Action of Law In the other there may for otherwise he might take away any mans Free-hold at pleasure And were it not a wild thing to imagine otherwise when according to the very Stile of the Law all Writs Trials and Forms of Iustice run in the Kings name So that admitting their Supposition the King sits Iudge upon himself When the late Underminers of the Government found that they could not shake the Royal Authority This way for it was attempted they had recourse afterward to the Phansie of a Coordinate Government making the King Lords and Commons to be the Three Estates in stead of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons represented in Parliament Which mistake being swallowed by the Undiscerning Multitude proved the Foundation of our Common Ruine This Whimsie being now set on foot again I shall bestow a Word or two upon the Unmasking of that pernicious and sensless Pretence and make it appear that the Position is Destructive not onely of the Three Estates as some account them but of the very Being of Parliaments Supposing the Government to be Coordinate as these People will have it any Twâ— Parts of the Three may Out the Third The King lies at the Mercy of the Lords and Commons the Commons at the Mercy of the King and the Lords and the Lords as much at the Mercy of the King and Commons So that at this rate no body knows to day what Government we shall have to morrow This is the Just Ratio of a Coordinate State and then to colour the Invention they tell us that the King is Singulis Major Vniversis Minor Greater then the Diffusive Body of the People but Inferiour to the Collective Which strikes at the very Root of Parliaments for if it be True that a Prince by calling of a Parliament dethrones himself what Prince would ever call a Parliament As it is clear that Sovereign Power is Sacred and not to be Touched it is no less Clear on the other side that all the Executors of Illegal Powers and Violences may be questioned for that the Law puts no difference betwixt one Subject and another but provides for Common Iustice betwixt man and man without any difference of regard to Dignities or Persons And as it appoints us such a Relief in such and such Cases so does it likewise ordain and direct such and such Punishments in other Cases according as the wisdom of the Law-makers hath found convenient So that he is upon his Good behaviour either for Redress or Punishment But I hear many people say that 't is True the Law provides well enough for us but what if Iustice be overaw'd and obstructed My answer is that we are to help our selves by Law if we can but if the Law will not relieve us we must be Patient especially in a Case where 't is impossible to find a Remedy that is not worse then the Disease Let us but look a little into the Consequences of passing That Line and taking upon us to be our Own Carvers First by Transgressing the Bounds of the Law we cast our selves out of the Protection of it Secondly by declining the Common Equity of it we run into Partialities and Factions and every man makes himself both Iudge and Party Thirdly from a Certain and Infallible Provision for the Stating and Determining of all Controversies we transport our selves into an Absolute Impossibility of ever Reconciling them I might have said of Vnderstanding them For Fourthly from matter of Fact we betake our selves to Questions and Propositions of Notion as the Law of Nature Self-preservation c. which signifie nothing more then to puzzle the Multitude and confound the Order of Civil Administration For there can be no Proof made of a Thought but under Countenance of These Blinds the Ambitious the Revengeful the Necessitous the Factious the Covetous the Malicious and the like Stalk to their Vnrighteous and Self-Ends And what 's the Issue of all This but that when by Coveting more then did belong to us we have lost what we had when by forsaking the Known and the Safe ways of Peace and Iustice we have wandered out our Lives in Pathless Dangerous and Vncomfortable Errors without either Light or Guide to set us right again When we have been led by a False Shew of Liberty as by an Ignis Fatuus through Boggs and Ditches and all in pursuit of a Sluttish Vapour When by breaking the Bond of Humane Society we have turned a Community into a Desert and like Wild Beasts torn one another to pieces What is the fruit at last of all our Wild Adventures but Bondage Beggery Shame and Late Repentance So that our Best and Surest Way will be for every man to look to his Own Province without intermeddling in the Jurisdiction of Another Having sufficiently discoursed upon the Quality of Tyrannical Usurpations we come now to Religion and State as the Subject Matter they are to work upon Wherein we shall Distinguish betwixt Tyranny as an Act of the Government and Usurpation as a Claim of the People Touching the Power of Kings and the Possibility of Tyranny in the matter of Religion the Question falls into a very narrow