pretend to the same nor can nor lawfully may raise or levy any War offensive or defensive against his Majesty his Heirs or lawful Successors c. And in the same Act the grounds of contrary proceedings they call Rebellious Principles the Governments set up against the lawful King they stile usurped Governments and the effect of such doings they say was almost the Ruine and Destruction of this Kingdom But what was wanting then we have just cause to fear will be made up now we are within a little of leaving out the almost and are upon the very brink of utter Ruine and Destruction Now if the sole Supream Government was in King James and the whole power and disposition of the Militia and all Forts and places of Strength were undoubtedly his Right and no War offensive or defensive may be raised against him then all those places were wrongfully taken from him and all the present Rebellions Proceedings and Usurpations are as void as the former It were no hard matter to heap up many other Statutes to this purpose but I think these sufficient for this was the Constitution when King Charles the Second died this was the state of the Government when King James the Second his lawful Successor entred upon it and all these Acts were in their full force when he was driven away and they assert maintain keep up and secure his Right and Supream Power as well against his own Subjects as Foreigners And therefore the Supremacy Authority and Right being still his as all proceedings against him are null in Law and condemned by it so all Persons thus unlawfully divesting him of that his rightful Supremacy and Authority have incurred the Centure of the fore cited Canon made pursuant to these Constitutions and must be adjudged to stand ipso facto excommunicate I am not insensible that by a certain side-wind an Objection may be here brought in which both Prerogative and Commonwealth-men have as it served their Turn insisted on That the Statute-Law is super-induced and to be in force according to the tenour of the old preceding Laws and Customs of England and if repugnant to them void if obscure and doubtful to be explained by them And I am informed that the Paltry I should have said the Poultrey Doctor in his private Pleas in making Converts or rather Perverts doth farther alledg That the Statute-Law is utterly insignisicant in it self and that we are wholly to be guided by antecedent Laws and Customs Whether he means by this to warrantize Rebellion by the worst of Precedents or would have all swallowed up in the Prerogative I cannot tell for he is as much for William as he was against King James so tempting a thing is even the bare hopes of a Bishoprick But against this I desire these few things may be considered 1st I humbly request this bold Doctor or any of his Complices to tell me in plain English Whether the august Court of Parliament which is brought together with so much Charge appears in such State and is stiled the highest Court in the Kingdom sits in all that Formality and Solemnity only to devise New-Nothings or to make Rattles and Baubles for Fools and Children For if his Objection be true I see not what they do more but must be the meerest piece of Pageantry that ever was 2dly It is observable that this Argument if not first trump'd up yet was most warmly managed in the time of King Charles the First when the matter of the Petition of Right was under debate and though they threw Dust in one another's Eyes and amused the Kingdom with sine Harangues about old blind antecedent Laws which no Body knew what to make of yet when they come to pen the Statutes they fairly leave them all to shift for themselves and found it wholly upon preceding Statutes as any Man may there see to his satisfaction 3 Car. 1. in initio 3dly That the fore-cited Statutes are so far from expressing any thing obscurely or doubtfully that they are as intelligible plain and easie as if they had been written with a Beam of the Sun Lastly and which indeed is most considerable all or most and the most pertinent of the fore-mentioned Statutes are not meerly constitutive but declaratory not barely telling us what for the future should be Law but informing us what by the old antecedent Laws were the undoubted Rights of the Crown and rule of Succession and indeed I can discover but two ways whereby the Crown can succeed according to our Constitutions viz. either bâ— Proximity of Bloâ—d in a lineal Succession or by the last Will and Testament of the present rightâ—ul Prince in Possession ratified in Parliament both which are mentioned in the Act of Settlement 35 Hen. 8. and made a rule of Succession for ever 1 Eliz. cap. 3. neither of which will do our Adversaries any Service And thus I think I have given as fair and full an answer to Mr Johnson as he hath done to the rest of his Brethren and the Obstacles being now removed may justly proceed to the Canon which declâ—res all such Persons as deny the Supremacy of their lawful King to be excommunicate ipso facto As to which I shall consider these several particulars First That this Canon is no Novelty but pursuant to and taking pattern from other Canons of the Church of Christ made all along for the security of Princes Secondly What is meant by Excommunication ipso facto Thirdly What is the State and Condition of Persons excommunicate Fourthly What ought to be the Behaviour of other Christians towards such as stand â—xcommunicate Lastly the particular restraint here laid as to reconciling such Persons who are censured by this Canon As to the first Christianity which not only teacheth but obligeth us to do good for evil took care of the Supremacy of the Supream Powers even when they were Persecutors but when Kings and Queens became Nursing Fathers and Nursing Mothers and took the Church into their Protection defending the Persons not only as Subjects but Christians and backing the Canons and Censures of the Church with Civil Laws and Penalties from thâ—nce the Church became bound not only in Duty but in Gratitude to contribute all she could to the protection of that lawful Government which protected her and to render the Civil Laws and Penalties more aweful and effectual did farther enforce them as occasion required but especially for the security of lawful Princes with the Threats and Terrors of Divine Vengeance which by Authority committed to her by God she had power to denounce against such Offenders The Doctrine of Obedience to lawful Powers has been a part of Christianity from its very first entrance into the World even then when it was the greatest Sufferer under them Thus our Blessed Saviour teacheth the Seditious Jews Mat. 22. 21. Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's and unto God the things that are Gods Thus his Apostle St. Paul to the Romans
excommunicated ipso facto by the Canon by consequence they cannot be the Church of England they have incurred her Censures are cut off from her Communion her sound Members ought not to communicate with them And the Anti-Revolutionists how few soever are the only Church of England I have stated this Reasoning but very briefly you may easily examine it more fully and if it holds I have my purpose For when it is enquired into and found solid it may deserve its proper place in some Book or other that may after this be written on the Controversie Besides it may be useful for obviaâ—ing that popular Plea against the Separation That the Original Question is only of Civil Coâ—cern and ought not to affect the Interests of the Church For from these Grounds it appears that in the Opinion of the Church of England which made the Canons it was of such concern as to have the highest Censures of the Church interested in it and to be made a fundamental term of her Communion If after it is examined by Men of better Judgment and better skill'd in the concerns of the Church of England it shall c. The Canon to which the Author of the Letter resers WHosoever shall hereafter affirm that the King's Majesty hath not the same Authority in Causes Ecclesiastical that the Godly Kings had amongst the Jews and Christian Emperors in the Primitive Church or impeach in any part his Regal Supremacy in the said Causes restored to the Crown and by the Laws of the Realm therein established Let him be excommunicated ipso facto and not restored but only by the Arch-Bishop after his Repentance and publick Revocation of those his wicked Errors Before I come to explain the intent and force of this Canon I think it convenient to set down a Position in the first Canon which all Persons having â—ure of Souls and all other Preachers and Readers of Divinity are obliged to the uttermost of their Wit Knowledg and Learning purely and sincerely without any Colour or Dissimulation to teach manifest open and declare four times every Year at the least And whether this hath been done or if done with what Sincerity by the greatest part let the World judge by their present and late Actings And it may be farther observed that this Position is levelled as well against all Civil as Ecclesiastical Foreign Powers as may appear not only from the Words in it but from our Laws and Statutes which shall hereafter be produced which this was designed to strengthen and confirm That the Spiritual Sword might afford what assistance it could to the Secular and both Powers concur to secure the Lawful Supream Governour upon whose Safety and Welfare the Well-being of both so much depended The Position in the first Canon That all Usurped and Foreign Power forasmuch as the same hath no establishment nor ground by the Law of God is for most just Causes taken away and abolished and that therefore no manner of Obedience or Subjâ—ction within his Majesty's Realms and Dominions is due unto any such Foreign Power But that the King's Power within his Realms of England Scotland and Ireland and all other his Dominions and Countries is the highest Power under God to whom all Men as well Inhabitants as born within the same do by God's Laws owe most Loyalty and Obedience afore and above all other Powers and Potentates in Earth I do not deny but that the Usurpations of the Court of Rome were the â—ccasion of laying down this Position but then though the occasions of Laws or Canons are particular yet the Law or Canon it self is general â—gainst all Mischiefs whatsoever of the like kind If the occasion of the first Law against Murder had been the cutting a Man's Throat no State whatâ—oeâ—â—â— would be so weak as to make a Law only against cutting of Throats â—nd leave bloudy Men free to use all other ways but their Law would be â—ade general to prevent the killing any Man either with Knife Sword Pistol 〈◊〉 or any other way or means whatsoever otherwise at this rate we must have a particular Law for every particular Fact It were a ridiculous â—hing to make a Fence against the Encroachments and Usurpations of the â—oman Court and to leave open a wide Gap for all others to enter in at pleasure For though we may justly have particular Apprehensions of the Alâ—-assuming Man at Rome yet we have the same reason against all Usurpatâ—â—ns as being equally pernicious to us from what Quarter soever they â—â—me But that we may come nearer to the Business both this Position and 〈◊〉 fore-cited Canon are equally acknowledged by both Parties engaged in 〈◊〉 present Controversie both Non-Jurors and Jurors assert themselves to 〈◊〉 the Church of England and lay claim to the Canon as a Canon of theiâ— Church if therefore the Canon be violated there can be no Cotroversie betwixt either Party but that the Penalty mentioned in the Canon belongs to the Violators so that if either Party appear guilty the Penalty must be fixed by consent