Shiloh or the Messiah should appear he expresses it by affirming that as the Scepter which is an Ensign of Regal Power should not depart from Judah so neither a Lawgiver from between his knees Gen. 49.10 In like manner as Homer if we may joyn Profane Authors with Sacred where he speaks of the same Regal Dignity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But so also that I may return to the Scripture after it had been said that Moses commanded a Law to the Inheritance of the Congregation of Jacob to let us know by what Authority he did so the Scripture adds And he was King in Jesurun when the Princes and Tribes of the People were gathered together to receive it Deut. 33.4 5. But not to content my self with these or the like Texts which attribute the Power of Making Laws to Princes let us which will be a yet more convincing Topick at least to some Men consider the End of their Institution For if that End be not to be compass'd without the Power of Making Laws Princes must consequently be suppos'd to be invested with that Power and their Subjects under a necessity of obeying them It is the Affirmation of St. Paul Rom. 13.3 4. That Rulers are appointed by God for the encouragement of those that do good and the avenging of those that do evil Now though each of these Ends may seem to be compass'd by having a regard in them to the Laws of God and Nature yet if we do more nearly consider it we shall find they cannot compass either unless they have a Power of Making Laws For the Laws of Nature and Scripture descending not to all those Particulars which are necessary to be observ'd in order to the attaining of them hence there ariseth the necessity of a Power to draw them down to particular Instances and accommodate them to the Exigencies of their respective Governments Thus for instance though the Laws of God require the Judging of Offenders and inflicting on them such Punishments as they shall be found to deserve yet inasmuch as they prescribe nothing concerning the Manner or Time of Judging them and much less mark out the Punishments which are to be inflicted on particular Offenders hence there ariseth a necessity in Princes to prescribe when and after what manner they shall be judg'd and what Punishments they shall undergo if they be found guilty of the Crimes laid against them In like manner though the Laws of God and Nature prescribe the encouraging of the Good and doing as much as lies in Princes toward the securing and advancing of their several Properties yet inasmuch as they prescribe nothing at all by what Means that is to be done nor indeed can do by reason of the multiplicity and variety of Humane Affairs hence there ariseth a necessity of making Laws by which they may be secur'd in their several Properties or enabled to improve them to their and the States advantage Forasmuch therefore as without Laws the Good cannot be secur'd as neither Evil-doers either judg'd or condemn'd it follows that they who are appointed both for the one and the other are invested with a Power of Making Laws and consequently the Subjects under a necessity of obeying them But so that they are is yet more evident from the express Declarations of the Scripture For beside that in the fore-quoted place of St. Paul Men are required to be subject to them which as Grotius hath well observ'd imports * Rom. 8.7 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ephes 5.24 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Pet. 3.5 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Obedience to their Commands as well as Submission to their Coercion Beside that disobedience in Things lawful is a resisting of their Authority and therefore the contrary to be thought to be intended in that Subjection which is there requir'd Beside lastly that he who requires every Soul to be subject doth it upon intuition of their receiving Praise from them as well as not receiving Vengeance the former whereof cannot in reason be expected where there is no compliance with their Commands to cut off all doubt concerning Obedience to them the same St. Paul admonisheth Titus chap. 3.1 not onely to put his Charge in mind of being subject to Principalities and Powers but to obey Magistrates and to be ready to every good work in compliance with their Commands as well as far from doing so much evil as to oppose themselves against their Power and Government 2. That Obedience is to be given to Princes we have seen already inquire we now by whom and after what measure For the resolution of the former whereof it may suffice to alledge that of St. Paul Rom. 13.1 â—or requiring there every Soul to be subject to the Higher Powers and neither he nor any other of the Apostles else-where making any Exception from it he thereby plainly shews that all are to be so of what Rank and Condition soever And accordingly as whatever is now pretended by the Papists for an Exemption of the Ecclesiastical Order yet no such Plea was ever made by the Priests or Prophets of the Old Testament so till Luxury and Wantonness made the Clergy forget their Duty they also were of the same mind and declar'd it both by their Actions and their Writings St. Chrysostome * Hom 2.3 in Epist ad Rom. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in particular explaining every Soul by the Soul of an Apostle as well as of a Layman of one in the highest rank in the Church as well as of the most inferiour Members of Church or State 3. From the subjects of this Obedience therefore pass we to the measure of it which is both a more important question and more difficult to be resolv'd Where first of all I shall observe that it must be in such things as are not forbidden by the Almighty For as where God and Man's commands come in competition it is so clear we are to prefer those of God that St. Peter permits it to the judgment of those who commanded him to act contrary to it Act. 4.19 So that we ought to obey God rather than Princes the place they hold under God may serve for an abundant Evidence For inasmuch as Princes are only the Ministers of God they are in reason to be post-posed to him whose Ministers they are Care only would be taken first That we do not fondly and without just ground pronounce those things as forbidden by God which are imposed upon us by the commands of Princes For though we may be excus'd for not obeying where the thing commanded by Princes is so forbidden yet we cannot without sin refuse our Obedience to such commands as are not any where countermanded by the Almighty Again though we are not to obey where the matter of the Command is evidently against that of God because the Inferiour ought to give place to the Superiour yet
