the hazard of losing both the Favour of the Court and their employments and since the English Nation has ever testified a most particular Affection and Esteem both to our Dearest Consort the Princess and to Our selves We cannot excuse our selves from Espousing their Interests in a Matter of such high Consequence and from contributing all that lies in us for the maintaining both of the protestant Religion and of the Laws and Liberties of those Kingdoms and for the Securing to them the continual enjoyment of all their just Rights To the doing of which We are most earnestly solicited by a great many Lords both Spiritual and Temporal and by many Gentlemen and other Subjects of all Ranks 21. Therefore it is that We have thought fit to go over to England and to carry over with us a Force sufficient by the Blessing of God to defend us from the Violence of those Evil Counsellors And We being desirous that our Intentions in this may be rightly understood have for this end prepared this Declaration in which as we have hitherto given a True Account of the Reasons inducing us to it so we now think fit to declare That this our Expedition is intended for no other design but to have a Free and Lawful Parliament Assembled as soon as is possible And that in order to this all the late Charters by which the Elections of Burgesses are limited contrary to the Ancient Custom shall be considered as null and of no force And likewise all Magistrates who have been unjustly turned out shall forthwith resurne their former employments as well as all the Burroughs of England shall return again to their Ancient prescriptions and Charters and more particularly that the Ancient Charter of the Great and Famous City of London shall again be in force And that the Writs for the Members of parliament shall be addressed to the proper Officers according to Law and Custome That also none be suffered to chuse or to be chosen Members of Parliament but such as are qualified by Law And that the Members of Parliament being thus lawfully Chosen they shall meet and sit in full Freedom that so the two Houses may concur in the preparing of such Laws as they upon full and free Debate shall judge necessary and convenient both for the confirming and executing the Law concerning the Test and such other Laws as are necessary for the security and maintenance of the Protestant Religion as likewise for making such Laws as may establish a good agreement between the Church of England and all Protestant Dissenters as also for the covering and securing of all such who will live peaceably under the Government as becomes good Subject from all persecution upon the account of their Religion even Papists themselves not excepted and for the doing of all other things which the Two Houses of Parliament shall find necessary for the Peace Honour and Safety of the Nation so that there may be no more danger of the Nations falling at any time hereafter under Arbitrary Government To this Parliament we will also refer the Enquiry into the Birth of the pretended Prince of Wales and of all things relating to it and to the Right of Succession 22. And We for our part will concur in every thing that may procure the Peace and Happiness of the Nation which a Free and Lawful Parliament shall determine since we have nothing before our Eyes in this our undertaking but the preservation of the Protestant Religion the Covering of all men from persecution for their Consciences and the securing to the whole Nation the free enjoyment of all their Laws Rights and Liberties under a Just and Legal Government 23. This is the Design that we have proposed to our selves in appearing upon this occasion in Arms In the Conduct of which We will keep the Forces under our Command under all the strictness of Martial Discipline and take a special care that the people of the Countries through which we must March shall not suffer by their means and as soon as the state of the Nation will admit of it We promise that we will send back all those Foreign Forces that We have brought along with us 24. We do therefore hope that all people will judge rightly of us and approve of these our proceedings But We chiefly rely on the Blessing of God for the Success of this our Undertaking in which We place our whole and only Confidence 25. We do in the last place invite and require all persons whatsoever all the Peers of the Realm both Spiritual and Temporal all Lords Lieutenants Deputy-Lieutenants and all Gentlemen Citizens and other Commons of all ranks to come and assist us in order to the Executing of this our Design against all such as shall endeavour to Oppose us that so we may prevent all those Miseries which must needs follow upon the Nations being kept under Arbitrary Government and Slavery And that the Violences and Disorders which have overturned the whole Constitution of the English Government may be fully redressed in a Free and Legal Parliament 26. And we do likewise resolve that as soon as the Nations are brought to a state of Quiet We will take care that a Parliament shall be called in Scotland for the restoring the Ancient Constitution of that Kingdom and for bringing the Matters of Religion to such a Settlement that the people may live easie and happy and for putting an end to all the unjust Violences that have been in a course of so many years committed there We will also study to bring the Kingdom of Ireland to such a state that the Settlement there may be religiously observed and that the Protestant and British Interest there may be secured And we will endeavour by all possible means to procure such an Establishment in all the Three Kingdoms that they may all live in a happy Union and Correspondence together and that the Protestant Religion and the Peace Honour and Happiness of those Nations may be established upon lasting Foundations Given under our Hand and Seal at our Court in the Hague the Tenth day of October in the year of our Lord 1688. William Henry Prince of Orange By his Highness special Command C. Huygens The King having received advice that the preparations in Holland were designed for England cast about how to prevent the Peoples running to joyn with the Prince In order to which he was advised to appease them by seeming to step backward and undo some things that he knew had given a general distaste against his Government Hereupon the Ecclesiastical Commission was taken away the Bishop of London and the Master and Fellows of Magdalen-College restored as likewise the Ancient Charters of Cities and Boroughs and a Free Parliament promised to be called when the Kingdom should be freed from a Foreign Force This occasioned the Prince to publish his Additional Declaration His Highness's additional Declaration c. AFter we had Prepared and Printed this our Declartion
the Princes coming to Town that it was really publish'd by his Order and no Counterfeit 13. On Sunday the 9th of December Count Dada the Pope's Nuncio and many others departed from VVhite-hall and the next morning the Queen the Child and as was said Father Peters crossed the Water to Lambeth in three Coaches and with a strong Guard went to Greenwich and so to Graves-end where they embarked for France It 's supposed she carried the Seal from VVhite-hall and caus'd it to be thrown into the Thames for on the 3d of May afterwards it was found in the bottom of the River by a Fisher-man in a Red-bag between Lambeth and Faux-hall and presented to the King Before this the Marquiss of Hallifax the Earl of Nottingham and the Lord Godolphin had been sent by the King and Council to treat with the Prince of Orange and to adjust the Preliminaries in order to the holding of a Parliament who the Eighth of December sent these Proposals to him SIR THE King commanded us to acquaint you That he observeth all the differences and causes of Complaint alledged by your Highness seem to be referred to a Free Parliament His Majesty as he hath already declared was resolved before this to call one but thought that in the present state of Affairs it was advisable to defer it till things were more composed yet seeing that his People still continue to desire it he hath put forth his Proclamation in order to it and hath issued forth his Writs for the Calling of it And to prevent any cause of Interruption in it he will consent to every thing that can be reasonably required for the security of all those that come to it His Majesty hath therefore sent us to attend your Highness for the adjusting of all Matters that shall be agreed to be necessary to the Freedom of Elections and the Security of Sitting and is ready to enter immediately into a Treaty in order to it His Majesty proposeth That in the mean time the respective Armies may be retained within such Limits and at such distance from London as may prevent the Apprehensions that the Parliament may be in any kind disturbed being desirous that the Meeting may be no longer delay'd than it must be by the usual and necessary Forms Hungerford the 8th of December 1688. Hallifax Nottingham Godolphin To this his Royal Highness the Prince of Orange return'd this Answer WE with the Advice of the Lords and Gentlemen assembled with Us have in Answer made these following Proposals I. That all Papists and such Persons as are not qualified by Law be Disarmed Disbanded and removed from all Employments Civil and Military II. That all Proclamations that reflect upon Us or any that have come to Us or declared for Us be re-called and that if any Persons for having assisted Us have been Committed that they be forthwith set at Liberty III. That for the Security and Safety of the City of London the Custody and Government of the Tower be immediately put into the Hands of the said City IV. That if His Majesty should think fit to be in London during the Sitting of the Parliament that We may be there also with an equal number of our Guards and if His Majesty shall be pleased to be in any place from London whatever distance he thinks fit that We may be the same distance and that the respective Armies be from London forty Miles and that no further Forces be brought into the Kingdom V. And that for the Security of the City of London and their Trade Tilbury Fort be put into the Hands of the City VI. That a sufficient part of the Publick Revenue be assigned Us for the Support and Maintenance of our Troops until the Sitting of a Free Parliament VII That to prevent the landing of the French or other Foreign Troops Portsmouth may be put into such Hands as by His Majesty and Us shall be agreed on Littlecot Decemb 9. 1688. This Answer was sent to His Majesty on Monday the 10th of December by an Express which when he received he gave this Just Character of the Prince's Proposals That they were fairer than he could or did expect So that he had no reason then to be afraid of his Person but might have continued securely in his Palace and taken care of the Government and called such a Parliament as both himself and the Prince desired which might quietly and effectually have setled this Nation and prevented all ill Consequences to his Person or Affairs Yet he resolved to leave the Nation and ordered all those Writs for the Sitting of the Parliament that were not sent out to be burnt and a Caveat to be entred against the making use of those that were sent down And at the same time ordered the Earl of Feversham to disband the Army and dismiss the Soldiers 15. On December the 11th about Three of the Clock in the Morning the King went down the River in a small Boat towards Gravesend The Principal Officers of the Army thereupon met about Ten of the Clock at White-hall and sent an Express to the Prince of Orange to acquaint him with the Departure of the King and to assure him that they would assist the Lord Mayor to keep the City quiet till his Highness came and made the Soldiers to enter into his Service 16. The same day the Lords Spiritual and Temporal about the Town the then Bishop of Canterbury Ely and Peterborough being of the number came to Guild-hall and sending for the Lord Mayor and Aldermen made the following Declaration The Declaration of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in and about the Cities of London and Westminster Assembled at Guild-Hall the 11th of December 1688. WE doubt not but the World believes that in this great and dangerous Conjuncture we are heartily and zealously concerned for the Protestant Religion the Laws of the Land and the Liberties and Properties of the Subject And we did reasonably hope that the King having issued out his Proclamation and Writs for a Free Parliament we might have rested secure under the expectation of that Meeting But His Majesty having withdrawn himself and as we apprehend in order to his departure out of this Kingdom by the pernicious Counsels of persons ill affected to our Nation and Religion we cannot without being wanting to our Duty be silent under those Calamities wherein the Popish Counsels which so long prevailed have miserably involved these Realms We do therefore unanimously resolve to apply our selves to his Highness the Prince of Orange who with so great Kindness to these Kingdoms so vast Expence and so much Hazard hath undertaken by endeavouring to procure a Free Parliament to rescue us with as little effusion of Christian Blood as possible from the imminent Dangers of Popery and Slavery And we do hereby declare That we will without utmost Endeavours assist his Highness in the obtaining such a Parliament with all speed wherein our Laws our Liberties and Properties