Compass for Conscience lies out of the Reach of Law And the Powers of Government are onely exercised upon Ouvert and Sensible Acts. But the point in hand however is This First What is intended by the Tyranny here spoken of Secondly How are we to behave our selves in Case of such Tyranny There may be Tyranny either in forcing a man upon a Penalty to Renounce the Right Religion or to Embrace a False One Or in Prohibiting to any man the Freedom of Worship after his Own way And all these Cases vary according to the Constitution of the Government and the Conscience of the Governour For the same thing may be Lawful in One place and not in Another and to One Person too and not to Another And it may be more or less Excusable also according to These Circumstances In short It is a Tyranny to press a man to a False Worship A Tyranny to punish him for adhering to a True one A Tyranny to hinder any man from Worshipping God as he Ought And the Tyranny it self is yet farther aggravated if it be done in Opposition to the Law of the Land And to the Conscience of the Ruler as well as to Common Equity But still when I have lost Liberty Estate nay and Life it self by reason of Religion my Religion it self is preserved Inviolate even when my Body lies in Ashes The Prince that Acts all these Tyrannies hath undoubtedly a great deal to answer for to Almighty God But what Remedy is there for the Subject that Suffers them And let That be the next Point In Case of such Persecutions as aforesaid I know no more then These Four ways of Application for Relief Either by Prayer to Almighty God By Recourse to the Law for Protection By Petition to the Government
THE Free-born Subject OR THE Englishmans Birthright Asserted against all TYRANNICAL VSVRPATIONS EITHER IN CHURCH OR STATE LONDON Printed for Henry Brome at the Gun in St. Pauls Church-yard at the West-end 1679. THE FREE-BORN SUBJECT OR The Englishmans Birthright Asserted against all Tyrannical Usurpations either in RELIGION or STATE NOw to take my Text to pieces By a Free-born Subject is meant a person that is born under the Protection of the Law and thereby entitled to certain known Immunities and Privileges as his Birthright But then he is likewise tied up by the same Law to certain Rules and Measures of Obedience to Government So that he seems to be Free in one respect and Subject in another Now how far he is Enfranchised by this Liberty and how far Limited by that Subjection will be the Question You shall seldom or never find this expression used but as a kind of Popular Challenge and still in favour of the Free-born without any regard at all to the Subject Whereas we should as well consider the Authority of an Imperial Prince on the one hand as the Privileges of a Free-born People on the other And not so far mistake either the Force or the Intent of Magna Charta and the Petition of Right by which we claim to these Liberties as if by being discharged of our Vassalage we were also discharged of our Allegiance The Englishmans Birthright sounds much to the same purpose too with the Free-born Subject Only there lies a stronger Emphasis in Common Speech upon the word Englishman As when we speak of a Brave Man that stands up for the Honour and Defence of his Country such a one we cry is a Right Englishman a True Englishman Now to the end that we may not be misled by the Sound and Jingle of Words into a false and dangerous Notion of Things let us repair to the Law which is the Known and Common Standard of our Civil Actions that we may not either give up our Own just Rights on the One hand or Encroach upon his Majesties on the Other For it is the Law that marques out the Metes and Bounds both of King and People that shews how far we are to Go and where to Stop and teaches us to distinguish betwixt Liberty and Sedition betwixt a True Right Old Englishman and a shuffling double-hearted Moderm Impostor As we have our Legal Rights so we lie under Legal Restrictions too And the King likewise hath his Legal Prerogatives which are also accompanied with certain Legal Limitations From whence it appears that the Law serves as a Common-Rule and lies as a Common Obligation both upon Prince and Subject And yet though there be a Duty Incumbent on both sides there is a great difference even in point of Law it selfe betwixt the Kings Violation of the Law and the Peoples The King breaks his Word the People forfeit their Bond. They are Both of them Bound alike in Conscience but the People are over and above engaged upon a Penalty It makes a huge noise in the World that Kings are bound by the Laws as well as the People And so they are in Honour and Conscience but no further And this arises from the very Nature of Government it self For wheresoever the Last Appeal lies there rests the Government And there can be no Government at all without the Establishment of a Final Result for otherwise the King shall Iudge the People and the People Rejudge the King and so the Controversie shall