subject to these as well as to the Higher Powers yet with this difference as you may see 1 Pet. 2.13 14. To the King as Supreme but unto Governours as them that are sent by him Making the Authority of inferiour Magistrates to result from the will of the Supreme and consequently not to be made use of against it Neither will it avail to say that the constitution of our Nation bears witness to the contrary as by which the Sentence of a Judge in matters of Estate shall be of force not only against any private Order of the Princes but even where his own property is concern'd For as on the one side that Constitution neither reacheth any farther than matter of Estate neither hath any farther power to pass it than the Posse comitatus will afford it which at the most extends no farther than the County where the Sentence is to be executed so the reason why a Decree of the Judge shall prevail against any private Order of the Kings is not because our Law allows the inferiour Magistrate to oppose the Supreme but because the Judge being commissionated by the King himself to judge between Him and his Subjects in matters of Estate what is so sentenc'd by him is rather to be presum'd to be the will of the Prince than any private Order against it As little of force is there as to what is pleaded for inferiour Magistrates resisting the exorbitant power of the Prince because commissionated by him to draw the Sword of Justice against Offenders For as St. Paul after he had affirm'd that God had put all things under our Saviour's feet yet ceased not to add as a limitation of that affirmation that it was manifest he is excepted which did put all things under him so we may that when the Prince commissionates the inferiour Magistrates to punish Offenders it is no less manifest that he is excepted who did so commissionate him it being not to be presum'd that he who by the Laws of God and Man is constituted as supreme will commissionate any person against himself As for that saying of Trajan the Emperor when he delivered a Dagger to the Praefectus Praetorio Vse this for me if I govern rightly but if ill against me it is but agreeable as Grotius * De Jure Belli ac Pacis l. 1. c. 4. Sect. 6. hath observ'd to that Princes other demeanour who made shew of behaving himself not so much as an Emperor but as the Servant of the Senate and the people In which case there is no doubt but it might have been lawful for the Praefect to oppose him if the Senate and people should upon the Emperors default have so commanded him Because so the Emperor should not be the Supreme but that Senate and people to whose judgment he professed to subject himself But as it doth not follow that the like may be done to Soveraign Princes whose Supremacy is a bar to all attempts of the inferiour Magistrate so if Soveraign Princes should give such a Power they should neither consult their own honour nor the welfare of that Kingdom which is committed to their trust He who gives another a power against himself if he govern ill not only making him the judge whether he govern so or no but giving him a power against the Commonwealth which depends on the well-being of him that administers it From that second plea pass we to a third which is taken from those Oaths which Kings do commonly make before they are solemnly crown'd of governing the people by the Laws the government as some think seeming thereby to arise from a compact between them and their Subjects upon the breach whereof on the Kings part it may be lawful for the Subject to depart from their Allegiance and resist him in the execution of his Power For answer to which not to tell you what intolerable mischiefs would ensue from such a Tenent as often as any seditious man should go about to perswade the people they were not so well govern'd as they ought I will alledge in behalf of our own Princes farther than which we shall not need to look that which will cut the throat of this objection to wit that our Kings are to as full purpose such before their Coronation as after Witness not only their peforming all the Acts of a King but that known Maxim in our Laws that the King of England never dies From whence as it will follow that the Kings of this Nation owe not their being such to any compact between them and their people that upon any supposed breach thereof it might be lawful for the Subject to resist them so also that the Oaths taken by them at their Coronation are not to procure them that Power which otherwise they could not have but for the encouraging the people to yeild the more ready obedience to them which they may very well do when they who are to govern plight their Faith and Reputation to govern them according to their own Laws There is but one Objection behind that is any thing considerable which alledgeth that there are many Kings in Title which are not so in Reality as being not Supreme in their several Dominions In which case nothing hinders they may be resisted because the command of every Soul 's being subject to the higher powers is by St. Paul himself limited to those that are Supreme that being the true notion of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But neither will this plea be of any avail if consider'd with relation to our own Princes beyond which we shall not be concern'd to enquire Because it is certain from the Laws and Customs of this Realm that they are both the Supreme and the only Supreme Witness not only the several Titles * See Lord Chief Baron Bridgman's Speech at the Tryal of the Kings Judges that are given them such as that beforementioned The Lieutenants of God immediate from God and the heads of the Commonwealth as to their Crown of being an Imperial Crown and immediately subject to God and to no other Power but also that Power wherewith they are Invested All Laws are made by them their Le Roy le Veult inscrib'd upon all Acts of Parliament evidently shewing it all Proceedings in Law run in their name To them it belongs to Treat of War and Peace By them Parliaments are at Pleasure call'd and dissolv'd again when they think good to do it In fine all jurisdiction flows from them and is bestow'd as they are pleased to appoint All which put together make it evident that the Kings of England are Supreme and therefore to be reckoned among those higher Powers to whom St. Paul hath commanded every Soul to be subject And indeed as so to be is the interest of the People whatsoever the Prince is it having been happily observ'd that how bloody soever Nero was yet there was not so much Blood spilt in his fourteen years Raign as there was