Now for both Parties to get quit of it is impossible this Thunderbolt must unavoidably fall upon the one or the other For iâ— King James be our true and lawful Sovereign then the Regal Authority is his and consequently the Supremacy which is the choicest and top Branch of that Authority and if so then the Jurors who not only deny King James's Supremacy but have to their Power divested him of all Authority must inevitably stand excommunicated ipso facto by vertue of this Canon the force of which themselves acknowledg On the other hand it is not to be doubted but the Jurors will not be wanting to themselves in charging the Non-Jurors with the same Guilt for not worshipping the Idol which they have set up and which hath been more chargeable than ever was Nebuchadnezzar's Golden Image Now the Mighty Dr. Sherlock tells us That we cannot have two Kings at once and though I am not satisfied that the Doctor 's Proposition is universally true for David caused Solomon to be anointed and proclaimed King in his Life-time without divesting himself and the like did our King Henry II. to his no small Trouble yet in this Case where the two Titles clash and mutually destroy each other so that if the former be Rightful King the latter must be an Usurper if the latter have acquired a Right the former must have lost his there it is most certain that we cannot have two Kings at once Now for their New-fashion'd King they may take the best care of him they can that which lies on us is to prove the Right in King James which even Dr. Sherlock acknowledgeth and that very thing makes his de facto King to be but another Name for an Usurper For a bare de facto King is no more a King than a Possessor malae sidei is the true Proprietor of an Estate which he hath unlawfully and unjustly thrust himself into
whole Croud of all his Brethrens Arguments and thereby to their great grief bereaved them of all their Topicks wherewith they were used to blaspheme God in the Pulpits on their Mock-Thanksgiving-Days Nor doth his Performance seem any way displeasing even to the Government it self For though his Book was presented openly at the Parliament-Door yet it not only stands uncensured but is thought to have been the great occasion that the Salisbury Dictator's Book was doom'd to be burnt by the hands of the common Hangman But to make some amends for this triumphant Squander he hath set up a Plea of his own and indeed to do him justice he hath bid the fairest to set the present Government upon somâ— bottom if it could be possibly set on any For if he could make it appear that the late Proceedings were warranted by our Constitutions he would speak more to the purpose than all that hath been said hitherto but I doubt not but to make it appear that our Constitutions utterly overthrow his Plea Now this knocking Argument which will suffer nothing to stand before it is only Abdication still but then it is indeed a Passive Abdication wherein the Person abdicated is a Sufferer and is abdicated not by his own â—ct but by another who hath a certain Right in him and Superiority over him as a Father is said abdicare Filium He seems inclinable rather to call it Abrogation than Abdication a Word which seems harsh with respect to Persons though proper as to Laws and yet in the Verb is sometimes used in that Sense by later Historians but abdicare properly respects Persons However to his purpose he tells us That the People of England did actually abrogate or dethrone King James the Second for Misgovernment and promoted the Prince of Orange in his stead By the People I suppose he means not the dissusive Body but their Representatives for as the former seems impracticable so it is evident that the Feat was done by what they called a Convention and afterwards ratified by what they call a Parliament But herein he and his Masters cannot agree sor they put it upon an Active Abdication which Julian seems by no means willing to allow For they say expresly That King James abdicated the Government and that thereby the Throne became vacant So that all they pretend to is to supply a Vacancy whether there can be any such thing by our Constitutions in our Government I do not here dispute and provide a Remedy against a grand defect when there was no King in Israel and in that very place where he cites the Word abdicate in Tully it is taken in an Active Sense For after they had driven away their Kings the highest share of the Regal Power was conferred on the Consuls and when Mark Anthony offered a Crown to Caesar if he did not expresly yet he effectually renounced his Consulship For had Caesar accepted it he could no longer have been the Consul of a popular State but must thenceforth have acted by Authority srom Caesar or not at all So that this would have been no Forseiture but a real giving up his Power But contrary herâ—to Mr Johnson sairly makes King James tenacious enough of his Authority and tells us that the People abrogated and dethroned him a Power which the Convention knew not of nor did so much as pretend to they had done wisely if they had consulted this Learned Man to understand their own Power before they had gone about their work For though he contradicts them yet he makes them much greater than they were aware of and hath not only set the Subjects above the Sovereign but hath advanced the House of Commons into the place of the Almighty God of Heaven giving them Power to pull down and set up Kings as they shall 〈…〉 and convenient But I hope we are not so bound to follow Mr. Johnson with an 〈◊〉 Faith but that we may examine upon what Grounds he hath given Subjects such a Paramount Authority over their Sovereign And for this he urges in the first place a Message to King Richard the Second then at Elâ—ham wherein his Parliament averrs that in the case there mentioned it is lawful for them ipsum Regem