A DISCOURSE OF THE Souveraign Power IN A SERMON PREACHED AT St. Mary Le Bow Nov. 28. 1682. Before the Artillery Company OF LONDON And now Published at their Desire By GEORGE HICKES D.D. Chaplain in Ordinary to His MAJESTY LONDON Printed for John Baker Printer to the Honourable Society at the Three Pigeons in St. Paul's Church-yard 1682. To the Right Honourable Sir William Pritchard Lord Mayor of the City of LONDON And President of the Artillery COMPANY To the Honourable Sir James Smith Knight and Alderman Vice-President To the Right Worshipful Sir Matthew Andrews Treasurer As also to the Right Honourable Duke of Albermarle Earl of Oxford Earl of Arundel Lord Falkland To the Honourable and Right Worshipful STEWARDS Henry Guy Esq William Legg Esq Sir William Dodson Kt. Charles Duncomb Esq And to the whole Court of Assistants Field-Officers Captains and Gentlemen Professing and Exercising Arms in that Renowned and Honourable Society Right Honourable IN Obedience to your Desire I have Published this Discourse which I Preached before you on your late Anniversary Solemnity and if it may contribute to the further Satisfaction of any who are already Loyal or the Conviction and Reformation of such as are not truly so I shall be thankful to God for Blessing so mean a Performance with such happy success The Subject I am sure is suitable to the Occasion upon which it was Preach'd and very necessary for the Times but yet I fore-see it will displease some Men whose Displeasure indeed I do not value because their Favour is not to be obtained by any Minister of the Church of England who will not be false to his own Profession and utterly decline the Preaching upon these Doctrines and Duties which I have here plainly Taught But you have not so Learned Christ as appears by the Entertainment which this unpolished Sermon hath found among you meerly for the Truths sake Your Approbation will be Protection sufficient both to it and the Author who Presents it unto you with all due Observance wishing a daily increase of such Obedient and Dutiful Subjects to His Majesty as you are to whose firm and active Loyalty next unto God's and our Governours Vigilant Care and Providence we owe our present Order and Peace I am Right Honourable Your most Obedient Servant George Hickes A SERMON Preached before The Artillery Company Rom. 13.4 He beareth not the Sword in Vain for he is the Minister of God The context before and after is this Wilt thou then not be afraid of the Power do that which is good and thou shalt have praise of the same For he is the Minister of God to thee for good But if thou do that which is evil be afraid for he beareth not the Sword in Vain for he is the Minister of God a Revenger to Execute wrath upon him that doth evil ALtho there now are and have been for above Two thousand years many Forms of Civil Government in the World yet all Historians Scared or Civil that write of the times near unto the Flood assure us that Monarchies were every where erected in those Ages and that Kings were then the Soveraigns of the Earth Popular Governments whether by the whole body of the People as in Democracies or in a Select number of the Chief as in Aristocracies were then in the Wombs of their special causes being afterwards introduced either by the compact and agreement of Men free to choose their own Government as in new Colonies and Dispersions or else by Rebellion as in the famous Commonwealth of Rome which at first was Governed by †Urbem Romam à principio reges habuere Tacit. Kings after the most Primitive Form and then after the Rebellion of Brutus Valerius and Collatinus by the ★ S. P. Q. R. four great Letters the Senat and People of Rome and at last again by Kings upon whom first under the name of ★ Nomine principis sub imperium accepit Tacit. Prince and then under the Titles of Emperor and Augustus the Senat and People not able to secure the publick Peace without a Soveraign Head conferred all their Power and as the Greek and Latin Historians observe really made them Kings altho to prevent offence on both sides they must not forsooth be so called It was under Claudius the 5th or Nero the Sixth of these Emperours that St. Paul wrote this Epistle unto the Romans in which it is to be observed that he asserts the Roman Emperor to be the Minister of God altho he was chosen by the Army or the People or sometimes by both for even in Elective Monarchies where the People choose the Soveraign he hath not his Authority from his Electors but from God as in Oeconomical Government the Prince of the Family if I may so speak hath not his Autority as an Husband from the Wife who chose him for her Husband nor the Autority of a Master from the Servant who chose him for his Master But his Conjugal and Despotical Autority are both from God who hath made the Husband the head of his Wife as Christ is the head of the Church and the Master Lord and Commander over his