may be secured the Church of England in particular with a due Liberty to Protestant Dissenters and in general the Protestant Beligion and Interest over the whole World may be supported and encouraged to the Glory of GOD the Happiness of the Established Government in these Kingdoms and the Advantage of all Princes and States in Christendom that may be herein concerned In the mean time we will endeavour to preserve as much as in us lies the Peace and Security of these great and populous Cities of London and Westminster and the parts adjacent by taking care to disarm all Papists and secure all Jesuits and Romish Priests who are in or about the same And if there be any thing more to be performed by Us for promoting his Highness's Generous Intentions for the publick good we shall be ready to do it as occasion requires Signed W. Cant. T. Ebor. Pembrook Dorset Mulgrave Thanet Carlisle Craven Ailesbury Burlington Sussex Berkeley Rochester Newport Weymouth P. Winchester W. Asaph F. Ely Tho. Roffen Tho. Petriburg P. Wharton North and Grey Chandois Montague T. Jermyn Vaughan Carbery Culpeper Crewe Osulston Whereas his Majesty hath privately this Morning withdrawn himself We the Lord Spiritual and Temporal whose Names are hereunto Subscribed being assembled in Guild-hall in London having agreed upon and Signed a Declaration of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in and about the Cities of London and Westminster assembled at Guild-hall the 11th of December 1688. do desire the Right Honourable the Earl of Pembrook the Right Honourable the Lord Viscout Weymouth the Right Reverend Father in God the Lord Bishop of Ely and the Right Honourable the Lord Culpeper forthwith to attend his Highness the Prince of Orange with the said Declaration and at the same time to acquaint his Highness with what we have further done at this Meeting Dated at Guild-hall the 11th of December 1688. The Lords before they came down to the City had appointed the Lord Mayor Court of Aldermen and the Common-Council to be assembled to concert with them the means of preserving the City and Kingdom and when the Peers had thus led the way they presently resolved also on the following Address to his Highness the Prince of Orange May it please Your Highness WE taking into consideration your Highness's fervent Zeal for the Protestant Religion manifested to the World in your many hazardous Enterprises wherein it hath pleased Almighty God to bless you with miraculous Success do render our deepest thanks to the Divine Majesty for the same and beg leave to present our most humble Thanks to your Highness particularly for your appearing in Arms in this Kingdom to carry on and perfect your glorious Designs to rescue England Scotland and Ireland from Slavery and Popery and in a Free Parliament to establish the Religion and the Laws and Liberties of these Kingdoms upon a sure and lasting Foundation We have hitherto look'd for some remedy for those Oppressions and imminent Dangers which we together with our Protestant Fellow-Subjects laboured under from his Majesties Concessions and Concurrences with your Highness's just and pious purposes expressed in your Gracious Declaration But herein finding our selves finally disappointed by his Majesties withdrawing himself we presume to make your Highness our Refuge and do in the Name of this Capital City implore your Highness's Protection and most humbly beseech your Highness to repair to this City where your Highness will be received with universal Joy and Satisfaction This Address being approved and Signed four Aldermen and eight Commoners were appointed to attend his Highness with it The same day the Lieutenancy of London Signed this following address to the Prince of Orange at Guild-hall and sent it by Sir Robert Clayton Knight Sir William Russel Sir Basil Firebrace Knights and Charles Duncomb Esquire May it please Your Highness WE can never sufficiently express the deep sense we have conceived and shall ever retain in our Hearts that your Highness has exposed your Person to so many Dangers by Sea and Land for the preservation of the Protestant Religion and the Laws and Liberties of this Kingdom without which unparallel'd Undertaking we must probably have suffered all the Miseries that Popery and Slavery could have brought upon us We have been greatly concerned that before this time we had not any seasonable opportunity to give your Highness and the World a real Testimony That it has been our firm Resolution to venture all that is dear to us to attain those glorious Ends which your Highness has propos'd for restoring and setling these distracted Nations We therefore now unanimously present to your Highness our just and due acknowledgments for that happy Relief you have brought to us and that we may not be wanting in this present Conjuncture we have put our selves into such a posture that by the blessing of God we may be capable to prevent all ill Designs and to preserve this City in Peace and Safety till your Highness's happy Arrival We therefore humbly desire that your Highness will please to repair to this City with what convenient speed you can for the perfecting the Great Work which your Highness has so happily begun to the general joy and satisfaction of us all 17. After his Highness had received certain Intelligence that the King was gone back from Salisbury to London he came forward by easie Journeys and entred Salisbury on Tuesday the 4th of December On the 5th the Earl of Oxford came thither to him The same day the Lord Herbert of Cherbury and Sir Edward Harley and most of the Gentry of VVorcestershire and Herefordshire met at VVorcester and declared for the Prince of Orange Ludlow Castle was also taken in for him by the Lord Herbert and Sir VValter Blunt and the Popish Sheriff of Worcester secured in it by that Peer The 7th of December his Highness came on to Hungerford the 8th the Lords sent by the King came thither to him and had the Dispatch already mentioned after Dinner he went to Lidcot The 14th The Commissioners of the Peers Common-Council and Lieutenancy of London presented three Addresses to the Prince at Henly The 15th his Highness entred Windsor 18. The King was stopt in his passage by some who knew him not but seiz'd him and his Company as suspected Jesuits c. but being at last discovered and the noise of his being detained at Feversham coming to the Lords at London the Lords Feversham Aylesbury Yarmouth and Middleton were sent to entreat his return to White-hall whither he came on the 16th in the Evening But in the mean time the Rabble at London demolished the Popish Chappel and Convent at St. John's the Convent and Chappel of Fryars in Lincolns-Inn-Fields and the Popish Chappels in Limestreet and Bucklers-Bury and the Chappel at Wild-house 19. The King being now at White-hall and the Prince at Windsor the King invites the Prince to St. James's but the Lords at Windsor did not think it reasonable nor safe either
GOD's WAYS OF Disposing Kingdoms AND Some CLERGY-MEN'S Ways c. Vtrum horum OR GOD's WAYS OF Disposing of KINGDOMS AND Some CLERGY-MEN's Ways OF Disposing of THEM Who is blind but my servant or deaf as my messenger that I sent Isa 42.19 The Prophets prophesie lies in my name neither have I commanded them neither spake unto them They prophesie unto you a false vision and divination and a thing of nought and the deceit of their heart Jer. 14.14 O ye hypocrites ye can discern the face of the sky and can ye not discern the signs of the times Matth. 16.3 LONDON Printed for Richard Baldwin near the Oxfords-Arms Inn Warwick-Lane MDCXCI TO THE READER IT is the General sense of Mankind That Discourses upon any Particular Government ought to be grounded upon the Laws and Constitution of that Government And it is a Position so clear in it self that applied to any other thing whatsoever the contrary will appear ridiculous No man that were to build a Ship would consult the Commentators upon the Book of Genesis for the Fabrick and Dimensions of Noah's Ark. Nor is Solomon's Temple made the Pattern of our Churches Nor are the Laws of the Jews observ'd by any Christian Kingdom or State And yet some late Divines in their Discourses upon our Present Government and the Settlement of the Nation under Their Majesties and the Revolution that brought it about do not confine themselves to our Laws and Ancient Government but broach Opinions of their own or other Mens Invention pretended to be grounded upon Scripture or Reason to justify what has been done and to persuade the People of England that 't is their duty to submit and to plight their Allegiance to Their Majesties or at least that it is lawful for them so to do Whether the Grounds they proceed upon are consonant to right Reason the Laws of God and of this Realm or are not is far from the Design of these following Papers to dispute That which is aim'd at being no more than to present the Reader with the Sense and Judgment of those who acted in the Revolution and who contributed their Endeavours to settle the Nation after the Late King's withdrawing himself with the Sense and Principles of some few Divines amongst us concerning these Matters If the latter run wide from the former then it is to be feared that those Gentlemen who would seem to espouse the Interest of the Government by putting Pen to Paper in Defence or at least in excuse of it do it more disservice than if they had forborn the venting their Opinions For it cannot but weaken a well-establish'd Government to persuade the People under it that it stands upon another Foundation than really it does especially when that Foundation is not only contrary to the Sentiments of the Nation express'd as will appear hereafter but is really a Fiction of speculative Heads and no better than the building of a Castle in the Air. The Opposition will appear in a great measure by considering these few Particulars His Highness the then Prince of Orange declared That his Expedition was intended for no other Design but to have a Free and Lawful Parliament Assembled for doing all things which the Two Houses should find necessary for the Peace Honour and Safety of the Nation To which Parliament he referred all things relating to the Succession and promised to concur in every thing that a Free and Lawful Parliament should determine They tell us of Sovereign Princes Successes in Just Wars and Appeals to God Whereas the Prince of Orange was not actually a Sovereign Prince being dispossess'd of his Principality Nor made war upon the Nation or so much as upon King James but came over with an Army to enforce the sitting of a Free Parliament to which Parliament he made his Appeal and not to God though as a Pious and Christian Prince he relied on the blessing of God for the success of his Undertaking in which he placed his whole and only Confidence His Highness invited and required all Persons whatsoever All the Peers of the Realm both Spiritual and Temporal All Lords Lieutenants Deputy-Lieutenant and all Gentlemen Citizens and other Commons of all Ranks to come and assist him in order to the executing of his said Design against all such as should endeavour to oppose him And accordingly great numbers actually did and many more nay the body of the Nation would if there had been occasion And when the Government was setled Their Majesties with the concurrence of both Houses of Parliament Enacted That the Oath appointed by the Statute of 13 Car. II. Entituled An Act for ordering the Forces of the several Counties of this Kingdom And also so much of a Declaration prescribed in another Act made in the same year Entituled An Act for the Uniformity of Publick Prayers and Administration of the Sacraments c. as is expressed in these words viz. I A. B. declare That it is not lawful upon any pretence whatsoever to take Arms against the King and that I do abhor that Trayterous Position of taking Arms by his Authority against his Person or against those that are commissioned by him Should not from henceforth be required or enjoined But these Gentlemen tell us That notwithstanding the unreasonable Cavils of Gainsaying Men Hickman Passive Obedience always was and they hope always will be the Doctrine and Practice of the Church of England That Kings are the only Persons upon Earth unto whom God has given an immediate delegation of his Authority whom to obey is to obey his Ordinance and whom to resist is to resist his Power They tell us That the Church of England has been very careful to instruct her Children to obey their Princes Laws Sherlock and submit to their Power and not to resist tho very injuriously opprest and that those who renounce these Principles renounce the Doctrine of the Church of England That whatever Prince is setled in the Throne is to be obeyed and reverenced as God's Minister and not to be resisted That the Church of England condemns all those wicked means by which Changes of Government are made That Subjects have no right to make war without the leave of their Princes for that St. Asaph as God has given to Princes the Power of the Sword so he has forbid it to Subjects under a great penalty They that take the Sword shall perish with the Sword When the Lords and Commons met at Westminster they grounded the Vacancy of the Throne upon the Late King 's having subverted the Fundamental Laws of the Realm and since withdrawn himself Whereas according to these Gentlemens Notions they ought not to have gone upon a Vacancy but have recognized the Prince of Orange's Title to the Crown as being already chosen thereunto by God who had given him success in a Just War against King James Tho it would have been a hard task for them to have brought the Queen in at