de regali solio abrogare propinquiorem aliquem de stirpe regia loco ejus in Regni solio sublimare And for this Power in the same Message they plead only an unknown Statute and the infamous Precedent and Larbarous usage of Edward the Second Had not Discontent and Anger blinded them they would have been ashamed of their Precedent and for their Statute neither they nor any other have transmitted it to us So that it seems they durst not trust any with the examination of it But if he please to make amends for that Defect I will recommend to Mr. Johnson's second Thoughts a known Statute in the Reign of the same King Richard the Second wherein it is judged High-Treason for any Person to compass the King's Death to dâ—pose him or make War against him within the Realm or to render up his Homage 21 Ric. 2. Where we shall find his Statute I know not but this is to be found in our Statute Book and in the same King's Reign against whom he sets up a contrary Plea If no Subject can render up his Homage which by the way I take to be much the same with Dr. Burnet's transferring his Allegiance wherein of late he hath had too many Followers nor raise War against his Prince nor depose him without being condemned by the Law for a Traitor I would fain know how he will reconcile his unknown Statute to this known one We are hard put to our Shifts when we are forced to run eight hundred Years backwards for a piece of a Sentence that may seem to look favourably on our Cause And what good at last will King Alfred's Stile do him Dei Gratia Benevolemia West-Saxonicae Gentis I confess he has a hard Task and bad Game to play who through the Artifices of designing Knaves labours under the ill Opinion and hard Thoughts of his Subjects and it was a singular Happiness to King Alfred that he had the Good Will and the very Hearts of his People But though King Alfred for his Piety Justice and Bravery might stand for an eternal Pattern to all Kings that come after him yet no Person that ever sat on the Saxon or English Throne ever acted with a freer or fuller Power than he did as will plainly appear to any that read his History Nor indeed was it possible for him to have done those great Things which he did had he been shackled with those Fetters which our Demigogues endeavour now to hang upon Kings with pretence indeed to curb their Extravagancies and restrain their exorbitant Power but with a real design to drive out all Kings and introduce a Democracy nick-named a Common-wealth the most unquiet troublesome and most arbitrary and tyrannical of all Governments
But to what purpose is all this Stuff Are we to judge of our Constitutions by the blind Tale of a little Historian or the contradictory Saying of an old Moth-eaten Lawyer who wrote in diâ—â—icult Times trod upon Thorns and was under a kind of Necessity to write so as that he might avoid the Rage of the several incensed Parties What a woful Condition are the People of England in if they must look five six seven or eight hundred Years downward for what they are to do now and to learn wherein and how far they are to obey their King Such Things fall in few Hands and are read by fewer and perhaps well considered by fewest of all Will Mr. Johnson have the present State of Affairs reduâ—ed to what was so long since Or will he be content that his Almighty House of Commons should be lâ—id aside because there was no such House at the time from whence he seâ—cheth several of his Authorities or at least not such a House as is now under the prâ—sent Constitutions And therefore I must beg his Pardon if in this case I little regard his far-fetch'd Stories and am bold to tell him that we are not to be ruled or guided by odd Remnants of Antiquity in this matter but by our present Constitution and if he can make that agree with his Old Stories he will go near to carry the Cause but if he cannot then both he and all the Revolutionists will stand for ever condemned by it Now I know not how to come to the knowledg of our Constitutions better than by our Laws and then for a Protestant Kingdom it may be convenient to look so high as the first establishment of Religion under that odd Title and to compare and view the agreement of our Laws all along from the first enterance of the Protestant Religion to the very time of King James's pretended Aâ—dication And here if I go so high as Henry the 8th 〈◊〉 I think I need go no farther than Queen Elizabeth and so trace Things to our own Time we shall thence learn the present Obligations we lay under when this Revolution came upon us I am not willing to create a Quarrel whether Henry the 8th were Papist or Protestant I will freely give the Papists my share in him For he that so â—obb'd the Churches that many Parishes have not Revenues to find a Minister Bread and burnt Protestants because they would not become Papists I think is much fitter for them than for us But be he what he will I cannot find that either he or his Parliament owned Mr. Johnson's Doctrine In the â—â—th of his Reign cap. 12. you will find it thus Enacted Where by divers sundry old Authentick Histories and Chronicles it is manifestly declared and expressed That this Realm of England is an Empire and so hath been accepted in the World governed by one â—upream Head and King having the Dignity and Royal Estate of the Imperial Crown of the same unto whom a Body Politick compact of all sorts and degrees of People divided in Terms and by Names of Spirituality and Temporality been boundâ—n and owen to bear next to God a natural and humble Obedience Here a Parliament declares him 〈◊〉 subjects him to none but God and in the next following Words gives him plenary whole and intire Power Pre-eminence Authority Prerogative and Jurisdiction And this they declare to be no new thing but to be taught by old Histories and Chronicles whose authentickness