run round World without end Take notice now that all Appeals move from a Lower Court or Sentence to a Superiour and consider then how ridiculous it were to Appeal Downward or from Sovereign Princes to any other Power than to the King of Kings who alone is above them But let us put the Case now that a Prince mis-governs How shall he be tried It must be either By the Law or Without it If the Former where is the Law that says The People may call their Soveraign to accompt in case he does not Govern according to Law Or if they cannot produce such a Law the Assertion is Treasonous If the Latter we are at our Old Salus Populi again Which in one word is no other then a direct Dissolution of the Law and a Prostitution of Authority to the Will of the Multitude Having already stated the Conditions and Advantages of a Free-born Subject and of our English Birthrights we shall now proceed to the asserting of these our Privileges against all Tyrannical Usurpations either in matter of Religion or State And first a word of Tyrannical Usurpations Under this Head may be comprised all sorts of Violence and Oppression by what means or Instruments soever exercised contrary to Law and Iustice. By Tyranny we do understand An Vnjust Domination or an Abuse of a Lawful Power to the injury of the People as if a Prince should turn a Legal Government into and Arbitrary Now we commonly reckon That for an Vsurpation when One man takes upon him the Right of another without any Title to it at all As our late Oliver was called Vsurper And there are also Mixt Cases as was That before mentioned where Tyranny and Vsurpation meet Both in One. According to This Division we may be oppressed three several ways either Immediately by the Prince himself or Mediately by his Ministers as by special Direction and Command Or otherwise we may be simply oppressed one Subject by another But still these Oppressions are Illegal every way and the Question is Now what Legal Relief in the Case For as the Law entitles us to the Privileges we claim and to the enjoyment of them so does the Law likewise appoint and chalk us out the Methods of Asserting and Maintaining our Rights in case they be invaded So that we must onely Oppose Legal Remedies to Illegal Wrongs and not think to deliver our selves from one Violence by another For Popular Commotions are the most Criminal and Dangerous of all sorts of Oppressions Other Oppressions may lie Heavy upon particular Persons but This is an Oppression of Law and Government it self And it is as Foolish as it is Impious For while we Phansie all things to be Lawful for us because we suffer many things against Law we incur a Legal Forfeiture of all our Privileges by the unlawful manner of endeavouring to preserve them It is a Maxim in Law but not in Morals that the King can do no wrong for he may shed Innocent Bloud with his own hand which is the Greatest of Wrongs but it is not looked upon however as a Wrong in Law because there is no Law to question him for it The Ordinary shift upon this Point is That the King may be sued and that consequently he stands answerable to the Law To which I say with a Distinction that the King hath a Twofold Right a Right of Dominion and a Right of Propriety In the Former which is the point in Question there lies no
for Indulgence and Compassion Or else to trie if we can deliver our selves by Direct Force The First is a sure Expedient in all Cases for where we are not Delivered from our Afflictions Our Afflictions are yet by Gods Providence turned into Comforts In the Second place we may make the best of the Law provided that we do not make the Law Felo de se and raise Inferences of Equitable Supposition in Contradiction to the Naked and Express Letter of it As for Example By the Law we have a Lawful Right to such and such Liberties and herein we have the Law to Friend But if we make any attempt to compass these Lawful Ends by Vnlawful Means the Law is point blank against us Our Next Resort is by Petition to the Government which is a Course Laudable and Fair provided we keep clear of Rancour and Clamour and address to the Magistrate not to the Multitude For it is not the End of those Popular Papers to Sollicite Relief but to Provoke Tumults and under the Countenance of begging Compassion toward the People to stir up Sedition against the Government For Lewd Characters of Men breed Ill Thoughts of them and Evil Thoughts break out into Wicked Actions and the readiest way in the World to a Rebellion is to startle the Vulgar with an Apprehension of Tyranny If all this will not do there remains nothing more but either Patience or Force The Former was of the Primitive and the Later hath been the practice of our Modern Christians but whether they do Well or Ill in it shall be now examined It hath done a great deal of Mischief in the World the Misconstruction of That Text that bids us Obey God rather then man For the People are not well aware that First in Obeying of Magistrates