soever their Power has been and how Arbitrary and Despotick soever they have been in the exercise of it have ever reckoned it a Crime for their Subjects to come in all Submission and Respect and in a due number not exceeding the limits of the Law and represent to them the Reasons that made it impossible for them to obey their Orders Those Evil Counsellors have also treated a Peer of the Realm as a Criminal only because he said That the Subjects were not bound to obey the Orders of a Popish Justice of Peace though it is evident that they being by Law rendred incapable of all such Trusts no regard is due to their Order This being the security which the People have by the Law for their Lives Liberties Honours and Estates That they are not to be subjected to the Arbitrary Proceedings of Papists that are contrary to Law put into any Employment Civil or Military 17. Both We our selves and our Dearest and most Entirely Beloved Consort the Princess have endeavoured to signify in terms full of respect to the King the just and deep Regret which all these Proceedings have given us and in Compliance with his Majesty's De\sires signified to us We declared both by Word of Mouth to his Envoy and in Writing what our Thoughts were touching the Repealing of the Test and Penal Laws which we did in such a manner that we hoped we had proposed an Expedient by which the Peace of those Kingdoms and a happy Agreement among the Subjects of all Persuasions might have been setled but those Evil Counsellors have put such ill Constructions on these our good Intentions that they have endeavoured to alienate the King more and more from us as if We had designed to disturb the Quiet and Happiness of the Kingdom 18. The last and great Remedy for all those Evils is the calling of a Parliament for securing the Nation against the evil Practices of those wicked Counsellors But this could not be yet compassed nor can it be easily brought about For those Men apprehending that a Lawful Parliament being once assembled they would be brought to an account for all their open Violations of Law and for their Plots and Conspiracies against the Protestant Religion and the Lives and Liberties of the Subject they have endeavoured under the specious Pretence of Liberty of Conscience first to sow Divisions among Protestants between those of the Church of England and the Dissenters The design being laid to engage Protestants that are ail equally concerned to preserve themselves from Popish Oppression into mutual Quarrellings that so by these some Advantages might be given to them to bring about their Designs and that both in the Election of the Members of Parliament and afterwards in the Parliament it self For they see well that if all Protestants could enter into a mutual good understanding one with another and concur together in the preserving of their Religion it would not be possible for them to compass their wicked Ends. They have also required all Persons in the several Counties of England that either were in any Employment or were in any considerable Esteem to declare before-hand that they would concur in the Repeal of the Test and Penal Laws and that they would give their Voices in the Elections to Parliament only for such as would concur in it such as would not thus preingage themselves were turned out of all Employments And others who entred into those Engagements were put into their places many of them being Papists And contrary to the Charters and Privileges of those Burroughs that have a Right to send Burgesses to Parliament they have ordered such Regulations to be made as they thought fit and necessary for assuring themselves of all the Members that are to be chosen by those Corporations and by this means they hope to avoid that Punishment which they have deserved tho it is apparent that all Acts made by Popish Magistrates are null and void of themselves So that no Parliament can be Lawful for which the Elections and Returns are made by Popish Sheriffs and Mayors of Towns and therefore as long as the Authority and Magistracy is in such hands it is not possible to have any Lawful Parliament And tho according to the Constitution of the English Government and Immemorial Custom all Elections of Parliament-men ought to be made with an entire Liberty without any sort of Force or the requiring the electors to chuse such Persons as shall be named to them and the Persons thus freely elected ought to give their Opinions freely upon all Matters that are brought before them having the good of the Nation ever before their eyes and following in all things the Dictates of their Conscience yet now the People of England cannot expect a Remedy from a Free Parliament legally called and chosen But they may perhaps see one called in which all Elections will be carried by Fraud or Force and which will be composed of such Persons of whom those Evil Counsellors hold themselves well assured in which all things will be carried on according to their Direction and Interest without any regard to the Good or Happiness of the Nation which may appear evidently from this that the same Persons tried the Members of the last Parliament to gain them to Consent to the Repeal of the Test and Penal Laws and procured that Parliament to be dissolved when they found that they could not neither by Promises nor Threatnings prevail with the Members to comply with their wicked Designs 19. But to Crown all there are great and violent Presumptions inducing us to believe that those Evil Counsellors in order to the carrying on of their ill Designs and to the gaining to themselves the more time for the effecting of them for the encouraging of their Complices and for the discouraging of all good Subjects have published That the Queen hath brought forth a Son though there have appeared both during the Queen's pretended bigness and in the manner in which the Birth was managed so many just and visible grounds of Suspicion that not only we our selves but all the good Subjects of those Kingdoms do vehemently suspect that the pretended Prince of Wales was not born by the Queen And it is notoriously known to all the World that many both doubted of the Queen's Bigness and of the birth of the Child and yet there was not any one thing done to satisfie them or to put an end to their Doubts 20. And since our Dearest and most Entirely beloved Consort the Princess and likewise We Our Selves have so great an Interest in this Matter and such a Right as all the World knows to the Succession to the Crown Since also the English did in the Year 1672. when the States General of the Vnited Provinces were invaded in a most unjust War use their utmost endeavours to put an end to that War and that in opposition to those who were then in the Government and by their so doing they ran
the consideration of We own it Rebellion to resist a King that governs by Law but he was always accounted a Tyrant that made his Will the Law and to resist such a one we justly esteem no Rebellion but a necessary Defence And in this Consideration we doubt not of all honest Mens assistance and humbly hope for and implore the Great God's Protection that turneth the hearts of his People as pleaseth him best it having been observed that People can never be of one mind without his Inspiration which hath in all Ages confirmed that Observation Vox populi est vox Dei The present restoring the Charters and reversing the oppressing and unjust Judgment given on Magdalen-College Fellows is plain are but to still the People like Plumbs to Children by deceiving them for a while But if they shall by this Stratagem be fooled till this present Storm that threatens the Papists be past as soon as they shall be re-setled the former Oppressions will be put on with greater vigour but we hope in vain is the Net spread in the sight of the Birds For first The Papists old Rule is that Faith is not to be kept with Hereticks as they term Protestants tho the Popish Religion is the greatest Heresie And secondly Queen Mary's so ill observing her Promises to the Suffolk Men that help'd her to her Throne And above all thirdly the Pope's dispensing with the Breach of Oaths Treaties or Promises at his pleasure when it makes for the Service of Holy Church as they term it These we say are such convincing Reasons to hinder us from giving credit to the aforesaid Mock-shews of Redress that we think our selves bound in Conscience to rest on no security that shall not be approved by a freely-elected Parliament To whom under GOD we refer our Cause 3. The King having marched his Army as far as Salisbury to meet the Prince published a Proclamation of Pardon to all such of his Subjects as had taken up Arms and sided with the Prince provided they deserted the Enemy within 20 days and promising Pardon and protection to such Foreigners as would come into his Service and freedom of passage to others to return into their respective Countries But this Proclamation was not at all regarded 4. When the King was at Salisbury the Popish Party seeing their Affairs grow every day more desperate began to employ all their Politicks to invent some Remedy for them and then first formed the Design of the King's with-drawing which they grounded upon this Supposition and Expectation That within two years or less the Nation would be in such Confusion that he might return and have his Ends of it 5. In the mean time the King being unmoveably fixed in a Resolution not to call a Parliament part of the Army revolted and went over to the Prince and the rest either discouraged by the desertion of them that went or by the averseness they found in the body of the People from making any opposition to the Prince's Arms or out of a sense that in fighting against him they should fight against their own Religion and native Country appeared so lukewarm in the Cause that the King did not think fit to hazard a Battel 6. Prince George of Denmark the Duke of Grafton the Lord Churchill and many others of the Protestant Nobility left the King and went over to the Prince of Orange then at Sherborne and on the 25th of November in the night Princess Ann the King 's Second Daughter withdrew privately from White-hall with the Lady Churchill 7. The going off of these Great Men struck the King with terror and the Army being before much in disorder became thereby so full of fear and suspicion that a false Alarm being made whether by design or accident the King and the whole Army left Salisbury the Army retreating to Reading and the King to Andover and on Monday the 26th of November he returned in the Evening to London 8. The first thing the King did being at London was to remove Sir Edward Hales from being Lieutenant of the Tower and to put Sir Bevill Skelton a Protestant in his room Sir Edward had displeased the whole City to the utmost by planting several Mortar-pieces on the Walls towards the City which tho designed only to awe it had more enraged than afrighted them So that his Majesty thought he was not safe at White-hall so long as Sir Edward was Master of the Tower 9. On the 28th His Majesty ordered in Privy Council the Lord Chancellor to issue Writs for the sitting of a Parliament at VVestminster the 15th of January following But it was now too late and the Nation in such a ferment that it was not regarded what the Court said or did 10. Scotland was by this time almost in as bad a Condition as England and some of the Nobility and Gentry were sent up with a Petition for a Free Parliament The Popish Chappels at Bristol York Glocester Worcester Shrewsbury Stafford Wolverhampton Bromingham Cambridge and St. Edmundsbury were about this time demolished and where-ever the Lords in Arms came the Papists were disarmed And in Norfolk the Duke of Norfolk their Lord Lieutenant had a great appearance of the Gentry with him where he and they declared for a Free Parliament and the Protection of the Protestant Religion This Meeting was at Norwich the first of December and after that the same Declaration was renewed at Yarmouth and Lyn and the Suffolk-Men approved of it but wanted a Lord Lieutenant to assemble and head them in order to the shewing their concurrence with safety 11. Bristol was seized by the Earl of Shrewsbury and Sir John Guise the Lord Lovelace who had been seized as he was going to join the Prince was by the Gentry of Glocester-shire delivered out of the Castle of Glocester where till then he had been imprisoned The Lords Molineux and Ashton in the mean time seized Chester for the King being Roman Catholicks and Berwick stood firm to him but Newcastle received the Lord Lumly and declared for a Free Parliament and the Protestant Religion York was in the hands of the Associated Lords and the Garison of Hull seized the Lord Langdale their Governour a Papist and the Lord Mountgomery and disarmed some Popish Forces newly sent thither and then declared for a Free Parliament and the Protestant Religion And Plimouth had long before submitted to the Prince of Orange 12. The Popish Party was grown so contemptible that on Thursday the 6th of December there was a Hue and Cry after Father Peters publickly cried and sold in the Streets of London And about the same time came out a Third Declaration in the Prince's name but not emitted by him which very much alarm'd the Popish Party and as it is thought contributed very much to the fixing and hastning the King's Resolution of leaving the Nation It was read in many Towns throughout England at the Market-cross the People universally believing till some time after
