A SEASONABLE MEMENTO Both to King and People Upon this CRITICAL JUNCTURE OF AFFAIRES Nullo modo eis Artibus placatur Divina Majestas quibus Humana Dignitas inquinatur Aug. de Civ Dei LONDON Printed in the Year 1680. A SEASONABLE Memento c. IT is grown into a Custom I know to smooth the way for the Grosse of the Subject in Agitation by some preliminary Apology or Complement to the Courteous Reader but yet for reasons best known to my self I shall at this time pass over the Ceremonious Flourish of an Introduction and without Welt or Guard as they say fall upon my Province which is to make out That neither upon pretext of Religion Personal Vices Excesses in Government or any other Colour whatsoever the Subjects of the Crown of England may withdraw their Obedience or make Hostile Resistance to King Charles our present Sovereign being by right of Inheritance justly possess'd of the Crown his Title no way depending either upon his Divine or Moral Virtues and the said Subjects having receiv'd him and acknowledged him for their Only Supreme Governour done him Homage and sworn to him Faith and Allegeance Absolutely and without Condition AS for other Princes and Potentates whether Elective Kingdoms or such as at the Erection of them were received by the First King upon Express Covenant and only with a Conditional Obedience as is pretended by those of Aragon and Others of These I shall not here discourse Neither shall I speak of those Kings and Princes who acknowledge in Spiritual Matters a Superiour Jurisdiction in the Pope over them who further stickleth by necessary Relation and Dependency of the Temporal upon the Spiritual to have also a Temporal Power over them in ordine ad Spiritualia And hath often put this his Claim in Practice by accompanying his Spiritual Censure of Excommunication with the Sentence of discharging Subjects of their Obedience to their Princes and so consequently of Deposing them Herewith I shall not meddle None of These Cases being applicable to This in question of King Charles who is no Elective King but holdeth his Crown by an Unquestionable Title of Succession deriv'd to him by Descent from his Ancestours for the space of more than Six hundred years Neither was there ever any Pact or Condition with Him or any of his Progenitours of Forfeiture which in This Case neither was nor ever can be justly pretended True it is that his Ancestours and Himself have been pleased to limit and restrain their Legal Right by many Concessions and Laws in some Cases as the making of Laws without Consent of Peers and People the Levying of Money c. which he cannot Violate without great Injustice as shall be after shown But no such Pact or Covenant can be produced whereby upon Breach he Forfeiteth his Sovereignty or maketh it Justifiable for his Subjects to take up Arms against or to inflict Punishments upon his Person either by Dethroning Death or Imprisonment THE Case likewise of Roman Catholick Princes no way concerneth Him who acknowledgeth not in a Pope any such Superiour Authority So that whatsoever Pretences may be in some Cases concerning such Princes as I have above specifyed wherein I shall not presume to deliver my Opinion yet in the Present Case of Our King there can be no colourable Pretence of taking Arms against Him or of Deposing Him which I understand to be in effect when he is divested of his Just Regal Power Or of the Imprisoning of his Person which I understand to be not only when he is actually in Bonds or lockt up in a Room but also when the Liberty of Going and the Freedom of Speaking is restrained to such Places or Persons as Others shall please and he remain under a Guard not of his Own chusing but impos'd upon him by Others IT must be acknowledged that the Kings of England derive their Title and Right from William the Norman who although he came in by Conquest yet his Successours considering that a Right Acquir'd by Force may likewise be Recover'd by Force by those upon whom the forcible Intrusion was made were pleased by way of Pact and Stipulation to limit and qualify that Imperium Absolutum Absolute Dominion which is acquired by Conquest And the People of England thereupon did submit themselves to his Government and thereby was Constituted Imperium Legitimum a Just and Rightfull Sovereignty the Kings remaining with Supreme Power and the People with Common Right whereby they were freed from the Servitude of Conquest and remain'd under a Free Subjection whereunto they had by their voluntary Consent submitted themselves THE Kings likewise did recede from Absolute and Arbitrary Power and remain'd with Supreme but not with Absolute Empire BY Free Subjection I understand when a People live under Laws to which they have given a Free Consent and not under the Meer will of the Prince and that they retain such a Propriety in that which is their Own that without Their Assent or Legal Forfeiture it cannot be taken from them And this is a true difference betwixt a Free Subject and a Slave or Servant Quicquid acquirit Servus acquirit Domino Liber quod acquirit acquirit Sibi Whatsoever a Slave gets he gets for his Master but what a Freeman gets is for