mercy to those of a different profession the scope of our Saviours answer as appears from the question proposed being not to declare the necessity of shewing mercy but the persons to whom we are to do it But as Schismaticks and Samaritans by the Discipline of our Saviour are to have a share of that love which we are to shew to enemies so also Pagans and Infidels men who are not only Separatists from but perfect strangers to the Commonwealth of Israel Witness one for all that known place of S. Paul 1 Tim. 2.1 where he exhorts that first of all supplications prayers intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men for Kings and for all that are in Authority that we may lead a peaceable and quiet life in all godliness and honesty For as it is evident from the stories of those times as well as from the words that follow that the Powers that then were had not attained the knowledge of the truth so it is no less that they were the Christians enemies and made use of that authority which God put into their hands for the repressing of evil doers to discountenance and extirpate them In the love therefore of enemies it is manifest that Christ includes the Heathen and the Samaritan as well as the Christian and the Orthodox professor But though such as these are to be lov'd whatsoever their enmity may be to us yet certainly not when enemies to us upon the account of Christianity and thereby to the Authour of it Indeed the present practice of Christians would so perswade a man that were not studied in the doctrine of our Saviour there being generally no hatred accounted too great to shew to those that are the enemies of our Religion But what the will of our Saviour was his behaviour toward the Samaritans when they denyed him entertainment snews plainly enough and his own words in his Sermon upon the Mount for it was not upon any particular grudge to his person that they denied him entertainment that they refused him that civility which seems due to all strangers the text it self tells us Luke 9.53 that the reason of their not receiving him was because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem thereby professing that he looked upon that City as the place appointed for Gods publick worship which was the chief controversie between the Jews and the Samaritans And yet notwithstanding this their rudeness to our Saviour upon the account of the true Religion our Saviour would by no means hear of calling for fire from Heaven upon them and checked his Disciples for the motion intimating withall that they were to be of a different temper from him whose fiery zeal they commended to him But let us view our Saviour's own words in his Sermon upon the Mount and see whether our love be not to take in such persons as are enemies to us for his name sake But I say unto you Love your enemies bless them that curse your do good to them that hate you and pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you even to those especially which persecute you for righteousness sake which speak all manner of evil against you for mine For beside that these are the persecutors and revilers spoken of in the former verses and therefore in all probability to be understood here S. Luke hath subjoined the Precept of loving enemies immediately after that beatitude which pronounces a blessing upon those that are persecuted for Christs sake and the woe that is opposed to it thereby plainly shewing that they who persecute us for Christs sake are in the number of those enemies whom he obliges us to love and pray for For after he had said c. 6.22 Blessed are ye when men shall hate you and when they shall separate you from their company and shall reproach you and cast out your name as evil for the son of mans sake as on the other side Wo unto you when all men shall speak well of you for so did their fathers to the false prophets vers 26. he adds in the very next verse to wit the 27. But I say unto you Love your enemies do good to them that hate you and pray for them that despitefully use you by which enemies what other can be meant than those who were so because they were Christians and hated them not for their own sake but the Son of man's We have seen the intent of this Precept under the Gospel let us now look upon it as prescribed by the Law and the Prophets which if we do we shall soon discern that the Precepts thereof fall short of those of our blessed Saviour For first of all whereas Christianity makes no difference between a sound Christian and a Schismatick or an Infidel the Law though enjoining the same love of enemies yet restrains it to such as were of the Jewish Nation or Religion If he who opposeth thee be of thy own blood or profession if he be a natural son of Abraham or one adopted into his family then thou oughtest to look upon him as thy neighbour and shew thy self benevolent to him Say I this of my self or saith not the Law the same For is not neighbour and children of thy people made synonymous even where this very argument is intreated of for thou shalt not saith Moses Lev. 19.18 avenge or bear any grudge against the children of thy people but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self Nay doth not our Saviour intimate this to have been the meaning of the Law when in pursuance of this most excellent Precept he adds Mat. 5.47 If ye salute your brethren only what do ye more than others Again to resume that place which we before made use of to shew the Jews obligation to this Precept at all doth not the book of Deuteronomy sufficiently declare the enemy whom they were there obliged to assist to be one of their own Nation or profession If you take the pains to compare them together you will easily discern that that is the due meaning of it If saith Moses in the book of Exodus thou meet thine enemies oxe or ass going astray thou shalt surely bring it back to him again If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burthen and wouldst forbear to help him thou shalt surely help with him Exod. 23.4 5. But in Deut. c. 22.1 Thou shalt not see thy brothers oxe or his sheep going astray and hide thy self from them thou shalt in any case bring them again unto thy brother and v. 4. Thou shalt not see thy brothers ass or his oxe fall down by the way and hide thy self from them thou shalt surely help with him to lift them up plainly shewing that the enemy they were forbidden to hide themselves from was such an one as was also a brother which in the Hebrew phrase was an Israelite by Nation or Religion I observe secondly that as the love the Jews were obliged