for the King 's or the Prince's person to be together in one place with their several Guards Whereupon the Guards at White-hall were dislodged by Count Solmes by the Prince's order and the Prince's Guards placed in their room And the King was that same night being the 17th of December desired by a Message from the Prince to remove to some place at a reasonable distance from London and Ham was proposed But the King chose to return into Kent which he did the next day and got away privately from the Guards and embark'd for France The same day that the King withdrew from White-hall the second time the Prince of Orange came to St. James's attended by Monsieur Schomberg and a great number of Nobility and Gentry and was entertain'd with a joy and concourse of the People which appear'd free and unconstrain'd and all the Bells of the City were rung and Bonfires in every Street Thus the body of the People being uneasie under the Late King's Government and not thinking it either their Interest or their Duty to support him in it who had made use of his Authority only to carry on an Interest inconsistent with the welfare of a Protestant Nation and that by all the Illegal Methods that his Evil Counsellors could advise or durst put in execution and who to awe the People from giving any check to his Career had not only Judges at hand that would wrest the Law to serve his Ends without any regard to their Oaths or the trust of their Places but had raised an Army in times of Peace directly against Law and in effect had thereby waged war against his own Subjects The People I say being thus affected either actually join'd with the Prince or openly declared for him or testified by other demonstrations their joy for his arrival and interposing betwixt them and utter ruine Whereupon the King was left to shift for himself and flew for protection to his old Ally the Enemy of God and Man The first thing the Prince did when come to Town after he had received the Congratulations of the City by all the Aldermen and two Common-Council-men for every Ward and taken care about the Army was to desire the Advice of such Lords as were in or about the Town and of such Gentlemen as had served in any Parliament in the Reign of the Late King Charles what course to take for the settlement of the Nation These advised him to take upon himself the Administration of publick Affairs Civil and Military and the disposal of the Publick Revenue and to issue out Circular Letters for the calling a Convention to meet and fit at Westminster on the 22d of January next ensuing Which was done accordingly and the Elections went on with the greatest liberty that could possibly be conceived The Two Houses met the 22d of January and the Upper House chose the Marquess of Halifax for their Speaker and the Commons Henry Powle Esq After which a Letter from the Prince of Orange was read to them Exhorting them to unity and speed in their Consultations The Houses ordered the 31st of January to be appointed for a day of Publick Thanksgiving to Almighty God for delivering this Kingdom from Popery and Arbitrary Power by means of his Highness the Prince of Orange That Day to be observed in London and Westminster and ten miles distance and the 14th of February after throughout the Kingdom On the 28th of January the Commons passed this Vote viz. Resolved That King James the IId having endeavoured to subvert the Constitution of the Kingdom by breaking the Original Contract between King and People and by the Advice of Jesuits and other wicked persons having violated the Fundamental Laws and having withdrawn himself out of this Kingdom hath abdicated the Government and that the Throne is thereby become Vacant On the 6th of February the Lords assented to the Vote It will not be material to give a particular Account of the Debates and Conferences that arose and were occasioned by this and other Votes of the Commons I hasten to the Conclusion which was That on the 12th of February the Two Houses fully agreed all things in dispute betwixt them on this manner viz. The Declaration of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons Assembed at Westminster WHereas the late King James the Second by the Assistance of divers Evil Counsellors Judges and Ministers employ'd by him did endeavour to subject and extirpate the Protestant Religion and the Laws and Liberties of this Kingdom By assuming and exercising a power of Dispensing with and suspending of Laws and the Execution of Laws without consent of Parliament By committing and prosecuting divers worthy Prelates for humbly Petitioning to be excused from concurring to the said Assumed Power By issuing and causing to be executed a Commission under the Great Seal for erecting a Court call'd The Court of Commission for Ecclesiastical Affairs By Levying Money for and to the use of the Crown by pretence of Prerogative for other time and in other manner than the same was granted by Parliament By raising and keeping a standing Army within the Kingdom in time of Peace without consent of Parliament and Quartering Soldiers contrary to Law By causing several good Subjects being Protestants to be disarmed at the same time when Papists were both Armed and imployed contrary to Law By violating the Freedom of Elections of Members to serve in Parliament By Prosecutions in the Court of King's Bench for Matters and Causes cognizable only in Parliament and by divers other Arbitrary and Illegal Courses And whereas of late Years partial corrupt and unqualified Persons have been returned and served on Juries in Trials and particularly divers Jurors in Trials for High-Treason which were not Free-holders And Excessive Bail hath been required of Persons committed in Criminal Cases to elude the Benefit of the Laws made for the Liberty of the Subject And Excessive Fines have been imposed And Illegal and cruel Punishments inflicted And several Grants and Promises made of Fines and Forfeitures before any Conviction or Judgment against the Persons upon whom the same were to be levied All which are utterly and directly contrary to the known Laws and Statutes and Freedom of this Realm And whereas the late King James the Second having abdicated the Government and the Throne being thereby vacant His Highness the Prince of Orange whom it hath pleased Almighty God to make the Glorious Instrument of Delivering this Kingdom from Popery and Arbitrary Power did by the Advice of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and divers principal Persons of the Commons cause Letters to be written to the Lords Spiritual and Temporal being Protestants and other Letters to the several Counties Cities Universities Burroughs Cinque-Ports for the chusing of such Persons to represent them as were of right to be sent to Parliament to meet and sit at Westminster upon the 22d day of January 1688 in order to such an Establishment as that their
Religion Laws and Liberties might not again be in danger of being subverted upon which Letters Elections have been accordingly made And thereupon the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons pursuant to their Respective Letters and Elections being now Assembled in a full and Free Representative of this Nation taking into their most serious consideration the best means for attaining the Ends aforesaid do in the first place as their Ancestors in like case have usually done for the vindicating and asserting their Ancient Rights and Liberties declare That the pretended Power of suspending of Laws or the Execution of Laws by Regal Authority without consent of Parliament is illegal That the pretended Power of Dispensing with Laws or the execution of Laws by Regal Authority as it hath been assumed and exercised of late is illegal That the Commission for erecting the late Court of Commissioners for Ecclesiastical Causes and all other Commissions and Courts of the like nature are illegal and pernicious That Levying of Money to or for the use of the Crown by pretence of Prerogative without Grant of Parliament for longer time or in other manner than the same is or shall be Granted is illegal That it is the Right of the Subjects to Petition the King and all Commitments and Prosecutions for such Petitioning are illegal That the raising or keeping a standing Army within the Kingdom in time of Peace unless it be by consent of Parliament is against Law That the Subjects being Protestants may have Arms for their Defence suitable to their condition and as allowed by Law That the Election of Members of Parliament ought to be Free That the freedom of Speech and Debates or Proceedings in Parliament ought not to be impeached or questioned in any Court or Place out of Parliament That Excessive Bail ought not to be required nor Excessive Fines imposed nor cruel and unusual Punishments inflicted That Jurors ought to be duly Impannell'd and Returned and Jurors which pass upon men in Trials for High-Treason ought to be Freeholders That all Grants and Promises of Fines and Forfeitures of particular persons before Conviction are illegal and void And that for Redress of all Grievances and for the amending strengthning and preserving of the Laws Parliaments ought to be held frequently And they do claim demand and insist upon all and singular the Premises as their undoubted Rights and Liberties and that no Declarations Judgments Doings or Proceedings to the prejudice of the people in any of the said Premises ought in any wise to be drawn hereafter into Consequence or Example To which demand of their Rights they are particularly encouraged by the Declaration of his Highness the Prince of Orange as being the only means for obtaining a full Redress and Remedy therein Having therefore an intire Confidence that his said Highness the Prince of Orange will perfect the Deliverance so far advanced by him and will still preserve them from the violation of their Rights which they have here asserted and from all other Attempts upon their Religion Rights and Liberties The said Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons assembled at Westminster do Resolve That WILLIAM and MARY Prince and Princess of Orange be and be declared King and Queen of England France and Ireland and the Dominions thereunto belonging to hold the Crown and Royal Dignity of the said Kingdoms and Dominions to them the said Prince and Princess during their Lives and the Life of the Survivor of them and that the sole and full exercise of the Regal Power be only in and executed by the said Prince of Orange in the Names of the said Prince and Princess during their joynt Lives and after their Deceases the said Crown and Royal Dignity of the said Kingdoms and Dominions to be to the Heirs of the Body of the said Princess and for default of such Issue to the Princess Anne of Denmark and the Heirs of her Body and for default of such Issue to the Heirs of the Body of the said Prince of Orange And the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons do pray the said Prince and Princess of Orange to accept the same accordingly And that the Oaths hereafter mentioned be taken by all persons of whom the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy might be required by Law instead of them and that the said Oarhs of Allegiance and Supremacy be abrogated I A. B. Do sincerely Promise and Swear That I will be Faithful and bear true Allegiance to Their Majesties King WILLIAM and Queen MARY So help me God I A. B. Do Swear That I do from my Heart Abbor Detest and Abjure as Impious and Heretical this Damnable Doctrine and Position That Princes Excommunicated or Deprived by the Pope or any Authority of the See of Rome may be deposed or murthered by their Subjects or any other whatsoever And I do declare That no Foreign Prince Person Prelate State or Potentate hath or ought to have any Jurisdiction Power Superiority Prcheminence or Authority Ecclesiastical or Spiritual within this Realm So help me God Jo. Brown Cler. Parliamentor The same day this Declaration bears date Her Royal Highness the Princess of Orange arrived in the River of Thames in the Afternoon and was received with all the Hearty Demonstrations and Expressions of Joy by the City that are usual on such occasions The 13th of February the Lords and Commons ordered the following Proclamation to be published and made WHereas it hath pleased Almighty God in his great Mercy to this Kingdom to vouchsafe us a miraculous Deliverance from Popery and Arbitrary Power and that our Preservation is due next under God to the Resolution and Conduct of his Highness the Prince of Orange whom God hath chosen to be the Glorious Instrument of such an inestimable Happiness to us and our Posterity And being highly sensible and fully persuaded of the great and eminent Virtues of Her Highness the Princess of Orange whose Zeal for the Protestant Religion will no doubt bring a Blessing along with Her upon this Nation And whereas the Lords and Commons now assembled at Westminster have made a Declaration and presented the same to the said Prince and Princess of Orange and therein desired Them to accept the Crown who have accepted the same accordingly We therefore the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons together with the Lord Mayor and Citizens of London and others of the Commons of this Realm do with full consent publish and proclaim according to the said Declaration WILLIAM and MARY Prince and Princess of ORANGE to be KING and QUEEN of England France and Ireland wit all the Dominions and Territories thereunto belonging Who are accordingly so to be owned deemed and taken by all the people of the aforesaid Realms and Dominions who are from hence-forward bound to acknowledge and pay unto them all Faith and true Allegiance Beseeching God by whom Kings reign to Bless King VVilliam and Queen Mary with long and happy Years to reign over us God save
