Selected quad for the lemma: power_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
power_n	king_n	law_n	legislative_a	6,899	5	12.8932	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A48238	A letter to the three absolvers, Mr. Cook, Mr. Collier and Mr. Snett being reflections on the papers delivered by Sir John Friend, and Sir William Parkyns, to the sheriffs of London and Middlesex, at Tyburn, the place of execution, April 3, 1696, which said papers are printed at length, and answered paragraph by paragraph.	Friend, John, Sir, d. 1696.; Parkyns, William, Sir, 1649?-1696.	1696 (1696)	Wing L1751; ESTC R4716	20,332	16

under no Divine Command to obey him And that whatever Prince refuses to Govern according to the Constitutions of the Government which he enters upon and such as are then agreed on or generally submitted unto by the People over whom he is to Rule hath no Civil or Humane Right to Govern the People at all Or supposing That on his coming to the Throne he obliges himself by his Coronation-Oath to Govern according to the Laws of God and the Land and afterwards breaks his Promise to God and the People and will Govern them Arbitrarily according to his own Humour the people can be under no Obligation to obey him but if they please But lest this should be mis-understood to open a Door to Tumults and Insurrections against all Governments seeing it is impossible for any to be so equally Administred but that some will be dissatisfied It 's replied That as every froward Humour Fits of Passion or Gross Irregularity in either of the Parties is not sufficient to dissolve the Marriage-Contract so neither is every Male-administration nor gross Mistake or Abuse in Government sufficient to dissolve the Original Contract betwixt King and People but as in the one Case there must be evident and full proof a manifest Alienation of Affections and a Legal Divorce before the Relation can be lawfully dissolved so in the other the breach must be upon the Fundamental Constitution which is like the defiling of the Marriage-bed the Proof uncontroverted and the Forfeiture openly claim'd and acquiesc'd by the Generality of the People or their Representatives before the Relation betwixt them and their Soveraign can be warrantably dissolv'd And if this was not the Case betwixt the Late King James and his People when he took upon him to dispence with the Laws of England and to casse and annul those of Scotland let the World bear Witness So that in short the Power which he assum'd was none of the Power in being and by consequence none of the Powers ordain'd by God for most Commentators agree that by the Powers that be to which we are commanded to subject our selves Rom. 13. 1. are meant such sorts of Government as are agreed or generally submitted unto by Societies or Nations and therefore called the Ordinances of men 1 Pet. 2. 13. Now that the Theocracy or Kings of God's immediate Appointment and Nomination are ceas'd and therefore seeing K. James assumed to himself a Power which had not a Being viz. That of Annulling and Dispensing with Laws when by our Constitution the Parliaments of both Kingdoms have a Power equal to and in order before that of our Kings in Making or Rescinding Laws the Resistance made to him whilst pursuing such a Course was no Resistance to the Ordinance of God and by consequence did not Merit Damnation as you Gentlemen and your Fraternity do Maliciously suggest The next thing which you make your Martyr say is PAPER For it is altogether new and unintelligible to me That the Kings Subjects can Depose and Dethrone him on any account or Constitute any that have not an immediate Right in his place We ought I think not to do this and surely when it is done to assist him in the Recovery of his Right is Justifiable and our Duty and however things do seem at present I do believe I am sure I heartily pray that he shall be one day Restored to his Rightful Throne and Dominions ANSWER In truth Gentlemen you seem to have impos'd as much upon your Penitent in his Politicks as you have done in his Divinity and I do not at all wonder that this matter was Vnintelligible to the Schollar when his Masters seem not so much as to understand the State of the Question themselves but first Beg the Question and then take it for Granted For the Question is not Whether the Kings Subjects but whether the Kings Equals or if you will not be angry Gentlemen his Superiours can do it Now Gentlemen I suppose you will Grant That according to our Constitution the Parliament must first draw up and then give their Consent to a Law before the King can make it One and if the Original of this Power of the Kings be duly enquired into it will be found to be likewise the People's Creature and settled upon him by their Consent but however that is this is certain That the Parliament are the Kings Equals as to the Legislative Part And this Gentlemen must not sound harsh in your Ears when the Lords who are but one of the Constituent Parts of the Parliament are in our common Dialect called The Peers of the Kingdom which is as much as to say in plain English The Kings Fellows and in the Style of the Scriptures and the Original Charter of Kings Deut. 17. they are plainly said to be Brethren to their Subjects and forbid to have their Hearts lifted up above that of their Brethren tho' at the same time we shall not Grudge them the Title and Priviledges of Elder Brethren Then Gentlemen as to the Executive part wherein their Superiority over their People doth more appear it 's evident that herein they are also regulated by the Laws of their People which is no more then a Trust to put the Commands of the Body in Execution upon the particular Members and certainly he by whose Commands and Directions I am to Govern all my Actions is my Superiour so that this Maxim will remain Uncontrovertibly True to the end of the World That the King is Superiour to any of his particular Subjects but Inferiour to the whole For common Sense will instruct you that if the whole Nation refuse to Obey there 's no Man whoever that can Govern them nor is there any particular Subject who is not in a possibility of withdrawing himself from under the Dominion of any Prince by going into another Country But no Prince can set himself over a People against their Wills for even in Cases of Conquest Submission is taken for an Assent otherwise the People would resist either till they were utterly destroyed or till they had expell'd the Conqueror And therefore when the Alternative is Submission or Destruction it s allowed that Salus Populi Suprema Lex they submit not for the good of the Conqueror but for their own good and those very Men who assist the Conqueror or their Offspring at least when once they come to be Imbodied with the Conquered People do always join with them for Asserting their Antient Liberties at one time or other as is plain from the practice of this very Nation which being subjected to the Norman Yoak and most of the Estates divided amongst the Conquerors Followers yet the Norman Offspring join'd with the Nation afterwards in Asserting their Liberties against the Tyranny of the Conqueror's Successors For Liberty is so much the instinct of pure Nature that they are justly to be accounted Creatures of a Courser than Human Alloy who are fond of their Chains or do unconcernedly submit