Servants whom they are to count worthy of all Honour and be Obedient unto them as unto Christ The choice indeed of the Husband and Master is from the Wife and Servant but the Power of them both is from God they were free as to their choice but aster it they are not free as to their subjection nor can they disobey them without disobeying God Just so is it in Elective Monarchies the People or their Deputies may choose the Man whom they will have for their Prince but they do not give him his Autority that he hath from God upon their Election which made Valentinian when the Army that chose him Emperor cry'd out that he should take a partner in the Government answer them upon this principle thus †Sozom. L. 6. C. 6. It was in your Power Souldiers to choose me for your Emperor but now you have chosen me that which you demand is not in your Power but mine you ought to be quiet as Subjects and I as an Emperor to consider what is fit to be done And accordingly the Apostle here in my text asserts Claudius or as it is more likely Nero the Emperor who was chosen by the Army and Senat not to be their Minister or to have any Ministerial or Fiduciary Power under them but to be the Minister of God over them and as such to have the Power of the Sword He beareth not the Sword in Vain for he is the Minister of God According to which explication of the words I shall undertake to prove two propositions First That Soveraign Princes are Gods Ministers and Vice-Gerents and Reign by his special ordinance and appointment and Secondly That as such they have and exercise the Supream Power and particularly the Power of the Sword And these two Propositions being proved
I shall make some practical inferences from this Loyal Doctrin proper to this Audience and the exgence of the Times in which we live I. First then that Soveraign Princes are Gods Ministers and Vice-Gerents and Reign by his special ordinance is plain from many express texts of the Old and New Testament which are the Loyallest as well as the Divinest Books in the World I will begin with the Old Testament whose Autority were it not of divine inspiration ought upon the account of its antiquity to preponderate with us above any other Volume in the World There as †l. 5. c. 24. Irenaeus observes God saith in the 8th Ch. of the Book of Poverbs By me Kings Reign and Princes decree justice by me Princes rule and Nobles even all the Judges of the Earth Hence Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon is called Gods Servant or Minister Jerem. 27.5 6. I have made the Earth and given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me and now I have given all these Lands into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar the King of Babylon my Servant and all Nations shall serve him and his Son and his Sons Son untill the very time of his Land come and then many Nations and great Kings shall serve themselves of him Accordingly when Daniel spoke unto him he said Thou O King art a King of Kings for the God of Heaven hath given thee a Kingdom Power and Strength and Glory Chap. 2.37 and afterwards speaking of him unto Belshazzar his Son he said O thou King the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy Father a Kingdom and Majesty and Glory and Honor and for the Majesty that he gave him all People trembled and feared before him whom he would he slew and whom he would he kept alive and whom he would he set up and whom he would he pulled down According to this Doctrine also God calleth Cyrus his Shepherd and Anointed the very Titles which he gave the Kings of Israel whom he set over his own People Thus saith the Lord I am the Lord that maketh all things that Stretcheth forth the Heavens alone that saith of Cyrus he is my Shepherd and Thus saith the Lord to Cyrus his Anointed I have even called thee by thy name I have surnamed thee tho thou hast not known me I have chosen to instance in these two Pagan Kings rather than in the Kings of Israel because you may see that there is no difference among Soveraign Princes as to the Divinity of their Title but that the Sacred Order of Kings in general is the Ordinance of God And therefore God to Lecture this Doctrine more Emphatically unto us hath together with the Soveraign Autority communicated unto them his own name Thou shalt not revile the Gods saith God nor curse the ruler of thy People and saith the Psalmist Ps 82. God standeth in the Congregation of the Mighty he Judgeth among the Gods and I have said ye are Gods and all of you are Children of the most high In allusion to which saith our Saviour in his own defence Is it not written in your Law I said ye are Gods and if he called them Gods about whom the word of God was spoken say ye of him whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the World thou blasphemest because thou sayest I am the Son of God That is as much as to say if Kings who arc Anointed and sent by God are