he brings them in from Foreign Countries Whistling for the Fly out of Egypt or the Bee out of the land of Assyria In plain words stirring up a Pharaoh or a Nebuchadnezzar against them God may employ such if he will tho none is too good for this work to execute his righteous Judgments And when God doth his work by their hands whatsoever the Instruments may be the Cause being so just and so evident as we have supposed All men that see it will say Doubtless there is a God that judges on the earth In the way of Justice But the Pr. of Orange was not a Sovereign Power being dispossest of his Principality God acts as a judge between Two Sovereign Powers when they bring their Causes before him that is when they make War upon one another And when he seeth his time that is when he finds the Cause ripe for Judgment if it proceeds so far then he gives Sentence for him that is injur'd against him that hath done the Injury The effect of this Sentence is a just Conquest and that is the other way in which God proceeding judicially pats down one and sets up another That this may be the better understood there are four things to be consider'd particularly First That War is an Appeal to the Justice of God Secondly That none can be Parties to this but they that are in Sovereign Power Thirdly That to make it a just War there must be a just and sufficient Cause Fourthly That Conquest in such a War is a decisive Judgment of God and gives one a Right to the Dominions that he has conquered from the others That War is an Appeal to God this appears in the nature of the thing p. 25 26 27 28. The Parties to this Appeal are properly such as have no Superior but God For them that have an earthly Superior their Appeal lies to him as God's Minister attending continually on this very thing p. 29. Subjects have no Right to make War without the leave of their Princes For as God has given Princes the power of the Sword so he forbids it to Subjects under a great Penalty They that take the Sword shall perish with the Sword And if he has not admitted them to be Parties in his Court then it is certain that they cannot sue there or if they do they can acquire no Flight by it There is an Original Nullity in all their Proceedings As none have right of making War but they that are in Sovereign Power so neither is it given to them that they may make what use of it they please Particularly they must not make War for the satisfying of their Lusts Ambition Covetousness Vain-glory or the like Nay the righteous God will not hold him guiltless that hath Justice in his Cause and yet in his Heart hath no such thing Lawful things must be done lawfully This Princes must look to as they will answer it to God But as far as man can judge it is a Lawful War that is made for a just and sufficient Cause p. 32. 33. One Prince may make War in defence of another King's Subjects if they see themselves in extreme danger of suffering an intolerable Injury by his Oppression of his own people And in these cases if one Lawfully may then it is certain he ought to do it p. 36. They are so much the more obliged to this when it is evident that the threatning mischief is like to fall upon others as well as themselves and them such as they are bound in Honour and Conscience to protect and support When by fitting still they should certainly expose not only themselves to be ruined but also their Friends and Allies to perish with them in that case Saevitia est voluisse mori it is a sort of bloody Peaceableness it is cruelty to Mankind to go to that degree of suffering Injuries But especially when the Cause of God is concern'd to whom we owe all things and ought to venture all for his sake Surely 't is his Cause when it touches Religion which is all that is dear to him in this world And tho Religion it self teaches us if it be possible as much as in us lies to live peaceably with all man yet as 't is there supposed there may be Cause to break the Peace so it adds infinitely to that Cause when it comes to concern our Religion p. 36 37. There is yet a greater Cause for this when the Suffering-Religion is that which is establish'd by the Laws of that Kingdom and yet the King that is sworn to those Laws and therefore bound to support that Religion is manifestly practising against it and endeavours to supplant and oppress and extinguish it What should other Princes or States that profess the same Religion do in this case They see that such a King is set upon the destroying of their Religion He hath declar'd a hostile mind towards the professors of it in judging them not capable of enjoying their Temporal Rights If he deals thus with his own People what are Foreigners to expect at his hands Can they think themselves secure because they are at peace with him They cannot unless Treaties are more Sacred than Laws Or can they rely upon his Oath But they see he hath broken it And therefore they have reason to judge That either he makes no Conscience of an Oath or he thinks Faith is not to be kept with Hereticks or he hath a Superior that can dispense with him or that will absolve him from the guilt of Perjury in such cases where Religion is concerned In short they are sure of his Will to destroy them and cannot be sure of his Oath to the contrary Wherein them can they be safe But in his want of power to do them hurt But he will not want power if they let him go on for he is getting it as fast as he can He is now strengthning himself by those ways that he takes to be absolute Lord of his own people And he is now weakning Them by oppressing all those among his people whom he knows to be their Friends and Well-wishers He doth both these things together He daily lessens their party and makes them as many more Enemies as he gains Men over to his Religion And if that be such a Religion as pretends to a Right of destroying Men of other Religions knowing this they know what they are to expect When this pretended Right is armed with power it will certainly fall upon them So that they must begin before he is ready for them or else it will be too late to do any thing for their own preservation But as it is necessary for them to do this for themselves so they ought to do it much the rather for the sakes of their oppressed Brethren That by a timely asserting of their own Right they may also deliver them from the Evils they suffer at present and save them from that Destruction which is coming upon
learned Man's Judgment Who yet judges That even here it may be not only Lawful but a Duty to obey him that is in possession when the Legal King is reduced to that pass that he can no more do the Office of a King to his people For saith he the Kingdom cannot be without Government and if the Usurper preserves the Kingdom a Lover of his Countrey ought not as things are to give any further cause of trouble by his unprofitable Contumacy But then put case the Usurper hath sworn the people to him and doth the Office of a King which it seems in his Judgment doth not take away the duty that is owing to that former King how one can pay his duty to both the expell'd Legal King and to such an Usurper This our Author says is a most difficult Scruple and so it seems both by his and our most Learned Casuist's handling the Question where they shew how far one ought and how far one ought not to comply with such an Usurpation p. 56 57 58. But these Difficulties are only in case the possession is obtained by a War that was certainly unjust for if the cause of the War was but doubtful and a Conquest follows upon it there is no place for these difficulties Much less where the cause of War was certainly Just for if a Conquest follows upon this it gives a Right and then there is no Usurpation It has been commonly judg'd by the Law of Nations That the Right goes along with the Possession Of this we see Examples in every Revolution that happens in this or any other Kingdom When a King is driven out with any colour of Right the Neighbouring Princes and States make no great difficulty of applying themselves to him that comes in his stead wherein though perhaps they too much follow their own Interest yet it cannot be said that what they do is against the Law of Nations But what should Subjects do in this Case Of this we have an Example in the People of God when they pass'd successively under the Yoke of those Four great Monarchs that were formerly mention'd It is likely that each of those Kings that got the Power over them first declar'd the Cause of the War that he made upon the former Lords In that Case though they could not judge of the Cause whether it was Just or Unjust yet no doubt they did well in adhering to him that was in present Possession p. 60 61. To a People that are in such a case it is no small Comfort that whatsoever doubt they may have of the Cause of the War yet there is no doubt at all concerning their Duty There is nothing more certain than this that they ought to preserve themselves if they can do it lawfully But it is lawful for them to forbear fighting when they are unsatisfied of the Cause And if their own prince is not able to protect them it is lawful for them to take protection elsewhere Therefore in case of Invasion for a Cause which is just for ought they know it is lawful for them to live quietly under the Invader nay it is not only lawful but their duty as hath been already shewn to acquiesce in his Government when he cornes to be in Possession But when they are certain that a War is made upon their Prince for just Cause that is when they plainly see he hath drawn it upon himself by making it not only lawful but necessary for another Prince to invade him for his own Preservation What are the People to do in this Case No doubt they ought first to have a care of their Souls and not to endanger them by being Partakers of other mens Sins They cannot but see that by engaging in the War they abet their own Prince in his Injustice though not in his doing the Injury yet in continuing what is done and in his not giving Reparation And therefore they are subject to the same punishment with him Nay their Condition is worse than his For he may shift for himself and leave them and all they have to be a Prey to the Enemy Who by right of War may do with them and theirs what he pleases It is therefore certainly their wisest Course to keep themselves free from all offence both towards God and towards Man That having had no part in the Cause of the War they may not be involv'd in the ill Consequences of it And this they have reason to expect from a Generous Enemy that he will not use the Right of War against them that desire to live peaceably Much more if he hath declar'd he would not hurt them that should not resist him they have reason to trust a just Prince upon his Declaration And if he went so far as to declare That upon their Submission they should enjoy the benefit of their own Laws then although it should come to a Conquest they may reasonably expect to be in no worse condition under the Stranger than they were under their own Prince They have his Faith engaged to them for this But if the Stranger declares he makes War in defence of another King's Subjects as we have shewn he may lawfully do when he finds himself in danger of suffering by that King's Oppression of his own People in this Case they are first to consider whether it is a mere pretence or whether there be a real ground for his Declaration If they find there is a just and sufficient ground for it they see in effect that it is through Them that he is struck at and therefore the War is not so much His as their own It is true according to our Doctrine they are united to their Prince as a Wife to her Husband so that they can no more right themselves by Arms than she can sue her Husband while the Bond of Marriage continues Yet as When her Husband uses her extremely ill she may complain of him to the Judge who if he sees Cause may dissolve the Marriage by his Sentence and after that she is at liberty to sue him as well as any other Man So a People may cry to the Lord by reason of their Oppression and he may raise them up a Deliverer that shall take the Government into his hands a Foreign Prince may lawfully do this as hath been already shewn and then they are not only free to defend themselves but are oblig'd to join with him against their Oppressor p. 62 63 64 65. In this Case if another Prince having a just Cause of War is so far concern'd for such a People as to take them into his Care and to declare that he makes the War for their Deliverance The effect of this War though we may call it a Conquest because it has resemblance of it yet it cannot be properly so in any respect whether we consider the Prince on whom it is made or the People that have their Deliverance by it As to him it is properly an Eviction
by the just Sentence of God who thus puts him out of a Trust that he abused to the hurt of them for whose sakes it was given him And as to the people it cannot be a Conquest over them who are so far from having the War made against them that it was made chiefly for their sakes If there be any pretence of a Conquest it is only over them that were their Oppressors p. 66 67. An Answer to Mr. Ashton's Paper c. THE Matter in dispute is not whether Rightful Lawful Kings are to be obeyed but who in our present Circumstances is our Rightful Lawful Sovereign not whether Kings be not God's Vicegerents but whether God doth not sometimes confer the Right of Sovereignty by a Law superiour to the Laws of particular Countries that is by the Law of Nations which establisheth such a Right upon the success of a Just War not whether Sovereign Princes are not accountable only to God but whether Allegiance be not due where the Rights of Sovereignty are placed by an extraordinary Act of Providence and the concurrent Consent of the Nation p. 9 10. We must of necessity look back to the Occasions of this great Revolution And there were two principal Occasions of it First Great and violent Presumptions of an Injury to the Right of Succession Secondly Too great Evidences of a formed Design to subvert the Established Religion and Civil Liberties of the Nation Now there are two very material Questions which arise from hence First Whether these were the just Occasions of a War Secondly Whether upon the success of this War the Rights of Sovereignty were duly transferred If these were just Occasions of a War and upon the Success thereof the Sovereignty was duly transferred then there can be no Dispute left to whom our Allegiance is due It is taken for granted by all who understand these Matters That as there is a Law of Nature which determines the Rights and Properties of particular Nations and that all private Persons are bound to submit to the Municipal Laws of those Societies for their Peace and Security So there are other Laws which concern those Nations as they make up several independent Governments upon each other And there are several Rights which belong to them with respect to one another which do not belong to private Persons as they live in subjection to any particular Government And as there are such Rights so there must be a just and lawful way for reparation of Injuries In particular Governments the thing is plain by Established Laws and Courts of Judicature whose Sentence is executed by the Civil Power but in Separate Nations and Independent Governments although there be Laws by consent called the Law of Nations yet there is no common Judicature to determine of Right and Wrong and therefore in case of Injury there is an allowance for the injured Party by this Law of Nations to right himself by force as there would be to every particular Person if there were no Laws