only no crime at all to fear him but on the contrary an acknowledgment of his Divinity Our fear because arising from the consideration of them being a confession not only of his great power and justice but also that what he hath so threatned he will certainly perform and consequently of the truth and unchangeableness of his decrees Then and then only doth our fear become criminal when it looks upon God as no other than a Tyrant or as one that will call us to an account for every trifle For that instead of acknowledging him for our God attributeth to him peevishness or cruelty and makes us not so much adorers as dishonourers of him And accordingly as where-ever Religion hath had any place this fear hath been branded under the name of Superstition so it has betrayed its own rottenness by the pittiful shifts it hath put the timourous man upon the devotion of such persons usually spending it self in Rites and Ceremonies and presenting the Deity not with a rational and sober worship but a crazy and trifling one I will conclude this particular with that excellent distinction which Maximus Tyrius * Dissert 4. makes between a truly Religious man and a Superstitious one The pious man saith he is Gods friend the superstitious is a flatterer of God and indeed happy and blest is the condition of the pious man Gods friend but right miserable and sad is the state of the superstitious The pious man emboldned by a good conscience and encouraged by the sense of his integrity comes to God without fear and dread but the superstitious being sunk and depressed through the sense of his own wickedness cometh not without much fear being void of all hope and confidence and dreading the Gods as so many Tyrants From which as it is evident what the true nature of Superstition is even the fearing of God as a tyrant or peevish Lord so also that it may have place as well in the rejection of religious rites as in an overcurious intention of them For as the observation of these becomes Superstitious by our looking upon God as a rigid exacter of them so the rejection of them may become equally such when we think him as much concerned to forbid them as we are to avoid the use of them But other fear than this as it is so far from being criminal that it is on the contrary an acknowledgement of Gods power and justice and truth so though it make us draw back from him as a judge yet it puts us upon seeking to him as a father and endeavouring by all means to obtain his favour Which said I will now descend to shew 3. The consistency of this fear with the dispensation of the Gospel the third thing proposed to be discoursed of For though it may seem but congruous to the law which was a state of darkness and horrours to be attended with that fear which is the usual product or concomitant of them yet it may seem no less congruous on the other hand that when the bright sunshine of the Gospel appeared that gloominess should disappear and together with it its congenial fears For the solution of which difficulty the first thing that I shall offer is those clear and express words of our Saviour Luke 12.5 Where having before dehorted his Disciples from being afraid of them that kill the body but after that have no more that they can do lest any should think that passion to be useless he adds But I will forewarn you whom you shall fear Fear him which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell yea I say unto you fear him Which testimony is so much the more considerable not only because he doth twice repeat it but which shews yet farther the importance of his exhortation whom he doth so exhort call also by the name of friends For I say unto you my friends be not afraid of them that kill the body but fear him which hath power to cast into hell Which appellation shews evidently that this precept of fear is not only for servants or aliens but for those who are most intimately united unto himself But so that I may not dwell too long upon a thing so evident do the Apostles of that Lord advise as well as the Lord himself S. Paul Phil. 2.12 exhorting men to work out their Salvation with fear and trembling and the Authour to the Hebrews c. 12.28 to have grace whereby to serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear because God is a consuming fire In which latter place we have it over and above represented as an effect of grace and a requisite to make our service acceptable Now though from what hath been said it be sufficiently evident what we are to think in this particular and consequently rather to believe that something else must be meant by those sayings which seem to contradict it than that this fear is inconsistent with the temper of the Gospel yet for the better explication of this fear as well as for the solution of those difficulties I will now propose them or at least that which is most considerable If you please to peruse the first Epistle of S. John the fourth chapter and the eighteenth verse you will there find that Apostle affirming that there is no fear in love but that perfect love casteth out fear because fear hath torment as moreover that he that feareth is not made perfect in love For the answering of which difficulty not to say as some have done that by fear in that place we are to understand the fear of men and of the evils which they may bring upon us because the perfect love to which fear is here opposed is referred to our having boldness to stand in the day of judgment to which therefore in all reason the opposite fear ought to relate I answer first that it is true perfect love casteth out fear but I say withall that in this world there is no such thing as perfect love and therefore fear not to be ejected till there is A thing which this very Apostle may seem to referr to when in the words before these he affirms that herein is our love made perfect that we may have boldness in the day of judgment making that perfect love to appertain not to the present times but to the day of judgment wherein indeed those that love God shall neither fear nor have any cause for it But let us suppose as there is some presumption for it that the perfect love here spoken of is not that love which is the peculiar portion of the next world but which is attainable in this yet even so it may well be said that there is no necessity of casting out that fear for which we are now pleading For as was before observed there is a fear of God as of a tyrant or at least a very hard master and another of a father and a king but withall a good and gracious one