called Gods and the Sons of God then how can it be blasphemy in me who am the Messias himself sent from God to say I am his Son Yes Kings are petty Gods who Govern men upon Earth as Michael and Gabriel Govern their Angels in Heaven by immediate delegation from God Their Soveraignty is an Image of his Soveraignty their Majesty the Figure of his Majesty and their Empire a similitude of his Empire they are Supream on Earth as he is in Heaven they derive not their Autority from their Subjects for that would be a contradiction as he derives not his from his creatures but from him alone they derive it they are his Lieutenants and Trustees the honor or dishonor we do them terminates in him who gives them their Scepters and sets them as the Scripture saith he set Solomon upon his own Throne and made him King for the Lord his God 1 Chr. 29.23.2 Chr. 9.8 This is further evident out of the New Testament from that solemn acknowledgment which our blessed Saviour as a Subject of the Empire made of the Soveraign Power of Tiberius whom he owned by paying the Tribute which was due unto him for the Minister of God For for this cause saith the Apostle pay you Tribute also because they are Gods Ministers attending continually upon this very thing To which I shall only add the verses before and after my text Let every soul be subject to the higher powers for there is no power but of God the powers that be are ordained of God whosoever therefore resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of God and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation Wilt thou then not be afraid of the Power do that which is good and thou shalt have praise of the same for he is the Minister of God to thee for good But if thou do that which is evil be afraid for he beareth not the Sword in Vain for he is the Minister of God a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doth evil Wherefore you ought to be subject not only for wrath but also for Conscience sake Here you see how Emphatically the Apostle styleth the Power the Ordinance and the Potentate or Ruler the Minister of God And according to this Apostolical lesson the Primitive Christians did acknowledge the Autority of their persecuting Emperors to be derived from God †Ad Antol. L. 1. Theophilus Bishop of Antioch saith I will honor the Emperor but not adore him I dore the true God knowing that by him the Emperor is ordained And to the same purpose again He is not himself God but a man appointed by God and after a sort entrusted by God with the Oeconomy of the Empire So * Legat. pro Christ Athenagoras Addressing his speech to Marcus Antoninus and his Son Commodus to you saith he the power of all things is committed you have received the Empire from above So * L. 8. Origen tells Celsus that it was not the Heathen God Saturn but God who Governeth all things that setteth up Kings and giveth them Power to Reign and * Eccles Hist l. 7. c. 11. in Eusebius Dionysius of Alexandria saith in the name of the Christians we worship and adore the one God who hath committed the Kingdom to out Sacred Emperors Valcrianus and Gallienus And * l. 5. c. 24. Prenoeus Bishops and Martyr after a particular proof of this Doctrine by many texts of Scripture and this of mine among the rest concludes with these words By whose Command Kings are born Men by his Command
and not he From whence it is plain that the Prince hath the Sword in both senses from the same hand from which he hath his Robes his Crown and his Scepter He is a Soveraign as Gods Vice-Gerent and Representative and as Gods Vice-Gerent and Representative he is a Soveraign and under both or either character he holds the Sword by the Autority of his Heavenly Master who hath put it in his hand for his Peoples defence and also to be an avenger to execute wrath upon every soul that is disobedient to the Laws which are made to defend his rights against the invasions of his Subjects or he rights of his Subjects against the violence and invasions of one another In both these respects he is an Avenger and God to whom Vengeance and the Power of life and death over men Radically and Originally belongeth hath committed the Sword of War and Justice unto him that he might be Vindex in terris and not only Command but Punish in his stead Hence the Emperor Justinian who according to my first proposition in the first sentence of his Preface to the Pandects solemnly * Deo Autore nostrum gubernante imperium quod no-bis à coelesti Majestate traditum est prae fat I. digest acknowledges that he received his Empire from God doth in the beginning of his Proem to the Institutions assert Arms to be primarily necessary for a Prince in the following words Imperatoriam Majestatem non solum Armis decoratam sed etiam legibus oportet esse armatam The Majesty of a King ought to be fortified and adorned not only with Arms but Laws With Arms in the first place without which his Majesty