nor Power to see them executed There is then a Right in every Sovereign and Independent Prince to exercise Force against another Prince who detains any Right from him or doth any Injury to him or to those he is bound to defend The Question then comes to the Just Occasions of such a War and here are two assigned First Great and violent Presumptions of an Injury to the Right of Succession This is expresly mentioned and insisted on in the Declaration of the then Prince of Orange our present King p. 9 10 11. There have been many Instances in History of suborned and suppositious Princes and therefore there was reason that sufficient Evidence should be given in a Case of such Importance and which was under so great Suspicion But if there was no reasonable care taken to prevent or remove these Suspicious then the Parties most concerned have a right to assert their own Pretensions in such a way as the Law of Nations doth allow And in this Case no private Depositions or confident Affirmations of such as are Dependents or otherwise liable to Suspicion can in reason be taken for satisfactory Evidence p. 13. Secondly There was a further Just Occasion for that Expedition which was the Design to subvert our Religion and Civil Liberties As to the Particulars they are fully set down in the Declaration and need not to be repeated That which I am to make out is That the then Prince of Orange by his Relation to the Crown had a just Right to concern himself in the Vindication of both and that this is not repugnant to the Doctrines and Principles of the Church of England It was not thought disagreeable to them for Queen Elizabeth to assist the Dutch against the King of Spain yet she had no such reason for it as our King and Queen had to prevent the suppression of their own Religion here and the Rights of that people to whom they were so nearly related p. 15. In the beginning of the Reign of King Charles the First when I suppose it will be granted ☜ That the Doctrines and Principles of the Church of England were understood and followed the King of Denmark had taken up Arms to settle the Peace and liberty of Germany as he declared But he met with a great Defeat Whereupon King Charles the First thought himself concerned to give Assistance to him And Archbishop Laud was then employed as Dr. Heylin confesseth by the King's Command to draw up a Declaration to be published in all the Parishes of England which was read by the King and approved by the Council wherein the Greatness of the Danger they were in is set forth and the People are exhorted to serve God and the King and to labour by their Prayers to divert the Danger Wherein lay this Danger It is there said to be That by the Defeat of the King of Denmark there was little or nothing left to hinder the House of Austria from being Lord and Master of Germany And what then Why then there will be an open way for Spain to do what they pleased in all the West Part of Christendom It seems then it was not thought disagreeable to the Principles and Doctrines of our Church to hinder the growth of a Western Monarchy although it be by assisting Subjects against their Princes who promote it p. 17. But yet here is another Difficulty ariseth concerning the transferring Allegiance from a Lawful Prince to him that met with unexpected Success in his Design And here I shall endeavour to make it plain That this is not against the Doctrines and Principles of the Church of England p. 20. The Articles of our Church declare That the chief Government of all Estates of this Realm doth appertain to the Civil Magistrate But they no-where say That in a Just war the Superior Power cannot be acquired or that God doth never confer it in an extraordinary method The Book of Homilies is very severe against
Disobedience and wilful Rebellion but it is no-where said That where the Right of Sovereignty is transferred by a Successful War there is no Allegiance due to those who possess it p. 2. Ours is only the Case of Just War ☜ Apage nugas which is allowed by all sorts of Casuists who do agree that Allegiance is due to the Party that prevails in it and if it be due to one it cannot be due to another at the same time although he be living and do not discharge Persons from their Oaths for the obligation of Oaths depends on the nature and reason of things and not upon the Pleasure of those to whom they are made But where there is a Right to govern there must be a Duty of Allegiance And that Success in a Just War doth give such a Right What Right do you mean I could produce so many Testimonies of all kinds of Writers as would make the reading of them as tedious as of those in the History of Passive Obedience Nay some go so far as to assert a Right of Sovereignty to be acquired by success even in an Vnjust War So 't is as much as by a Just War But we need none of these Testimonies But doth not all this resolve this whole Controversie into a Right of Conquest 'T is not a pin-matter whether it does or no. which is not so much as pretended in our present Case * It 's a fine thing to be a Schollar I answer That we must distinguish between a Right to the Government and the Manner of Assuming it The Right was founded on the Just Causes of the War and the Success in it But the assuming of it was not by any ways of force or violence but by a Free Consent of the People who by a voluntary Recognition and Their Majesties acceptance of the Government as it is setled by our Laws take away any pretence * But not to an Ecclesiastical Whimsie of an imaginary Right by the Choice of God to a Conquest over the People or a Government by Force The Case of the Allegiance due to Sovereign Powers c. THAT which has perplexed this Controversie is the intermixing the Dispute of Right with the Duty of Obedience or making the Legal Right of Princes to their Thrones the only Reason and Foundation of the Allegiance of Subjects That Allegiance is due only to Right not to Government though it can be paid only to Government It seems to me to be unfit to dispute the Right of Princes a thing which no Government can permit to be a Question among their Subjects p. 1. And therefore I shall not meddle with this Dispute as being both above me and * Then you 'll say nothing to the purpose nothing to my present purpose Subjects have a plain Rule of Duty without understanding Laws and Politicks the Intrigues of Government the Revolutions of States the Disputes of Princes which I am sure is both for the security of Governments and Subjects If then Allegiance be due not for the sake of Legal Right but Government If Allegiance be due not to bare Legal Right but * That is to Glergy-mens Crockets to the Authority of of God If God when he sees fit and can better serve the ends of his Providence by it sets up Kings without any regard to Legal Right or Humane Laws p. 2. If Kings thus set up by God are invested with God's Authority which must be obey'd not only for wrath but also for conscience sake If these Principles be true it is plain That Subjects are bound to obey and to pay and swear Allegiance if it be required to those Princes whom God hath placed and settled in the Throne whatever Disputes there may be about their legal Right when they are invested with God's Authority And then it is plain That our old Allegiance and old Oaths are at an end when God has set over us a new King For when God transfers Kingdoms and requires our Obedience and Allegiance to a new King he necessarily transfers our Allegiance too This Scheme of Government may startle some men at first From you it will startle no man of common sense before they have well considered it p. 2 3. The Church of England has been very careful to instruct Her Children in their Duty to Princes to obey their Laws and submit to their power and not to resist tho very injuriously oppressed and those who renounce these Principles renounce the Doctrine of the Church of England But she has withal taught That all Sovereign Princes receive their Power and Authority from God and therefore every Prince who is setled in the Throne is to be obey'd and reverenced as God's Minister and to be resisted which directs us what to do in all Revolutions of Government when once they come to a Settlement and those who refuse to pay and swear Allegiance to such Princes whom God has placed in the Throne whatever then Legal Right be do as much reject the Doctrine of the Church of England as those who teach the Resistance of Princes For the proof of which I appeal to Bishop Overal's Convocation-Book p. 4. I know not how it was possible for the Convocation to express their sense plainer That all Usurped Powers when throughly settled have God's Authority and must be obey'd So that here are the Two great points determined whereon this whole Controversie turns 1. That those Princes who have no legal right to their Thrones may yet have God's Authority 2. That when they are throughly settled in their Thrones they are invested with God's Authority and must be reverenced and obeyed by all who live within their Territories and Dominions as well Priests as People If these propositions be true it is a plain Resolution of the Case that if it should at any time happen that the rightful Prince should be driven out of his Kingdom and another Prince placed in his Throne and settled in the full Administration of Government Subjects not only may but must for Conscience sake and out of reverence to the Authority of God with which such a Prince is invested pay all the Duty and Allegiance of Subjects to him As for the first the Case is plain That the Convocation speaks of illegal and usurped Powers and yet affirms that the Authority exercised by them is God's Authority and therefore those Princes who have no legal right may have God's Authority p. 5. The Moabites and Aramites never could have a Legal Right to the Government of Israel What not by a Conquest and yet the Convocation asserts That when Israel was in subjection to them they knew that it was not lawful for them of themselves and by their own Authority to take Arms against the Kings whose Subjects they were Prove they were Tyrants tho indeed they were Tyrants The like they teach of the Kings of Egypt and Babylon p. 6 There is no Duty Subjects as
such owe to the most Legal and Rightful Kings but the Convocation asserts due to all Kings whom God hath placed in the Throne by what visible means soever they obtained it as to obey and submit to them not to resist them nor rebel against them to pay all Customs and Taxes to pray for them nay to swear Allegiance to them if it be required p. 7. 2. The only Enquiry then is No it is no part of the Enquiry for who cares what either they meant or you mean what the Convocation means by the Government 's being throughly settled A Prince who is throughly setled in his Throne has God's Authority and must be obeyed but when is his Government throughly setled Now here it is That men may impose upon themselves if they will and if they think it their Interest to do so and may make as little or as much go to a through settlement as they please No they left that to d. Sherlock for the Convocation has not determined the bounds of it p. 9. The submission of the Prince indeed may be thought necessary to transfer a Legal Right but the submission of the people of it self is sufficient to settle a Government and when it is setled then it is the Authority of God whatever the Human Right be All Sovereign Powers whose Power and Government is throughly setled must be obeyed whatever their Legal Right be for they have the Authority of God p. 9. All Civil Power and Authority is from God for he is the Supreme Lord of the World and has the sole Right to govern his Creatures and therefore no man can have any Authority but from God This will be readily acknowledged by all who believe that there is a God and that he made and governs the World That Civil Power and Anthority is no otherwise from God than as he gives this Power and Authority to some particular person or persons But how does God give it him Perhaps as he gave you the Holy Ghost to govern others For Authority belongs to a person and that Power and Authority which any person exercises is not from God which God never gave him If he governs without receiving his Personal Authority from God he governs without God's Authority p. 10. O Sapientia There are but three ways whereby God gives this Power and Authority to any persons Either by Nature or by an express Nomination or by the disposals of Providence p. 11. Providence is God's Government of the world by an invisible influence and power whereby he directs determines over-rules all Events to the accomplishment of his own Will and Counsels p. 12. Nor does it make any difference in this case to distinguish between what God permits and what he does for this distinction does not relate to the Events of things but to the wickedness of men p. 12. When it comes to action he over-rules their wicked designs to accomplish his own Counsels and Decrees and either disappoints what they intended or gives success to them when he can serve the ends of his Providence by their wickedness and herein consists the unsearchable Wisdom of Providence that God brings about his own Counsels by the free Ministries of men He permits men to do wickedly but all Events which are for the good or evil of private men or publick Societies are ordered by him as the Prophet declares Amos 3.6 Shall there be evil in a city and the Lord hath not done it p. 12. If the advancement to the Throne invests such a Prince with God's Authority then God gives him the Throne and does not merely permit him to take it for no man can take God's Authority but it must be given p. 13. By what means soever any Prince ascends the Throne he is placed there by God and receives his Authority from him p. 13. Sometimes he suffers an aspiring Prince to invade and conquer a Countrey but he never suffers him to ascend the Throne but when he sees fit to make him King p. 13 14. All Kings are equally rightful with respect to God So are all Clergy-men