in all Warrantable Cases they Obey God also in That Civil Obedience Secondly Supposing the Command of the Supreme Magistrate to be directly Opposite to the Express Will of God I will not Obey him in That Case but I am not yet discharged of my Duty to him in Other Cases for he is never the less a Lawful Magistrate even for not being a Christian and I will not Resist him in Any Thirdly the Law of This Nation makes all Motions and Insurrections whatsoever without Legal Authority to be Riotous Seditious or Treasonous Assemblies Fourthly Allowing this Latitude to the People that they may Confederate and Rise for the Defence of Religion they may as well rise for the Subversion of it for we have but their bare Words either for the One or for the Other Fifthly It Authorizes every man to set up a Church by himself in his Own Phansie and in stead of carrying his Body to the Doctor for a Fit of the Spleen he brings his Conscience forsooth to the Government to be cured of a Revelation And this License in one word sets up the Crotchet of every Sickly Brain in Competition with Christianity iâ— self and the Politique Peace What if I should say now that there was never any War in the World undertaken purely upon the Accompt of Religion that was not utterly Vnlawful unless in Cases of Gods Extraordinary and Peculiar Dispensations For First What are the Certain and Necessary Effects of War but Bloud Rapine Oppression the Multiplying of so many Widows and Orphans Depopulating of Countries and Kingdoms and the Violation of all Rights Sacred and Profane Are These now the Works of the Gospel And what is Religion the better for all this These are Sacrifices for Moloch and This is a Religion and an Oblation fitter for an Insensible and Implacable Idol then for the God of Love and Peace Let us but consider now what a Deluge of Impiety flows in upon Humane Nature with This Opinion The Papist falls foul upon the Protestant the Protestant upon the Papist the Christian upon the Mahumetan the Mahumetan upon the Christian It sets all People and all Parties together by the Ears onely for Diversity of Thoughts It makes Authority Ridiculous it frustrates the very Laws of Nations and lays the World again in Common Now if This be so Pestilent a Doctrine taken only at Large How much more Diabolical is it for Subjects upon This Vngodly Pretext to go about to Embroyl a Well Regulated State and to charge their Souls with Perjury Schism and Rebellion over and above the Common Crimes that accompany Hostile Invasions As the Law hath been hitherto so it must be henceforward the Rule and Measure of all our Proceedings In the Section of Tyranny the Question was How the Subject should demean himself toward the Prince in the Case of such and such Oppressions in matter of Religion But now in Case of an Vsurpation the Question is How far the Government should comply with a Popular Importunity or how far the People should gratifie one another Of which we have spoken so much at large elsewhere that the less will serve in this place The Word Vsurpation implies the Affecting or Invading of Anothers Right which in the point of Religion must needs be very Dangerous because the People are so easily disposed to swallow That Deadly Pill I do not reckon a bare and simple Dissent from the Established Doctrine and Discipline of the Church to be an Vsurpation For possibly there may be a Real Scruple or want of due Information in the Case But when That Dissent comes to be Practical when it comes to make Parties to Divide into Sects to Plead and to Challenge the Law it is no longer a Plea of Conscience but a direct Conspiracy against the Government It is a Nursery of Heresies over and above And a Liberty utterly Inconsistent with the Measures of Political Iustice and Prudence For First They Agree among themselves in the single point onely of Departing from Vs And they are not in Conjunction more dissatisfied with our Ecclesiastical Laws and Decrees then they are severally among themselves one Sect with another So that it is in this respect impossible to please them And Secondly It is no less dangerous to offer at it in other Considerations For First upon the Current of Long and Constant Experience they have been always found Insatiable Never esteeming what they had to be Enough till they had gotten All. The late King gave them still more and more and the more he Gave the more they Craved and turned his Bounty at last to his Destruction He did effectually in favour of their Importunities Strip himself to his Revenue his Crown and his Life and all That They took Another danger is that the very men that ask a Toleration are Principled against it And I see not the least shadow of a Reason why they that will not Tolerate Others should be Tolerated Themselves And truly as little Ground for the Asking of it as for the Granting of it For First Why should the Vnity of the Church be broken and the Peace of it disturbed in favour of the Enemies of it