as the Scripture which is more to be credited hath taught us another Lesson because forbidding us to say ‖ Prov. 24.29 I will do to my Neighbour as he hath done to me I will render to the man according to his works so it hath elsewhere assign'd such Reasons of it as both shew the unlawfulness of such a Procedure and take off from the force of its Pretensions For giving us to understand that God to whom Vengeance originally belongeth reserveth that part of Justice to himself †Rom. 12.19 and to those whom he hath entrusted * Rom. 13.4 with his Authority it doth consequently make it unlawful to any other than such to assume to themselves the Execution of it and therefore also to do to Men as they have before dealt with them If he who hath his own Injuries return'd upon him receive no more than he doth deserve yet will not that warrant our retaliating them because we have no Authority to chastise him The more Equitable as well as more Christian Rule is certainly Do to other Men as ye would they should do to you as you your selves if you were in their Circumstances would be forward enough to desire from them So doing you will not onely not usurp upon the Prerogative of God or of his Vicegerent but comply with the Sentiments of Nature and Revelation with the several Precepts and Intimations of the one with the Law and the Prophets and Gospels of the other THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT Honour thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth theé PART I. The Contents A Transition to the Duty we owe to each other whether consider'd onely as Men or under a more near Relation The latter of these provided for in this Fifth Commandment which is divided into a Duty and a Promise An Essay toward a general Explication of the Duty where is shewn That under Father and Mother are comprehended 1. Grandfather and Grandmother and other the Ancestors from whom we came because though at a distance Authors of our Being 2. Kings and all that are in Authority partly because in the place of Parents to their People and partly because their Authority is a Branch of the Paternal one and succeeded into the place of it 3. Our Spiritual Pastors because begetting us to a better Birth And in fine All that are our Superiours whether in Authority Dignity or Age. The like Comprehensiveness evinc'd in the Honour that is requir'd which is shewn also to include Fear and Love together with the Expressions of them and Honour The Duty of Superiours connoted in the Honour that is to be paid to them and how that Duty may be inferr'd An Address to a more particular Explication of the Duty where the Honour of Parents is resum'd and the Grounds thereof shewn to be first Their being under God the Authors of ours and secondly the Maintainers of it The Consequences of the former Ground propos'd and shewn to preclude all Pretences of Disrespect OUR Duty to God being provided for in the first place as which is both the Foundation and Limitation of all others proceed we according as the Decalogue invites to consider the Duty we owe to each other which may be reduc'd to two Heads that is to say such as we owe to one another as Men or such as arise from some more intimate Relation between us The latter of these is my Task at this time because the Design of the Commandment that is now before us for the Explication whereof I will consider 1. The Duty enjoyn'd And 2. The Promise wherewith it is enforc'd I. Now though if we look no further than the Letter we could not be long to seek what that is which is here bound upon us yet because I have before shewn that many things are contain'd in a Commandment beside what is express'd in it to attain the full importance of this we must enter into the very Bowels of it and extract that Sense which is wrapp'd up in it as well as that which is apparent In order whereunto I will inquire 1. Whether any Superiours are here meant besides Fathers and Mothers 2. What is the importance of that Honour which is here requir'd 3. Whether the Commandment provide for the Behaviour of Superiours towards Inferiours as well as of Inferiours towards them 1. And first of all though Father and Mother be the onely Persons express'd to whom we are requir'd to give Honour yet the general Reason of the Commandment obligeth us to extend it to Grandfathers and Grandmothers and other the Ancestors from whom we are descended because though they contributed not immediately to our Birth yet mediately they did as being the Authors of those from whom we deriv'd it Whence it is that in the Scripture they have often the Name of Fathers as Your Father Abraham rejoyc'd to see my day and was glad But beside that Grandfathers and Grandmothers are to be understood and other the Stocks from whence we came there is no doubt but Kings and all that are in Authority are included in the same general Names Witness first their being in the place of Fathers to those who are under their Dominion For though as Moses sometime told God they do not beget their People if we understand it with reference to their Natural one yet as their Civil Birth is from them so they carry them in their bosom as a nursing Father beareth the sucking Child as the same God commanded the angry Moses Num. 11.12 Again As Kings are in the place of Fathers to their People especially in respect of their Tuition so the Authority of Kings is a Branch of the Paternal one and succeeded into the Place of it Of which beside the Testimony * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vid. Sanders de Oblig Conscient Praelect 7. sect 16. of Aristotle who was no Friend of Kingly Government and the great number of Kings that was anciently in every little Country and particularly in the Land of Canaan we may discern evident Marks in the Authority of Fathers even after the Empire was otherwise dispos'd of these having anciently the Power of Life and Death which is one of the principal Flowers of the Regal Diadem Now forasmuch as Kings are not onely in the place of Fathers to their People but vested in that Authority which was originally and naturally theirs it is but reasonable to think that when God commanded to honour these his Intention was to include the other as who beside their resemblance to them had also the best part of their Authority Next to Kings and Princes consider we our Spiritual Fathers even those who beget us to Piety and to God concerning whom there can be no place for doubt that they ought to be understood in those Fathers we are here commanded to revere For if our Earthly Father is to have Honour those certainly ought not to go