they vouch Now one would think that such authentick Histories and such Vouchers should make a better Authority thâ—n Mr. Johnson's Knighton But it is so well known what Authority Henry the 8th challenged and was owned by his Subjects that I need not insisâ—â—pon it Had our Author come abroad then with his new Inventions he himself perhaps would have found little better usage than Dr. Burnet's Pastoral Letter As for King Edward the Sixth we do not find that he any ways departed from the Authority his Father left him but though a Prince of great Hopes and pious Inclinations yet by the Seducements of some ill Persons about him entered farther upon the Ecclesiastical Authority than ever his Father did how justly I leave others to judge I cannot commend it And then for Queen Mary all Dignities Prerogative Royal Power Pre-eminence Priviledges Authorities and Jurisdictions are as fully wholly absolutely and entirely invested in her as in her Father or any her Predecessors by the Statute 1 Mariae Par. Sec. Cap. 1. To avoid tediousness I shall only touch upon such Statutes as speak home to this purpose and now we come to that which all sorts of Persons except Papists as with one Month stile the best Reign I mean the admired times of Queen Elizabeth in the first Year of whose Reign the Oath of Supremacy was enacted or rather revived in which amongst others are these two things asserted 1st That the Queen's Highness is the only Supream Governour of this Realm and of all other her Highness's Dominions and Countries as well in all Spiritual or Ecclesiastical Things or Causes as Temporal 2dly That no Foreign Prince Person I relate State or Potentate hath or â—ught to have any Jurisdiction Power Superiority Pre-eminence or Authority Ecclesiastical or Spiritual within this Realm By the first her own Subject's Hands are tied up by the second the Usurpations of Foreignes are excluded She could not be Supream much less only Supream if any Men or body of Men in her own Dominions had a Superior Power to depose her and it being not only their Duty but they also farther obliged by Oath to assist and desend her in this Supremacy and this Oath and Statute being transmitted in force to all her Successors any attempt by them to the contrary must necessarily be invalid and unlawsul And those who have a mind to know the Penalties which the Law insticts on Offenders in this kind may at their leisure read them in the same Statute Let us now desâ—â—â—d from the Reign of Queen Elizabeth to that of King James the First and in the Act of Recâ—grâ—tion Anno 1. Jac. 1. cap. 1. after a long dutiful and humble Prâ—â—mble it is thus said We being bounden thereunto both by the Laws of God and Man do recognize and acknowledg and thereby express our unspeakable Joys That immediately upon the Dissolution and Decease of Elizabeth late Queen of England the Imperial Crown of the Realm of England and of all the Kingdoms Dominions and Rights belonging to the same did by inherent Birth-right and lawful and undoubted Succession descend and come to your most excellent Majesty as being lineally justly and lawfully next and sole Heir of the Blood-Royal of this Realm as is aforesaid And that by the Goodness of God Almighty and lawful Right of Descent under one Imperial Crown your Majesty is of the Realms and Kingdoms of England Scotland France and Ireland the most potent and mighty King and by God's
Goodness more able to protect and govern us your Loving Subjects in all Peace and Plenty than any of your noble Progenitors and thereunto we most humbly and faithfully do submit and oblige our Selves our Heirs and Posterities for ever until the last drop of our Bloud be spent And do beseech your Majesty to accept the same as the First-Fruits in this High Court of Parliament of our Loyalty and Faith to your Majesty and your Royal Progeny and Posterity for ever Which if your Majesty shall be pleased as an Argument of your gracious Acceptation to adorn with your Majesty's Royal Assent without which it can neither be compleat and perfect nor remain to all Posterity according to our most humble Desires as a Memorial of your Princely and tender Affection towards us we shall add this also to the rest of your Majesty's unspeakable and inestimable Benefits Here they plainly acknowledg these two things 1st That the Crown descends by Proximity of Bloud and that immediately even before any Ceremony of Coronation or otherwise so that there can be no Inter-regnum or Vacancy of the Throne And accordingly it is a Maxim in Law that Rex non moritur 2dly That the assent of the King is that which gives the Life Being and Vigour to Laws without which they are of no force Now how the late Proceedings which were directly against both these can be valid ought to be made very clear at least it ought to be better proved than by the capricious Opinion of one single private Person against a full and lawful Parliament In the Third Year of the same King James was Enacted the Oath commonly called the Oath of Allegiance not but that the same thing was practised before though not in the same Words which may be tendered to any above the Age of eighteen which restraining the Subject not only from deposing but from offering the least violence or harm to the King and obliging all Subjects so faithfully to assist their King against both Domestick Traitors and Foreign Usurpers and being so directly contrary to and utterly inconsistent with Mr. Johnson's Doctrine I think fit to insert it here at large I A B do truly and sincerely acknowledg profess testifie and declare in my Conscience before God and the World That our Sovereign Lord King James is lawful and rightful King of this Realm and of all other His Majesty's Dominions and Countries and that the Pope neither of himself nor by any Authority of the Church or See of Rome or by any other