Himself And so although the Dominion of All belongs solely to the Prince yet Propriety refers to Every man Dominium Totius apud Caesarem Proprietas apud Singulos THE Difference that I understand betwixt a Supreme and an Absolute Empire is That in Absolute Empire the Rule of the Peoples Obedience is onely the Sovereigns Will. So it is in Turky Muscovy and all such Princes as retein Entire the Right of Conquest and was in some sort under the Roman Emperours after the Lex Regia was establish'd by the Peoples Consent whereby they transferr'd their Entire Right unto Him Supreme Empire I understand to be when a King has a Supremacy and Sovereignty over all but his Absolute Power is limited and restrein'd by reciprocal Pacts Laws and Stipulations betwixt Prince and People which is the Case of the Crown of England and to these Pacts the King and People are equally bound before God and man and the King is as much bound to Justice to the Protection of his Subjects and to the Observance of the Laws not onely out of Religion but even of Morall Honesty also as the Subject is to Obedience And he is not onely accountable to God but even his People have certain Just and Legal wayes to seek Redress wherein he shall do Wrong notwithstanding that Axiome of our Common Law That the King can do no Wrong which is false in many senses and may very well be call'd Fictio Juris a kind of Metaphysicall Fiction Le Roy ne fait Tort being onely to be understood in the ordinary Course of Justice which the King administring by his Ministers and not in Person it is They that are the Wrong-doers and not
the King and the Subject against Them is to seek his Remedy For Kings may do Wrong and be as wicked as Other men commit Murther and wrongfully take away Other mens Estates which no Fiction of the Law can make not to be Wrong although his Person be exempt from Punishment And that Abstract Consideration of the King for his just Power and Office as it hath often Heretofore been ill us'd in way of Ostentation so in our Late Troubles there was as ill use made of it on the Other hand when the taking up Arms and the Fighting against him was pretended not to be against the KING but onely against CHARLES STVART But to speak in plain Intelligible Terms a King both may do Wrong and the People may seek their Redress in such sort as the Law of the Land allowes And the difference betwixt King and Peoples Failing in their Reciprocall Duties is not but that they do wrong alike offend God alike and are both of them liable to be question'd according to the Extent of the Law by both their Consents establish'd The Subjects transgressing the Law shall be punish'd according to the quality and measure of the Offence Felony by the Loss of their Goods and Chattles and by a Milder Death Treason by a more Severe Death and Confiscation both of Goods and Inheritance But hereof they must be Convict per Pares by People of their own Condition and adjudg'd by a Superiour Jurisdiction which can be deriv'd Onely and Singly from the King So that the King not having his Peer nor any of his Own Condition cannot have a Legal Tryall and having no Jurisdiction Superiour to Himself cannot be Adjudg'd or Sentenc'd by any for neither the Extent of the Law nor any Condition of the Pacts or Stipulation do reach to the Punishing of the Person of the King or the Forfeiture of his Dominion over us Certain it is that in Civill things Tryalls may be and often are brought against the King and Kings do give way that the Judges be sworn to do Equall Justice betwixt Them and their Subjects and in points of Oppression and wrong we may Remonstrate our Grievances and challenge Redress by our Petitions which if they be not condescended unto we may insist upon them as our Right and claim them as a Due and not as of Grace But yet we must do it by way of Petition as being a Dutifull Form of Subjects bringing their Plea against the King for in other sort He ought not to be Impleaded Beside these Petitions of Right we may also Remonstrate enter our Protestations and take all those Courses which the Laws allow Neither ought the King to take Offence at these Legall Contestations with him because by his Assent unto the Laws he hath Assented unto Them Nay he ought in Them to do us Right being oblig'd thereunto by the Law of God by his Oath and by Morall Honesty and Justice But yet if he fail in all these Duties Our Jurisdiction reacheth not to his Personall Punishment Therein he is Sub Nullo nisi sub Deo under none but God and the Law stops There and tells us Satis sufficit ei ad paenam quod Deum habet Vltorem that it will be a sufficient punishment to him that he hath God for an Avenger Yet are we not altogether left without Remedy for Kings although they be God's Vice-gerents yet they cannot work as God does saying Fiat and it was done Kings must work by Mediate Instruments and if they command Illegal Things the Executioners of them are Responsible and must make satisfaction to the Parties injur'd And therefore the King ought not Immediately to Imprison nor in Person to Execute any thing because that in case of Wrong-doing the Subject would then be destitute of all