God's Designation and Appointment where is shewn first That they neither do nor can pretend to any Immediate Appointment as those of the Jews might but onely a mediate one And secondly That that Appointment is mark'd out to us by the Dispensations of his Providence which are moreover shewn to be a sufficient Testimony of it Evidence of that Appointment in such Princes as arrive at their Authority by the ordinary Course of Things or such as arrive at it by extraordinary Means and particularly by Fraud and Violence By what Means these last become legitimate Powers and particularly by what Means the Roman Emperours came to be so Of the sorts of Honour which are to be paid to Princes which are shewn as before in Parents to be 1. An Inward Esteem of them and 2. An Outward Declaration of it This latter evidenc'd in the Declaration that is made by the Gesture and by the Tongue where moreover is shewn at large the Sinfulness of speaking evil of Princes even where there want not real Failings in them IT being evident from the general Explication of this Commandment that Kings and all that are in Authority are included in the Name of Fathers and it being no less evident from St. Peter 1 Pet. 2.17 that the Honour of Kings is a part of Christianity for the fuller Explication of this Commandment I will allot them a place in my Discourse and therein inquire 1. What the Grounds of Honouring Kings or Princes are 2. What Honours are to be exhibited to them 3. Answer the Objections that are commonly made for the denial of those Honours and particularly that of Submission to their Censures 4. After which I will descend in the fourth place to consider of the Honour of Inferiour Magistrates and shew upon what Grounds and after what Manner and Measure that Honour is to be paid 5. And lastly Speak a Word or two of their Duty 1. Honour as was before shewn being nothing else than an Acknowledgment of his Excellencies whom we honour to know what the ground of the Honour of Princes is we must enquire what those Excellencies are by which they stand commended to the world In order whereunto I know not what shorter course to take than by having recourse to the 13. Chapter to the Romans where this matter is both largely and perspicuously handled For exhorting both once and again that every Soul should be subject to them and that too not only for Wrath but for Conscience sake the Apostle assigns for the reason of that subjection that they are men of Power or Authority that they are invested with that Authority by God that they are appointed by him over those that are under their subjection that they are Gods Ministers and Vicegerents in the governance of them that they have both Authority and Command to reward and encourage the good and to draw out the Sword of Justice against Evil doers from all which put together it is evident that the ground for which a Prince is to be honoured is that he is Gods Minister and Vicegerent here on Earth and of his designation and appointment For the further evidencing the former whereof as in which it concerns us to be well satisfied in regard of some evil Opinions that have been lately opposed to it the first thing that I shall alledge is Gods giving them his own August name For thus Exod. 22.28 after he had said Thou shalt not revile the Gods to let us know what Gods he means he subjoins in the next words nor speak evil of the Ruler of thy people But so we find them elsewhere more apparently stil'd Psal 82.6 For as his words there are express I have said ye are Gods so it is apparent from the whole Psalm that they are Princes to whom he thus speaketh such to whom it belongs to judge the causes that are brought before them to do justice to the afflicted and needy by defending and delivering them and ridding them out of the hand of the wicked Which Offices though they may and for the most part are communicated to Inferiour Magistrates and particularly to those that have the name of Judges yet as they are originally in the Prince by whom they are so communicated and executed in his Name and by his Authority so that they are a part of his natural Power Solomon shews 1 Kings 3.7.9 he upon Gods making him King in the stead of David his Father begging of him that he would give him an understanding heart to judge his people and to discern between good and bad And accordingly as we find Solomon himself in consequence of the Royal Authority giving judgment between the two Harlots that contended for the Living Child vers 27 28. of the forequoted Chapter so that the Kings of England heretofore sat personally in judgment is notorious from Story and the Bench whereon they sat for that very reason stiled to this day The Vpper or Kings Bench. But beside that Princes have the name of God which is no contemptible indication of their being his Substitutes and Vicegerents we find moreover that God judgeth among them yea that their Throne is no other than Gods For thus what is in 1 Kings 2.12 Then Solomon sat upon the Throne of David his Father is elsewhere expressed Then Solomon sat upon the Throne of the Lord as King instead of David his Father 1 Chro. 29.23 And which comes yet more home to our purpose what was said by Jehosaphat to the Judges he had appointed that they judged not for man but for the Lord 2 Chron. 19.6 for what greater proof can we desire of Princes being Gods Substitutes and Vicegerents than the bearing of his name and sitting in his Throne and that they who judge for and under them judge not for Man but for the Lord Neither will it avail to say that how true soever this may have been of the Kings of Judah which had sometime the Title of a Theocraty yet the like cannot be affirmed of other Princes For as it is apparent enough that they were not such at the time of their Kings God himself having told Samuel that when they went about to desire a King they rejected him from being King over them and the Word of God that they both desired and had a King after the manner of other Nations So what is in the Old Testament affirm'd of the Jewish Kings St. Paul sticks not to affirm of the powers that then were where he calls them the Ministers of God But from hence it will follow whatever hath been pretended to the contrary that Princes do not derive the power they have from the people For if they be Gods Ministers it is his Authority by which they shine neither have they any other Fountain of their Power than that * Irenae l. 5. c. 24. Cujus enim jussu homines nascuntur hujus jussu reges constituuntur Tertul. Apol. c. 30. Inde est imperator unde h
