the power of Lords and Commons and that upon the taking away of either the Government must be destroyed so the Religion of England or indeed of any Kingdom where there are several Sects seem only to be preserved by fixing a Ballance which taken away must be the ruine of the whole and therefore undeniable policy will tell us that the Episcopal legal Government is no otherwise to be preserved but by equally indulging the Non-Conformists and the Papists for to suppress both is now impracticable and to suppresse one alone will be found impolitick A Truth grounded upon the present State of Europe where while England kept the Ballance between France and Spain the universal Monarchy was a Dream or groundlesse Fancie but that being removed 't is impossible if two or three Martial and prudent Princes happen successively to govern France but that before imaginary Empire will really fall to the Lot of that Nation unlesse all the other States joyn against it and give our Country the power it enjoyed when Spain was an equal Match in the Contention For my own part I see nothing to be dreaded in case of a Popish Successor because he alone cannot alter the Laws nor the Religion nor can he the execution since that is out of his and in the hands of such as are not only sworn to it but upon failure lyable to great Penalties and Forfeiture not only to the Prince who possibly might but to the Informer who cannot be supposed to remit his proportion And considering that the Laws in being have entrusted the executive power of the Militia by Sea and Land and of distributive Justice in Courts and all Offices of Trust as well in the Country as about the Princes Person and the power of making and altering Laws in the Hands of Men of Anti-popish Principles I cannot apprehend why we should conceive any danger from a Princes enjoying to himself any Heterodox Opinion whatever For to think he would impose them upon his Subjects is to conclude him not only imprudent but distracted since it would be to create himself disturbance without the least prospect of advantage for what does he get or loose by their being of this or that Perswasion His Good his Wealth his Glory his Honour and Security consists in their conformity to the established Government and for their future Happinesse he cannot as a Prince be solitcious 't is out of his Province and now out of Fashion for Kings to be Priests and