means with any other hath any Power or Authority to depose the King or to dispose of any of his Majesty's Kingdoms and Dominions or to authorise any Foreign Prince to invade or annoy him or his Countries or to discharge any of his Subjects of their Allegiance and Obedience to his Majesty or to give licence or leave to any of them to bear Arms raise Tumults or to offer any Violence or Hurt to his Majesty's Royal Person State or Government or to any of his Majesty's Subjects within his Majesty's Dominions Also I do swear from my Heart That notwithstanding any Declaration or Sentence of Excommunication or Deprivation made or granted or to be made or granted by the â—ope or hiâ— Successors or by any Authority derived or pretended to be derived from him or his See against the said King his Heirs or Successors or any Absolution of the said Subjectâ— from their Obedience I will bear Faith and true Allegiance to his Majesty his Heirs and Successors and him and them will defend to â—he uttermost of my Power against all Conspiracies and Contempts whatsoever which shall be made against his or their Persons their Crown and Dignity by reason or colour of any such Sentence or Declaration or otherwise and will do my best endeavour to disclose and make known unto his Majesty his Heirs and Successors all Treasons and Traiterous Conspiracies which I shall know or hear of to be against him or any of them I do farther swear That I do from my Heart abhor detest and abjure as Impious and Heretical this damnable Doctrine and Position That Princes which be excommunicated or deprived by the Pope may be deposed or murdered by their Subjects or any other whatsoever And I do believe and in Conscience am resolved that neither the Pope nor any Person whatsoever hath Power to absolve me of thiâ— Oath or any part thereof which I acknowledg by good and full Authority to be lawfully ministred unto me And do renounce all Pardons and Dispensations to the contrary And all these things I do plainly and sincerely acknowledg and swear according to these express Words by me spoken and according to the plain and common Sense and Vnderstanding of the same Words without any Equivocation or Mental Evasion or Secret Reservation whatsoever And I do make this recognition and acknowledgment heartily willingly and truly upon the true Faith of a Christian So help me God If foolish wicked Men did not make their Reservations and endeavour to put Tricks even upon God whom they call to be a Witness of the Truth of what they swear and an Avenger if they swear falsly there would need nothing more to coâ—â—in Subjects in their Loyalty But still to improve this matter farther 7 Jac. 1. cap. 6. an Act tells us That this Oath tends only to the Declaration â—f such Duty as every true and well-affected Subject not only by Bond of Allegiance but also by the Commandment of Almighty God ought to bear to his Majesty his Heirs and Successors So that though this Act obliges all Persons of the Age of eighteen Years upon pain of incurring a Praemunâ—â—â— to take this Oath if tendered yet it gives us to understand that it is only a super added Obligation to secure our lawâ—ul Prince and keep the Subject to his Duty and that though the Oath be not taken yet the natural Allegiance of every Subject binds him to the same thing And though it was principally yet not only made with relation to the Bishop of Rome but to all others as expressing that Allegiance which obliges Subjects to stand by their Prince against all his Opposers Enemies and Underminers whatsoever I do not know that any Foreign Powers the Pope excepted so much as pretend to a Right to depose lawful Princes nor did even the Prince of Orange when he came over pretend to any such Power by his Declaration and it seems to me to be no better than an impudent Contradiction when Men acknowledg that no Foreign Power can depose a lawful Prince to say that his own Subjects who by the Laws of God and Man owe him Allegiance and are bound with the utmost hazard of their Lives to defend him may do it And it see us to me worth Observation that Dr. Stillingfleet in his Preface to the Jesuit's Loyalty proves that the Pope deposes Princes upon Common-wealth Principâ—es Now I would willingly know upon what Principle the Doctor hath
is not long since that a wise and pious Prince was barbarously murdered amongst us by his own Subjects and though his Son by the Mercy of God made his escape yet there are many who thiâ—st for his Bloud which in the estimation of God is the same thing To this I will here add part of a Canon of another of our own Councils Vid. Lind. l. 5. sol 248. b. Auctoritate Dei Patris c. By the Authority of God the Father c. we excommunicate all those who injuriousâ—y disturb the Peace and Tranquillity of our Lord the King and those who labour unjustly to detain the Rights of our Lord the King This is a Canon made amongst our selves and the Book is the great Director of our Ecclesiastiâ—â—l Coâ—â—ts at this Day and if the Rights of a King be not only detained but wholly swallowâ—d up by some at this time we must never believe matter of Fact more and as for the Curâ—e let them take it to whom it belongs Indeed while the Authority of God was reverenced in the Censures of the Church Kings were very desirous that the Churches protected by them should contribute to the Security of the Royal Authority by a dâ—nunciation of Spiritual Judgments on such as should any ways be injurious to it Thus at the Request of K. Edward a Constitution was made to this purpose by John Straâ—ford Arch-bishop of Canterbury as is to be seen Lind. fol. 254 b. But a very â—emarkaâ—le Instance in this kind the Concilium Engilhelmense under Lewis the 4th affords us Câ—n. 1. De hinc ex Sessionis suae loco sâ— subâ—â—gens c. Then the Glorious King Lewis rising from his Seat made a most 