for those are all rightful Kings who are placed in the Throne by God and it is impossible there should be a wrong King unless a man could make himself King whether God will or no. p. 14. The distinction then between a King de jure The Doctor knows not when that Distinction was born and when it died and a King de facto relates only to Human Laws which bind Subjects but are not the necessary Rules and Measures of the Divine Providence In Hereditary Kingdoms he is a righful King who has by Succession a legal Right to the Crown and he who has possession of the Crown without a legal Right is a King de facto that is is a King but not by Law Now Subjects are so tied up by the Constitutions of the Kingdom that they must not pull down or set up Kings contrary to the Laws of the Land but God is not bound by Humane Laws Qui benè distinguit benè docet but can make whom he please King without regard to legal Rights and when he does so they are true though not legal Kings I challenge the Doctor te quote any good Authority fer the Notion of a True King A True and a False Prophet we knew but a True King is a Novelty if those are true Kings who have God's Authority We can have but one King at a time two rival and opposite Princes cannot at the same time possess the same Throne nor can Subjects be bound to two opposite and contrary Allegiances for no man can Serve two masters and yet Allegiance is due to a King by the Laws of God and to every King whose Subjects we are that if we could have two Kings we must have two Allegiances He is our King who is settled in the Throne in the actual Administration of Sovereign Power for King is the Name of Power and Authority Under derivatur King not of mere Right He who has a legal Right to the Crown but has it not ought by the Laws of the Land to be King but is not But he who is actually setled in the Administration of the Regal Power is King and has God's Authority tho he have not a legal Right Allegiance is due only to the King for Allegiance signifies all that Duty which Subjects owe to their Ring and therefore can be due to none but the King If then he who has the Legal Right may not be our King and he who has not may when any such case happens we must pay our Allegiance to him who is King tho without a Legal Right not to him who is not our King tho it is his Right to be so And the reasor is very plain because Allegiance is due only to God's Authority not to a bare Legal Title without God's Authority and therefore must be paid to him who is invested
with God's Authority who is his Minister and Lieutenant that is to the Actual King who is setled in the Throne and has the Administration of Government in his hands Object But if this be so what does a Legal Right signifie if it do not command the Allegiance of Subjects Answ I answer It bars all other Human Claims No other Prince can challenge the Throne of Right and Subjects are bound to maintain the Rights of such a Prince as far as they can that is against all Mankind but not against God's disposal of Crowns p. 15. We swear to maintain and defend his Right and the Right of his Heirs but yet we do not swear to keep them in the Throne which may be impossible for us to do against a prosperous Rebellion p. 16. These seem to me to be very plain Propositions and to carry their own Evidence with them and if this be true it is a very plain Direction to Subjects in all the Revolutions of Government The most that can be expected from them according to the strictest Principles of Loyalty and Obedience lindx is to have no hand in such Revolutions or to oppose them as far as they can and not to be hasty and forward in their Compliances but when such a Revolution is made and they cannot help it they must reverence and obey their New Prince as invested with God's Authority p. 16. There are different degrees of Settlement and must necessarily be in such new Governments which seem to me to require different degrees of Submission or at least to justify them till it increases to such a full and plenary and setled Possession as requires our Allegiance as being notoriously evident and sensible to all that do not wink hard and will not see it If the generality of the Nation submit to such a Prince and place him on the Throne and put the whole power of the Kingdom into his hands though it may be we cannot yet think the Providence of God has setled him in the Throne while the dispossessed Prince has also such a formidable Power as makes the Event very doubtful yet if we think fit to continue in the Kingdom under the Government and Power of the New Prince there are several Duties which in reason we ought to pay him As To live quietly and peaceably under his Government and to promise or swear or give any other security that we will do so if it be demanded It is reasonable we should do so if we think it reasonable to live under the protection of the Government this all men do in an Enemy's Quarters and no man blames them for it We must pay Taxes to them for these are due to the Administration of Government as Saint Paul observes For this cause pay ye tribute also for they are the ministers of God attending continually on this very thing Rom. 13. 6. And if we owe our secure possession of our Estates to the protection of Government let the Government be what it will we ought to pay for it We must give the Title of King to such a Prince when we live in the Country where he is owned for King for besides that it is a piece of good manners which is the least thing we can owe to him under whose Government we live he is indeed King while he administers the Regal Power though we may not think him so well setled in his Government as to all intents and purposes to own him for our King Nay we must pray for him under the Name and Title of King for we are bound to pray for all who are in Authority and that Prince is who has the whole Government in his hands and has power to do a great deal of hurt or a great of good and this is so far from being a fault that it is a duty while we take care to do it in such terms lindx as to not pray against the dispossessed Prince Thus far I think the doubtful possession of the Throne obliges us and it were very happy if no more were required in the beginnings of such a new Government but when besides the possession of the Throne the Power of the dispossessed Prince is broken and no visible prospect of his recovering his Throne again nay if it be visible that he can never recover his Throne again but by making a new Conquest of the Nation by Foreigners who will be our Masters if they conquer and no very gentle ones neither we may then look upon the new Prince as advanced and setled by God in his Throne and therefore such a King as we owe an entire Obedience and Allegiance to For we must not take the consideration of Right into the settlement of Government No have a care of that for a Prince may be setled in his Throne without Legal Right and when he is so God has made him our King and requires our Obedience p. 17 18. The Scripture has given us no Directions in this Case but to submit and pay all the Obedience of Subjects to the present Powers It makes no distinction that ever I could find between Rightful Kings and Usurpers between Kings whom we must and whom we must not obey but the general Rule is Let every Soul be subject to the higher Powers for all power is of God p. 18. To say the Apostle here speaks of Lawful Power is gratis dictum for there is no Evidence of it The Criticism between 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 will not do for they both signify the same thing in Scripture either Force and Power or Authority p. 19. When the Apostle says All power is of God there is no reason to confine this to the Legal Powers unless it were evidently the Doctrine of Scripture that usurped Powers are not of God which is so far from being true that the contrary is evident that the most high ruleth in the kingdom of men and giveth it to whomsoever he will 4 Dan. 17. which is spoke with reference to the four Monarchies which were all as manifest Usurpations as ever were in the World and yet set up by the Decree and Counsel of God and foretold by a prophetick Spirit and whoever will confine the Power and Authority of God Wisdom will die with this man in changing Times and Seasons in removing Kings and setting up Kings to Humane Laws ought not to be disputed with p. 20. This I 'm sure The only direction of Scripture is to submit to those who are in Authority who are in the actual administration of Government to reverence and obey them to pray for them to pay Tribute to them as God's Ministers attending continually upon this very thing and not to resist them but there is not the least notice given us of any kind of Duty owing or to be paid to a Prince out of Authority and removed from the Administration of Government whatever his Right may be p. 21. The Prophecy
of the Four Monarchies is not yet at an end for under the fourth Monarchy the Kingdom of Christ was to be set up and Antichrist was to appear and the increase and destruction of the Kingdom of Antichrist is to be accomplished by great Changes and Revolutions in Humane Governments and when God has declared that he will change Times and Seasons remove Kings and set up Kings to accomplish his own wise Counsels it justifies our necessary and therefore innocent compliances with such Revolutions as much as if we were expresly commanded to do so as the Jews were by the Prophet Jeremiah This a man may say without Enthusiasm or pretending to understand all the Prophesies of the Revelations and to apply them to their particular events for without that we certainly know that all the great Revolutions of the World are intended by God to serve those great Ends and when God will overturn Kingdoms and Empires remove and set up Kings as he sees will best serve the accomplishment of his own Counsels and Decrees it is very hard if Subjects must not quietly submit to such Revolutions we must not contrary to our sworn Duty and Allegiance promote such Revolutions No tho we be upon the point of losing our Lan's and Liberties upon a pretence of fulfilling Prophesies but when they are made and setled we ought to submit to them We have no direction in Scripture at all about making or unmaking Kings or restoring a dispossessed Prince to his Throne again and all the Commands we have in Scripture about Obedience and Subjection to Government manifestly respects the present Ruling Powers Let God Almighty turn Kingdoms topsie turvie as he pleases the Doctor will always fall upon his feet without any distinction between rightful and Usurped Powers it seems therefore plainly to determin this Question on the side of the present Powers p. 22 23. If the Choice and Consent of the people makes a Prince then no man is a Subject but he who consents to be so for the Major Vote cannot include my consent unless I please that is the effect of Law and Compact or Force not of Nature If Subjects give their Prince Authority they may take it away again if they please there can be no irresistible Authority derived from the people for if the Authority be wholly derived from them who shall hinder them from taking it away when they see fit If a man gives me a pair of Gloves who shall hinder him from taking them away again when he sees fit Upon these Principles there can be no Hereditary Monarchy one Generation can only chuse for themselves their Posterity having as much Right to chose as they had p. 24. I cannot see where to fix the Foundation of Government but in the Providence of God who either by the choice of the major or stronger part of the people or by Conquest or by Submission and the long successive continuance of power or by Human Laws gives a Prince and his Family possession of the Throne which is a good Title against all Humane Claims and requires the Obedience and Submission of Subjects as long as God is pleased to continue him and his Family in the Throne but it is no Title against God if he please to advance another Prince p. 24. To say that God sets up no Prince who ascends the Throne without a Humane and Legal Right is to say that some Kings are removed and others set up but not by God which is a direct contradiction to Scripture it is to say That the Four Monarchies were not set up by God because they all began by Violence and Usurpation It is to say That God as well as men is confined by Humane Laws in making Kings It is to say That the Right of Government is not derived from God without the consent of the people for if God can't make a King without the people or against their consent declared by their Laws the Authority must be derived from the people not from God or at least if it be God's Authority yet God can't give it himself without the people nor otherwise than they have directed him by their Laws This is all very absurd So 's all the rest of your Book Sir The Providence of God removes Kings and sets up Kings but alters no Legal Right nor forbids those who are dispossessed of them to recover their Right when they can While such a Prince is in the Throne it is a declaration of God's Will that he shall Reign for some time longer or shorter as God pleases and that is an obligation to Subjects to submit and obey for Submission is owing only to God's Authority but that one Prince is at present placed in the Throne and the other removed out of it does not prove that it is God's Will it should always be so and therefore does not divest the dispossessed Prince to recover his Legal Right A Legal and Successive Right is the ordinary way whereby the Providence of God advances Princes to an Hereditary Throne And this bars all other humane Claims but yet God may give the Throne to another if he pleases and this does not destroy the Legal Right of the dispossessed Prince lindx nor hinder him from claiming it when he finds his opportunity p. 26. It is a great Question Why 't is a Legal Commission but it has not the Authority of God which I am not Lawyer enough to decide Whether a Commission granted by a King out of Possession be a Legal Commission p. 31. Oaths oblige every particular man to do no injury to the King's Person or Crown not to enter into Plots and Conspiracies against him and as for actual defence chearfully to venture his Life and Fortunes with his Fellow-subjects to preserve the King But in case the great Body of the Nation absolve themselves from these Oaths and depose their King and drive him out of his Kingdom and set up another Prince in his room it is worth considering Whether some private men i may be but a little handful are still bound by their Oath to make some weak and dangerous attempts and to fight for their King against their Countrey certainly this was not the intention of the Oath for it is a National not a private Defence we swear and therefore a general revolt of a Nation tho it should be wicked and unjustifiable yet it seems to excuse those who had neither hand nor heart in it from their sworn defence of the King's Person and Crown and to make their compliane with the National Government innocent and necessary For an Oath to fight for the King does not oblige us to fight against our Countrey which is as unnatural as to fight against our King The sum is this God when he sees fit can remove Kings or set up Kings without any regard to humane Right as being the Sovereign Lord of the World who rules in the Kingdoms of Men and