means of Redress in regard the King's Person is not to be Impleaded by Law I know the usual Objections In case Kings will do that which they ought not to do and will by their own immediate Warrants Commit and be the Personall Actours of the Injuries or not suffer the Executioners of their Illegal Commands to be Legally proceded against shall the Subject be left wholly without Remedy and debarr'd the Benefit of that Right of Nature in-bred in all Creatures of self Preservation Yes we must be contented with that Condition wherein God hath placed us and wherein by our Own Consents and Stipulations of Subjection We have placed our selves and may onely right our selves by those means which by the Laws whereunto we have given our Consent are permitted unto us Neither is our Native Liberty hereby ravish'd from us but as we have parted with it by our own Voluntary agreement so neither can we resume it but by those wayes which we have reserv'd in the Stipulations of our Submission And beside that herein there is no Injury for that Volenti non fit Injuria it would be more Hurtfull to Mankind if it were Otherwise for there is a necessity that in all sorts of Governments as well as in Monarchy there should be an Impunity and Power somewhere of not being question'd otherwise all would be hurl'd into Anarchy and Confusion Neither could there be any finall Determination of Controversies if there were not a Derniere Ressort and Last Appeal wherein we are bound to Acquiesce Now this Power must be trusted in some hand and That must of necessity be where the Sovereign Power remaineth otherwise there must be supposed a Superiour Power to that Sovereign Power and so in Infinitum untill we come to some such Power as hath nothing above it and then That must be entrusted and be submitted to without being accountable to Any but to God because on Earth there can be to it no Superiour Jurisdiction And this Power is in the King of England in all things such onely excepted wherein Himself or his Ancestours have by Laws and Stipulations limited their Absolute Power as was said before And This we are by the Law of God and of the Land bound to Obey and not to make any Resistance but what the Law alloweth us We must in the Rest have recourse unto God if our Princes be Wicked neither may we Mutiny or Repine at God when we have Ill Kings more than when he sendeth Diseases Plagues Caterpillars Blightings or Blasts For wicked Kings are but Blastings of the People that God is pleas'd to Punish neither must we think Our Condition worse than that of Wicked Kings notwithstanding their Temporall Impunity for certainly it is much Better both in regard of Punishment in the World to Come and commonly in This. For the Next World as Their Sin is greater so it is declar'd that their Punishment shall be greater also Hear Oye Kings and Vnderstand c. Because being Ministers of Gods Kingdom you have not judg'd aright nor kept the Law nor walked after the Counsel of God horribly and speedily shall he come upon you for a sharp Judgment shall be to them that
are in High Places for Mercy will soon pardon the Meanest but Mighty men shall be mightily Tormented Wisd 6. v. 1 2 3 4 5 6. Whereas Subjects who suffer with Patience because they are so commanded by God make him their Debtor by their Sufferings and he always payeth faithfully who saith that if we suffer with Christ we shall also Reign with him And for this World their Wickedness and Oppression is still accompanied with these Fears Destractions and Horrors of Conscience which have ever been inseparable from Tyrannies by which their Lives are render'd more uncomfortable than the Unhappiest of their Subjects And for the most part their Ends are as miserable as their Lives for what they Fear and by their Tyranny seek to prevent doth commonly fall upon them Their People do Revolt and Rebel and although they be never so well Chatechized in the points of Obedience yet their Natural Inclination to recover their Liberty much more to cast off Vnjust Burthens and Oppressions is such that sleight and weak Arguments will easily perswade them to that whereunto they are so strongly inclined and the least pretence of Religion or Colour of Reason or Lawfulness countenancing or tolerating the Freeing themselves from Subjection in any Case will be more prevalent with them than the most passitive Precept of God's Word enjoyning Obedience If in any case taking up Arms be admitted theirs shall ever be that Case And if the Wickedness of their Prince shall be allow'd as a ground of their Rebellion their Prince shall ever be the most Wicked Of all this all Ages have produced many Examples and especially these Later Times through all the Estates of Christendom And wicked Princes will find that Precepts in this ease will not serve the Turn for tho' Hostile Resistance against the King be expresly prohibited by the Word of God both in the Old and New Testament tho it be against the Doctrine and Practice of the Primitive Church and the present Tenets and Confessions of Faith of all the Reformed Churches in the World though it be contrary to the Solemn Oath of Fidelity and Allegiance sworn to