would be contemptible and his Laws of no force for take away the Teeth and Talons of the Lyon and his Roaring to which Solomon ingeniously compares the wrath of a King shall be no longer terrible but every vile Dog will bark and every silly Ass will bray in his face and lift up his heels against him Hence saith * Prolog tract de leg consuet regn Angl. Glanvil of the Kings of England almost in the words of Justinian Regiam Majestatem non solum armis oportet esse decoratam sed legibus and to this purpose †L. 1. c. 27. Fleta habet Rex in manu suâ omnia jura the King hath all the Laws in his hand materialem gladium qui pertinet ad Regni gubernaculum and the Sword which belongeth to the Government of his Kingdom and saith Bracton in the beginning of his first Book In rege qui reclè regit necessaria sunt duo baec arma videlicet leges there are two things necessary for a King that Governs well Arms and Laws Hence the Laws of this Kingdom which acknowledg the imperial Crown and Jurisdiction of his Realm to be taken immediately from God according to my first Proposition do also according to the second acknowledg the Kings Power over the Militia and that force of Armour belongs unto him by vertue of his Royal Seignory as may be seen in the 7 of Edward I. and in the 13 of our present Soveraign c. 6. where it is declared that the supream disposition of the Militia and of all Forces by Sea and Land and of all Forts and places of strength is and by the Laws of England ever was the right of His Majesty and his Royal Predecessors And if it were not he would not be a real but a meer nominal King in shew a Soveraign or shadow of a Soveraign but in reality a Subject a Spartan King a distressed Prince indeed not Gods but the Peoples unhappy Minister and Servant which his Majesty of his great wisdom knew very well when he told that House of Commons which asked the Militia of him for some weeks that he would not part with it for an hour It was the voice of a King and a Christian he spoke as it became Gods Vice-Gerent and Lieutenant who knew very well from whom he had his Sword as well as his Scepter and that he bore it not in vain but was the Minister of God a Revenger to execute wrath upon him or them that do evil Having now shewed first that sovereign Princes are God's ministers and vicegerents and secondly that as such they have and exercise the supreme power and particularly that of the Sword I now proceed to make some practical Observations upon this Loyal doctrine proper to this meeting and the exigence of these times in which we live First then we may observe what a groundless and blasphemous doctrine it is to assert as the Popish Writers do that the Pope hath all manner of temporal as well as spiritual power given him from God and that he giveth the former to Emperours and Kings to use it under him but so that as his ministers and vicegerents they depend entirely upon him This is the great Palladium of the Popish Cause which hath murthered and deposed so many sovereign Princes and disposed of their Crowns and Dominions This brought Henry the IV. Emperour of Germany on a cold frosty day barefoot and bare headed to Pope Hildebrand's palace this brought the Emperour Frederick the first to hold Pope Adrian the 4th's Stirrop and this set the foot of Pope Alexander the 3d upon his Neck when his Holiness blasphemously misapplyed the words of the Psalmist Thou shalt tread upon the Lion and Adder the young Lion and Dragon thou shalt trample under foot It was upon this account of the Pope's pretended universal Sovereignty that King John surrendred this Kingdom to Pope Innocent the 3d that Henry the 2d submitted to the lashes of the Monks of Canterbury and that Henry the 4th of France was whipped in the Person of his Ambassadour Cardinal D'ossat by the Pope and Cardinals at Rome To be short this doctrine makes all Princes the Pope's Vassals and it ought not to be endured by any Loyal Christian Subject as being so unreasonable in it self so destructive to the rights and dignity of sovereign Princes and so contrary to the word of God Our Ancestours themselves were never able to bear it as * Colces instit part 4. p. 13 14. appears from the resolve of the Lords and Commons in Parliament in the 40 year of Edward the 3d who when the Pope by his Ambassadour demanded Homage of the King for his two Kingdoms answered that King John upon whose surrender the Pope grounded his claim could not put his Realm in any such subjection without his peoples consent that it was against his Coronation Oath and that for themselves they could not assent to any thing in Parliament that tended to the disinberison of the King and his Crown and that if the Pope attempted any thing of that nature they would resist him with all their force And in the Stature of Praemunire wherein as I have shew'd the three Estates of this Realm acknowledged the King to be immediately subject to God