〈◊〉 Complaint viz. That â—e was strip'd of his Royal Power by a certain Prince called Hugo whose just Grief and Complaint we Holy Fathers i. e. the Bishops there assembled condâ—â—ing being joined together in the Vnity of Spirit have made thereupon this Decree Let no Man henceforth in â—ade the Kingly Power nor deal treacherously therewith for we have decreed by putting in execution the Council of Toledo That Hâ—go the Invader and Ravisher of the Kingdom of K. Lewiâ— shall be smitten with the Sword of Excommunication unless by an appointed Time he comâ— to the Council and repent of so soul a Fact and make satisfaction Had this Complaint been made to St. Asaph or Dr. Burnet They would have told poor Lewis that Hugo had conquered him that he had lost all his Right and so long as he lived must only be called the late King Lewis that for their parts they were bound to swear Allegiâ—nâ—â— to Hugo and to assist him to the uttermost against Lewis But contrary-wise these Bishops own the Cause of the distressed Prince and decree the Usurper excommunicate if he restore not his ill-gotten Goods Now whom shall we believe For either this Council or some Bishops now living must be in the wrong The Case of Ludoviâ—us Plus has too much Assinity with ours for his own Children rose up against him and a parcel of St. Asaphs Burnâ—ts â—owlers and such other Godly and Loyal Prelates met together and made up that which is called Synodus Compendiensis and by the Learned Baluzius justly stiled Synodus Praedatoria these join with the Rebellious Children against the Father and formally strip him of his Authority in order to his being imprisoned by his Son Lotharius But against these Rabanus Maurus Arch-bishop of Mogunce then living a Man of greater Reputation and Authority than a thousand such false Loonâ— stoutly opposeth himself and with the Courage and Fidelity of a Christian Bishop condemns the Fact and writes a Tract on purpose De reverentia Filiorum erga Patres subdiâ—â—rum erga Reges which I think may be worth any honest Man's reading Much such another Case was that of the Emperor Henry the 4th but the more abominable for this that that whole Scene of Wickedness was managed by Gregory the 7th otherwise called Pope Hildebrand but more deservedly Pope Firebrand who the better to colour over the matter excommunicates the Emperor and absolves his Subjects from their Allegiance but the Bishop of Leige being too Honest and Loyal to think himself so discharged of his Oath of Fealty continued faithful to the Emperor for which the Pope darts his Thunderbolts against both him and his Adherents notwithstanding which his Clergy continue firm to him justifie their Proceedings from the Obligation of their Oaths and the Commandments of God and look upon his Excommunication as meerly brutum ful-men and of no Force It would be too tedious to heap up what might be brought of this kind from Examples Canons and declared Judgment of Holy Fathers From all which it is plain that the pious consciâ—ntious Clergy ever thought themselves in Duty bound not only to adhere to their lawful Prince against all Usurpers and Rebels but to censure those that did otherwise which was sufficient to induce our Church to compose this Canon and justifie her in so doing and ought to strike a terroâ—â— in all those who incurr the Censure of it which that they may be the more aware of I shall now proceed further to explain it in the other Particulars The next Thing we have to do is to enquire after the meaning of an Excommunication ipso facto where by the way take notice that this sort of Excommunication is never denounced but against Crimes of more than an ordinary Size either against such as are of themselves of so very ill Name that being once known there needs not the canvassing of a Judge to induce any Persons to condemn them or else of such pernicious and fatal Consequence that they ought not to be allowed the least encouragement or so much as any sorbearance by which you may easily perceive how heinous a Fault it is adjudged in the sense of the Ch. of England for any Person to mâ—im the Authority of his King or dismantle him of it she having denounced no less than an Excommunication ipso facto against it And indeed what Laws or what Authority shall be able to restrain those Men who shall dare to make an Attempt upon the Sovereign Authority which is the Guardian of the Laws and Security of the State Before Wickedness can grow rank enough for such a desperate Experiment it must have broke thro' and shook off the dread of all Laws and become not only regardless of the Duties of Civility and common Honesty but to be not so much as moved with the sense of the Publick Good and Safety Now what hopes can any Man cherish of such Men And how miserable must that Government be which is ravisht into such hands But to return to our Business Excommunication ipso facto is where the Discussion and definitive Sentence of the Judge is neither requisite or necessary as to the Offender but the Fact being committed the Excommunication immediately takes place and the Law in a great