the King rhe Laws of the Land which make it Treason and Moral Honesty and Justice yet will it be in this point of Resistance as Tacitus says of Divinations in Rome which was a Wickedness that had been and ever would be forbidden yet ever would be Retained Semper Vetabitur semper retinebitur And so to Princes that will highly Oppress and make their Will and not the Laws the Rule of their Government although I say to resist be a Wickedness and that it be against the Law of God and Man to do it yet where the Wrongs are Great and a Fair Opportunity offer'd of Prevailing it will be ever done For that amongst men there are a Thousand for One that prefer their own Interest or Inclination before Duty or Conscience And certainly a Prudent and Foreseeing Prince that will impartially examine things cannot but expect it should be so For why should he suppose that Other men will be more Honest or more Religious than Himself And when he breaks through all the Bonds and Ties of Oaths of Divine Precepts and Moral Justice only to stretch and extend his Power and Greatness why should we not expect that Subjects should make as bold to transgress the same Duties in hope of Recovering Liberty with even the False shew whereof People are apter to be further transported than by any Earthly Desire whatsoever Neither will the Fear of Death or Danger restrain them because they will not Attempt untill Opportutunity make them hopeful of Prevailing and then they consult by Power to provide for their own Impunities BVT besides this Proneness in People to be easily led and perswaded into Rebellion under the false and specious Shew of recovering Liberty the great Monarchs and Princes of Christendom have been in great part the Fomenters and Upholders of it and their Doctors have not so much by their Preaching and Wriing beaten it down as the Kings themselves have by their Examples and Actions given Encouragement unto it for although I shall ever speak with Reverence of Princes and their Proceedings yet I shall hope that the humble Representation of this Truth will receive a fair Interpretation For it is undeniably true that in this latter Age all the great Monarchies and States of Christendom have been render'd unhappy by Intestine Warrs which have been encourag'd if not contriv'd and design'd by one Christian Prince against Another every one countenancing and indulging Rebellion untill it become his Own Case and then he is offended Of this I shall give no particular Instances the Notariety of it is too great and I fear every State may too easily apply it to what themselves have done And it may be apprehended that the sad Condition of many States of Christendom at this present day may exhibit something of Gods Judgments upon that Account who hath said With what Measure ye mete it shall be measur'd to you again Mat. 7.12 AND wicked Kings as they are sure they shall not ' scape the severe Judgment of God in the next World if they do believe the Scripture so if they will believe ancient Histories of what has past in former Times or their own Experience of what they see daily with their Eyes or that they do believe that God will repay unto them that which they have either countenanc'd or contriv'd against others they must expect to have troublesome and uncomfortable Lives accompany'd with Hatred Hazzard and Infamy And if these Considerations will not restrain them yet We must not be Wicked because They are so Neither will God admit of Recrimation for our Excuse Our Duty of not resisting is Positive upon pain of Damnatition from which no good Success or Prevailing can keep us although it may save us from the Gallows Beside this great Hazard of our Souls Moral Prudence teacheth us that a Civil War which I hope yet we have no great reason to fear is commonly a Cure much worse than the Disease For no Oppression nay no Tyranny brings with it half those Miseries and Calamities which of Necessity do ever accompany an Intestine War Wicked Kings may be cruel covetous and licentious yet their Oppressions and their Lusts are restrained to some Wickednesses and to some Persons But in a War Rapes Murthers Robberies Sacriledges and all manner of Impieties break in and all sorts of People are made miserable which the poor Kingdom of England has found true by sad Experience where in the Space of five years only from 1641 to 1646 more was taken from the Subject than would have been exacted by Subsidies Projects or any unjust Taxes whatsoever by the worst of Kings in the Space of a Hundred and so were all other Wickednesses increas'd proportionably I SHALL conclude this Discourse with my humble and hearty Prayers to God Almighty to avert his heavy Displeasure which the Multitude of our Sins may give us just Cause to dread from this Nation at present the most prosperous and flourishing of any in Europe and that the publick Calamities that befell the Kingdom in the late unhappy War and the lamentable Distractions and Confusions that were wrought by our Dissentions both in Church and Commonwealth may be a Lesson to the People to value and esteem Peace and not so wantonly to engaage themselves afresh in New Miseries THE END