mo antequam imperator inde potestas illi unde spiritus which is the Fountain of their Being And though I know the contrary hath been pretended from the Scripture inasmuch as those Powers are by our Translation of it stiled the ordinance of man 1 Pet. 2.13 yet as the words which they render Submit your selves to every ordinance of Man import no other than ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 See Ushers Power communicated by God to the Prince c. pag 3. seq the doing of it to every humane creature that is to say for so both the Subjection injoin'd and the Persons †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 into whom it is branch'd shews to every humane creature that is in Authority so what the same St. Peter adds as the grounds of our so doing doth plainly overthrow that counterfeit interpretation For requiring the subjecting our selves to them for the Lords sake he shews it is his Authority which commends them and for which they are to be rever'd That Princes are Gods Vicegerents here on Earth hath been at large declar'd it remains that we also shew them to be appointed by God as such For as no one taketh to himself the honour of Priesthood but he who is called of God as was Aaron so undoubtedly no one can assume to himself the honour of Gods Vicegerent unless he be thereto appointed by himself That which is originaly anothers being not capable of becoming ours but by the grant of him to whom it doth so belong To make out therefore the rightfulness of Princes Pleas we must enquire after the donation of the Almighty and by what means both they and we may be assured of it That the Princes of the Jews were appointed by God as his Vicegerents no doubt can be made because he whose Vicegerents they were declared them to be such by men immediately inspired by himself and assured them of that declaration by his word After the former whereof as it was not in the power of their people to doubt so it would have been extremity of madness as well as of Impiety to deny it But because there is not the least appearance of any such immediate appointment of other Princes and beside that they who arrogate to themselves the same Authority do not in the least pretend to it therefore to make out the legitimateness of their Plea some other course must be taken which accordingly I come now to attempt In order whereunto unto the first thing that I shall alledge is those words of St. Paul before remembred that the powers that then were were ordain'd of God For though that will give us little light into the manner of their appointment and consequently contribute little to the understanding of that of our own yet thus far it will contribute to it as to give us to understand that those Princes may be appointed by God who have no immediate designation For inasmuch as it is notorious both from the Scriptures and Profane Authors that the Powers that then were were no other than the Roman Emperours of whose immediate appointment by God there is not the least footstep either in the one or the other it will follow that those Princes may be appointed by him as his Vicegerents who have no such immediate call I observe secondly That as the Powers that then were though they had no immediate call yet are affirm'd by St. Paul to have been ordain'd by God so that they who know nothing of God or of their own appointment are stil'd the Anointed of the Lord which if any thing may seem to have been peculiar to the Jewish Princes For thus in particular Isa 45.1 We find God stiling Cyrus his anointed though as the same God immediately after tells us he had then no knowledge of him I observe thirdly which will bring us yet more neer to the thing intended that though the Powers that now are have no such immediate appointment as the Jewish Princes had yet is there as good Authority for the being of such Power though there be no such designation of the persons that are to be invested with it For it being the voice both of Nature and Scripture that God is not the Author of Confusion but of Peace and Order and it being no less evident from experience that Peace and Order cannot be either had or maintain'd without the Institution of Rulers it is necessarily to be presum'd to be the will and pleasure of God that there should be such Rulers in every Nation Which said a way is opened to the discovery of that appointment which we have said the Powers on Earth to stand by For it being of Divine appointment that there should be Rulers in every Nation and God Almighty having not by any immediate Revelation signifi'd his pleasure concerning the Persons that are to be so it follows that to attain the knowledge of his Will in this particular we are to have recourse to his Providence which is the only way besides to come to the knowledge of it For though the Providence of God be no Rule against his revealed Will because that is the proper measure of Good and Evil yet inasmuch as that also is a declaration of his Will nothing hinders but it may have place where the other is not contradicted and mark out the appointments of our great Master to us But from hence it will follow first That those Powers are to be looked upon as ordain'd by God which come to that Power they have as without any fraud or violence so by the ordinary course of Gods Providence For that Authority to which they arrive being consign'd into their hands by his alone Providence in whom all Authority in Heaven and Earth is vested it is in reason to be presum'd to be appointed by himself and accordingly to be look'd upon as such Upon which account all those Powers must be look'd upon as ordain'd by God that either come to the Throne by a lineal descent from former Kings where the Kingdom is Hereditary or by a free and unconstrained Choice where it is Elective It will follow secondly That those also are to be look'd upon as ordained of God which however they do at first attain to their Power by Fraud or Violence yet are confirm'd in it by the Submission and Acceptance of those in whom the Government formerly was and over whom it is to be exercis'd For it being the Appointment of God that there should be Rulers in every Nation and which is more where there is no other Declaration of his Will that we should have recourse unto his Providence it follows that where the Throne becomes empty as it is by the Rendition of those that before sate in it he is in reason to be presum'd to be appointed to it who is not onely permitted by God to ascend to it but those to whom it formerly belong'd together with those that were govern'd by it mov'd by God to accept of