giveth them to whomsoever he will but Subjects in setting up or removing Kings must have regard to Legal Right and if they pull down a rightful King and set up a King without right unless the Constitution of the Government in some cases should allow it greatly sin in it especially when they have sworn the defence of the Legal Right and Legal Succession but the Duty and Allegiance of Subjects does not immediately respect Right but the actual Administration of Government when there is a setled Government in a Nation for that is God's Authority which much be obeyed no man must swear away this no more than any other part of his Duty and no man does swear away this by the Oath of Allegiance as I have already shown p. 31 32. Object But have not Pyrates and Robbers as good a Title to my Purse as an Usurper has to the Crown which he seizes by as manifest force and violence Answ The Outrages of Thieves and Pyrates are very impertinently alledged in this Cause They have force and violence which every man must submit to when he cannot help it but Sovereign Power is God's Authority tho Princes may be advanced to it by no honester means than Thieves take a Purse or break open my House and take my Money or Goods The beginnings of the Four Monarchies were no better and yet their Power was God's p. 34. This Doctrine of Obedience and Allegiance to the present Powers Gen. 49.14 is founded on the same Principle with the Doctrine of Non-Resistance and Passive-Obedience and therefore both must be true or both false for it is founded on this Principle That God makes Kings and invests them with his Authority which equally proves That all Kings who have received a Sovereign Authority from God and are in the actual administration of it which is the only evidence we have that they have received it from God must be obeyed and must not be resisted Set aside this Principle That all Sovereign Princes receive their Authority from God and I grant that Non-Resistance is Nonsense ☜ for there is no other irresistible Authority but that of God p. 36. These Principles answer all the ends of Government both for the security of the Prince and Subjects and that is a good Argument to believe them true A Prince who is in Possession is secured in Possession by them as far as any Principles can secure him against all Attempts of his Subjects who must reverence God's Authority in him and submit to him without Resistance tho they are ill used They will not indeed serve the Revolutions of Government to remove one King and set up another and if they would Princes might be jealous of them for whatever Service they might do them at one turn they might do them as great Disservice at another The Revolutions of Government are not the Subjects Duty but God's Prerogative and therefore it is not likely that he has prescribed any certain Rules or Methods for the overturning and changing Government which he keeps in his own hands and which when he sees fit to do it he never wants ways and means of doing But when any Prince is setled in the Throne by what means soever it be these Principles put an end to all disputes of Right and Title and bind his Subjects to him by Duty and Conscience and a Reverence of God's Authority which is the fastest hold he can possibly have of them No Interest is the fastest hold in these cases for those whom Religion will not bind nothing but Force can And therefore these are the only principles which in such Revolutions can make Government easie both to Prince and People and if Government must be preserved in all Revolutions those are the best Principles which are most for the ease and safety of it But on the other hand such an immoveable and unalterable Allegiance as is thought due only to a Legal Right and Title and must be paid to none but to a Legal and Rightful Prince serves no ends of Government at all but overturns all Government when such a Prince is dispossessed of his Throne how long soever he continue dispossessed And what long Inter-regnums may this occasion to the dissolution of Human Societies p. 43 44. I cannot indeed think neither do I believe that any body else does that for a King to leave his Crown and Government in a fright is in all cases necessarily to be interpreted such an Abdication as is equivalent to a voluntary Resignation whereby he renounces all future Right and Claim to it But if he have reduced himself to such a state that he is forced for his own preservation to leave his Kingdom and Government it is plain that in some sense he leaves his Throne vacant too that is there is no body in it no body in the actual Administration of the Government Thus far I think Subjects may be very guiltless who do not drive the King away but only suffer him quietly to escape out of his Kingdoms for this is no Rebellion no Resistance but only Non-Assistance which may be very innocent for there are some cases wherein Subjects are not bound to assist their Prince and if ever there were such a Case this was it What then shall Subjects do when the King is gone and the Government Dissolved the people left in the Hands of another Prince without any Reason or any Authority or any formed Power to oppose him The Government must be Administred by some-body unless we can be contented that the Rabble should govern But I shall not meddle with that Interval between the going away of the King and the Prince's coming to the Throne but only consider him as placed in the Throne and setled there And now we can find no alteration in the Ancient government of the Nation but only the exchange of persons and all things concur to make this a very advantageous and acceptable Change excepting such difficulties as usually accompany such Revolutions p. 49 50. Legal Rights must be determined by a Legal Authority and there is no Authority can take cognizance of the Titles and Claims of Princes and the disposal of the Crown but the Estates of the Realm They indeed are obliged to take notice of the legal Descent of the Crown ☜ and if through mistake or any other cause they set the Crown upon a wrong Head they must answer for it but private Subjects who have no legal Cognizance of the matter are bound by no Law that I know of to disown a King whom the Estates have owned though they should think the Right is in another p. 52 53. Hitherto have been displayed the Principles of some of our heavenly Guides with respect to our Present Settlement The Conclusion of the whole matter take in the Words of a Worthy Divine lately delivered in a Sermon before the House of Commons viz. WE may safely conclude from the late Deliverance which we have found and the
Ark of God they must be handled with Ceremony and tho we approach them with never so much respect yet by an unskilful touch we may easily offend and 't is a trespass upon Majesty to come too near it The 15th of February the Lords and Commons ordered That His Majesties most gracious Answer this day be added to the Engrossed Declaration in Parchment to be enroll'd in Parliament and Chancery which is as followeth My Lords and Gentlemen THis is certainly the greatest proof of the Trust you have in Us that can be given which is the thing that maketh Us value it the more and We thankfully accept what you have offered And as I had no other intention in my coming hither than to preserve Your Religion Laws and Liberties So you may be sure that I shall endeavour to support them and shall be willing to concur in any thing that shall be for the Good of the Kingdom and to do all that is in my Power to advance the Welfare and Glory of the Nation Thus ended that stupendious Revolution in England which we have so lately seen to the great Joy of the Generality of the Protestants of Europe and of many of the Catholick Princes and States who were at last convinced that the attempting to force England to return under the Obedience of the See of Rome in the present conjuncture of Affairs would certainly end in the Ruin of this potent Kingdom and whilst it was doing the present French King would possess himself of the Remainder of the Spanish Netherlands and the Palatinate and perhaps of the Electorates of Cologne Mentz and Triers a great part of which he hath actually seized whilst the Prince of Orange was thus gloriously asserting the English Liberty The Convention having declared the King and Queen as aforesaid proceeded to Declare themselves a Parliament to settle the Coronation-Oath to Repeal that Clause in an Oath and Declaration That it is unlawful upon any pretence whatsoever to Take up Arms against the King or those Commissioned by him To revive the Administration of the Law which had been interrupted and therein they particularly Enact That Indictments c. for Offences committed betwixt the 11th of December and the 13th of Feb. 1688 should run Contra Pacem Regni And by the First Act of this present Parliament The Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons did Recognize and Acknowledge That their Majesties were and of Kight ought to be by the Laws of this Realm their Sovereign Liege Lord and Lady King and Queen of England c. And by the same Act it was enacted That all and singular the Acts made and Enacted by the last Parliament were and are the Laws and Statutes of this Kingdom and as such ought to be reputed taken and obeyed by all the people of the same God save King WILLIAM and Queen MARY FINIS BOOKS Printed for Richard Baldwin TRuth brought to light by Time or the most remarkable Transactions of the first fourteen Years of King James's Reign The second Edition with Additions A New Plain Short and Compleat French and English Grammer whereby the Learned may attain in few Months to Speak and Write French Correctly as they do now in the Court of France And wherein all that is Dark Superfluous and deficient in other Grammers is Plain Short and Methodically Supplied Also very useful to strangers that are desirons to learn the English Tongue For whose sake is addded a Short but very Exact English Grammer The Second Edition By Peter Berault The Devout Christian's Preparation for holy Dying Consisting of Ejaculations Prayers Meditations and Hymns adopted to the several States and Conditions of this Life And on the four last things viz. Death Judgment Heaven and Hell Victoriae Anglicanae being an Historical Collection of all the Memorable and Stupendious Victories obtain'd by the English against the French both by Sea and Land since the Norman Conquest viz. The Battle 1. Between K. Henry II. and Robert of Normandy 2. At Morleis 3. At the Rescue of Calice 4. At Poicters 5. At Cressey 6. At Agincourt 7. At the mouth of the River Seine 8. At Vernoil 9. At Cravant 10. At the Relief of Orleance with the great Actions of the Lord Salisbury and Talbot 11. Of Spurrs Dedicated to all the Commission'd Officers of the Maritime and Land Forces Price stitcht 6 d. Mathematical Magick Or the Wonders that may be Performed by Mechanical Geometry In Two Books Concerning mechanical Powers Motions Being one of the most Easie Pleasant Useful and yet most neglected part of Mathematicks Not before treated of in this Language By J. Wilkins late Lord Bishop of Chester The Fourth Edition The Memoirs of Monsieur Deagant Containing the most Secret Transactions and Affairs of France from the Death of Henry IV. till the beginning of the Ministry of the Cardinal de Richlieu To which is added a particular Relation of the Archbishop of Embrun's Voyage into England and of his Negotiation for the advancement of the Roman-Catholick Religion here together with the Duke of Buckingham's Letters to the said Archbishop about the Progress of that Affair Which happen'd the last Years of King James I. his Reign Faithfully translated out of the French Original A True Relation of the Cruelties and Barbarities of the French upon the English Prisoners of War being a Journal of their Travels from Dinant in Britany to Thoulon in Provence and back again With a Description of the Scituation and Fortifications of all the Eminent Towns upon the Road and their Distance c. Faithfully and impartially Performed by Richard Strutton being an Eye-witness and a Fellow-Sufferer The State of Savoy In which a full and distinct Account is given of the Persecution of the Protestants in the Valleys of Piedmont by means of the French Councils As also of the Unreasonable Conditions and Demands that the French King would have put on the Duke of Savoy And of the just Causes and Motives that induced that Duke to break off from the French Interest and join with the Confederates Together with the most memorable Occurrences that have since hapned there As also the true Copies of all the Letters and Dispatches that have passed between them