Now the Right being supposed the Powers and Authorities are inseparably annexed to it though by prevailing Wickedness or other Means the Exercise may for a time be suspended and then the denying or opposing this Authority doth incur the Censure of this Canon Now that King James is our Lawful Rightful King hath been clearly proved by so many learned Pens that I may well spare my pains and therefore shall take notice of it only as it were in transitu and so far forth as is needful to make for the directing the Censure of this Canon and explaining it Several Pleas are set up by our Adversaries to prove that King James hath lost or some way or other quitted his Title but as most of their Pleas fall foul upon each other and as destroying one another cannot be all true so neither dare they tell us which they will stand to that which deserves to come in the Van is the Plea of a just Conquest which swallows up not only the Title of the King but the Rights of all the Subjects and this no doubt will make a brave Deliverance from Slavery I cannot tell whether this way of arguing be more base or bold yet herein amongst others have engaged themselves the Welsh Prophet the Scotch Apostle and lest the Mountâ—banks should want their Zany the Bishopsgate-street Doctor who whilst he thought himself fallen under Disgrace with his Master and neglected began to bellow What! two Kings two Arch-Bishops c. but see how great is the Policy in understanding the Proverb da off am â—erbero For no sooner was an Offer made of a good fat Prebend but the Fowl not only came to the Lure but Ingratitude undertook to rake into poor martyred Mr. Ashton s Ashes and answer his dying Speech But it seems to be much safer medling with the Dead than the Living for though he hath been somewhat roughly handled for this by the Author of the Loyal Martyr yet ever since he hath been as mute as a Fish But after all there is no Answerer like a thing called a Parliament they do it effectually as Dr. Burnet to his great Mortisication now very well knows And though this be indeed only argamentum ad hominem yet it is enough for me here because our Adversaries must acquiâ—sce in it For they who own a Government must not ought not to set that Government upon such grounds as the Government it self not only disowns but condemns And so Farewel Conquest The next celebrated Argument is a Jumble of Desertion and Abdication But this if it were true would not do their work For he that deserts or abdicates deserts and abdicates for himself the Rights of others are saved it lies not in his Power to give them away So that if it could be supposed that King James had abdicated or deserted yet that would give William and Mary no Right unless they had it elsewhere for upon such Abdication or Desertion our Constitutions had immediately set the Crown upon the Head of the next Heir And there is one before them against whose innocence nothing can be pretended and it is the heighth of Impudence to blast such Innocence with the Name of an Imposture and never offer the least proof of it though they have been so often provoked and dared to it If therefore King James had really and truly abdicated or deserted then the Prince of Wales at that instant had become our King Now they deny the Authority of the Son as well as of the Father and therefore either the one way or the other must be entangled in this Censure But after all the Assertion it self is a notorious shameless Falshood For a Desertion in this case must be altogether voluntary and so voluntary that there ought nor in reason to be thought that there was at that time so much as animus revertendi nay let it be never so voluntary yet an Author of their own who thinks himself no small Babe and was no idle Promoter of the Revolution will not allow it to be good in Law unless an Huy and Cry be sent after him and forty days notice being given he refuse to return But how will this agree with his Proposal to the City by the Bishop of Winchester With his Letter from Rochestâ—r With his Letter to the Convention 〈…〉 landing in Ireland and using all Endeavours to regain his Right 〈◊〉 betrayed and beaten back by his faithless Subjects And with the 〈…〉 the aid of his Friends and the claiming his Right and calling upon his Subjects to return to their Allegiance and come in to his Assistance Whâ—â— they can prove that claiming is renouncing and that the utmost 〈◊〉 a Man can use to regain his Right is the real and absolute quittiâ—g of 〈◊〉 then they may prove this to be Desertion Certainly these Men never knew what blushing was As for Abdication in this place it must be understood actively as a Man is said abdicare se Magistratu but that requires a formal Renunciation or Resignation But why is it not produced Or rather Why have not these Men who stick at nothing forged one in all this time Though it will be very difficult to impose upon Men with a counterseit Resignation of a Man who apparently all along hath so strongly and constantly claimed But I need not insist on this any longer because the very Arguments which consute Desertion destroy Abdication of which any may read enough to their Satisfaction in Desâ—â—tion discuss'd and many other learned Tracts handling that Subject There is another Mongâ—el Plea set up by the de facto Men I know not well what to call it nor to what Topick to refer it These Men without any regard to Conscience Faith or common Honesty are for securing their Worldly Enjoyments and making their present Markets and they boldly tell you that you are bound in all things to obey the King in Possession But what if a King in Possession should prove a Contradiction in terminis When a Person is in Possession of a Throne without Right and in opposition to a just Right all the World hath hitherto accounted such an one an Usurper not a King but with these Men all the World before them were Fools For if they say true there can be no such thing as an Usurper But this is the least evil of this perfidious Notion For it turns the World into a bloudy Theatre makes every thing a Prize to every Man who by sighting scrambling cheating or any other means can get Possession of it destroys the nature of Right and Wrong resolves all Right into Possession and renders all Laws both Divine and Humane so far as relates to Property unnecessary useless and insignificant But I may very well spare any farther pains in this particular because of late their much admired Juliâ—n Johnson though he is pleased so liberally to make a Sacrifice of the Doctrine of the Cross yet hath very pleasantly and indeed soundly consuted the