it ought to be exerted to wit not in determining of them according to their own will and pleasure and much less in invading the Office of the Priesthood which we know he that attempted was strucken with a Leprosie for but in defending the Church from all both Foraign and Domestick Enemies in keeping the Members of the Church within their respective Duties and punishing with the civil Sword those that shall refuse so to do in calling Councils to determine of matters of Religion and giving force to those things that shall be rightly determin'd by them For as more than these cannot be legitimately inferr'd from those places we have made use of to establish the Authority of Princes by so that they cannot rightly claim more the nature of the Church according as I have before stated it shews For since the Church by the Institution of Christ is endow'd with a power in determining in things relating to it self since also the secular Powers as well by their Baptism as the precepts of the Scripture are bound to be defenders of it for he who gives up himself to the Christian Religion doth thereby profess that he will perform his proper part in it and therefore if he be a King the part of a King it must needs be that their Authority in sacred matters should consist rather in obliging the several members of it to their respective duties than in determining of their own head concerning them The same is no less evident from the practice of Christian Princes in calling together a Council as often as any thing hath stood in need of a definition For as Mr. Thorndike * De ratione ac jure finiendi controversias hath well observ'd he who calls a Council of Bishops to make a Decree to receive a civil sanction from himself doth thereby profess as well that it belongs to the Church to determine in it as to himself to pass that Decree into a Law Which is so true as the same Mr. Thorndike ‖ Ibid. hath observ'd that though Constantius the Emperour would fain have undone what had been decreed by the Council of Nice yet he never attempted it but by Decrees of other Councils which shews what opinion was had of the Authority of the Church even by the Enemies of the Church it self These two things only seem necessary to be subjoin'd that we may give Christian Princes the whole of what is due to them 1. That it belongs to Princes to judge what is rightly or not rightly decreed by the Church and according as they shall judge either to give or withold their assent and 2. That though in things dubious or not at all determin'd by Councils the Prince is to expect the decision of the Church yet there is no necessity of so doing where the thing is evident from the word of God or hath been generally defin'd by former Councils For as where the word of God is clear the Prince need no other warrant who by that word it self is call'd upon to serve the Lord and add the force of his Sanction to the general Injunctions of it so where the thing hath been generally defin'd little doubt can be made of Princes passing what is so into a Law partly because it hath been in some measure defined by the Church and partly because it is to be presum'd the Church gives way to a more particular determination where the thing doth require a present definition or is not of such moment to require the calling of the Bishops from their several charges with the far greater detriment of the Church over which they are appointed to preside In the mean time as it is not to be deny'd that those Princes shall best provide for the peace of their own Consciences who shall not ordinarily determine of Ecclesiastical affairs without the consent of the Church or at least of some of the principal Bishops of it so we can never sufficiently commend the Institutions of this Kingdom whereas in the Parliament the place where all Laws are framed the Bishops have the principal place so the commands of King and Parliament in Ecclesiastical Affairs do for the most part follow the Canons dereed by our Convocations For after this manner both now and heretofore the Book of Common Prayers underwent the Examination of a Convocation before the use of it passed into a Law and extraordinary Forms of Prayers are approv'd by some Bishops before they have the Kings Mandate affix'd to them I will conclude this Discourse with the Doctrine of the Articles of our Church because exactly according with what I have before delivered For as the 20th of those Articles declares the Church to have power to decree Rites or Ceremonies and Authority in controversies of Faith so the 37th not only excludes from Princes the ministring either of Gods word or of the Sacraments but makes their Supremacy to consist in ruling all Estates and Degrees committed to their charge by God whether they be Ecclesiastical or Temporal and restraining with the civil Sword the stubborn and evil doers To which as I know not what any reasonable man can oppose because so exactly distinguishing between the Churches Power and that of Princes so I see not how any reasonable man where the Authority of Princes keeps within these bounds can think himself exempted from yeilding obedience to it He who commits the care of the Church to secular Princes necessarily allowing them a superintendency over it and consequently also where that superintendency is not manifestly made use of to the prejudice of Religion obliging all the Members of the Church to yield obedience to their Commands How we are to honour Princes by our Obedience hath been at large declar'd It remains that we also shew both that we are and how we are to honour them with submission to their Censures Which will appear first of all from that Authority wherewith they are invested of drawing the Sword of Justice against Offenders For as an Authority to Command infers a necessity of Obedience in all those that are subjected to it so a Power of Coercion a like necessity of Submission to it in all those who are subjected to it The onely thing of difficulty is Whether that Submission be necessary where the Power of Coercion is us'd against those who seem to themselves and it may be not without reason to have done nothing to deserve it For inasmuch as the Sword of Justice is committed to Princes for the avenging of such onely as are Eyil doers it may seem but reasonable to infer that they who are not Evil doers are free from submitting themselves to the Stroke of it And indeed if the Question be concerning the avoiding of it by Flight there is no doubt it is in the power of the Subject who conceives himself not to have deserv'd it so to avoid if he can the falling under the Power of it Our Saviour having expresly given leave that if we be