shall be upon the faithful of the Land that they may dwell with me he that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight c. Psal 101. 4 6 7. In Nature it self are found impressions of this Ordinance In Heaven amongst Angels are Principalities and Thrones Eph. 1. 21. and Michael the Archangel Jude 9. Amongst the Sphaers there is a primum Mobile one first moveable Commander of all the inferiour Orbs with his Motion Amongst Stars there are greater and lesser Lights â—â—â—ers amongst the rest the sun to rule by day and the Moon and Stars by night Nay so absolutely necessary is Government that it reaches even to Hell. Devils themselvet have their Principalities Mat. 25. 41. not only over other Creatures but respectively among themselves therefore it is said the Devil and his Angels and Belzebub the Prince of Devils Mat. 12. 24. To say nothing of Brutes amongst which yet Philosophers have observed a perfect form of Regiment and Polity among Bees a Commonwealth Locusts go out by Bands c. And see we not plainly that Obedience of Creatures unto the Law of Nature is the stay of the whole World. In man if nothing else evince it methinks that awful submission to Regiment which natural Conscience suggests to Savages sufficiently proves it As far as that Principle is heard of that there is a King of Kings and Lord of Lords wherever it is known that there is a God that judgeth the Earth it is known also and received that there are Nominal Gods on Earth with reverence next to the Supreme Majesty to be adored But above all natural Conscience amongst other common Notions hath received the impression of this natural Principle how else comes it to pass that a few extravagant Natures and profligated Consciences only excepted such awful Submission is found in all to Men of our own Mould Yet in our Apprehension clad with such venerable Majesty that the guilty scarce behold them without trembling and the Guiltless yield willing reverence to their Persons so every way God hath pleased to make known his Ordinance for Government Magistracy and Laws CHAP. II. Shews the ultimate and final end of all Government Shews the Laws of God and Nature to be the best Guides and that Covenants made between King and People are to be kept both by King and People and the breach thereof alike Penal to King and People and whoever breaks either Laws or Covenants they are Rebels to the Laws and that the People are still the Lords People HAving shewed the absolute necessity of Government it is requisite also to declare the ultimate and final end of all Governments which by confession of all is primarily and especially the Declaration of the infinite Wisdom Goodness and Glory of God propagation of the Gospel and the good of the Governed for whose good all things were created Unto these two all kinds of Governments how variously soever framed according to the different Modes Wisdoms and Understandings of Men and Nations ought to be conformable Let Christ be our great Exemplar who denyed himself his own natural will and life and bestowed himself on us that we likewise might not seek every man his own but every man the good of another imploying our selves on the benefit and service of Church and State and so grow and be built up together in love which is the Consummation and perfecting as of all Saints so of all Governments For as God who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords the only Monarch of the World and whose understanding is infinite in the Government and Administration of this inferiour World designed his own Glory together with the Good and Salvation of the whole Race of Mankind so he expects submission and perfect obedience unto his Laws Statutes and Judgments from all Kings Princes and Governours as his Ministers Be wise now therefore O ye Kings be instructed ye Judges of the Earth and serve the Lord with fear in all your Administrations according to the purport of his Laws and for the ends designed lest the sad Fate of Solomon betide you 1 King. 11. 11. Because thou hast not kept my Covenants and my Statutes which I have commanded thee I will surely rend thy Kingdom from thee and will give it to thy servant Now without all peradventure the Law of Nature is the best and most equal Law and most fit to be imitated which being strictly observed nothing can be wanting to any body and what every one hath is his own for ever For as those who preside over Celestial Bodies are blessed and just minds and Spirits and every one doth most justly govern his own Body so Nature being derived from those Superiour just Souls keepeth the most just and equal order in all her actings which she makes known to all the World. Now the nearer all human Laws do come to the Laws of God and Nature the more certain and the more glorious must their way of living be who live and are governed by such Laws Unto these Laws had those ancient Law-givers respect which eterniz'd their Names and Memories famous to all succeeding Ages Above the rest are celebrated the Laws of Lacedaemon by Licurgus of Athens by Solon of the Locrenses a Town in Italy by Zalencus of the Thurii a City in Greece by Garondas of the Getae a People of Scythia in Europe by Zamolxis a Scholar of Pythagoras and Divine Plato commends the Laws of Crete Isocrates of the Carthaginians but above all the Roman Laws by the Judgment of Polybiis do excel These Laws of these Law-givers tho not the self-same but differing one from the other yet they all tend to one and the same end the Peace Happiness and welfare of the several Nations and People tho they did not march all in one and the same Road and Path thereunto The first Law givers had always the Laws of Nature in which there 's nothing unequal to be found before their Eyes to imitate and conform to them as near as they could but when they made Judicial Laws as they were not all under one Climate nor suckt the same Air so they had not all the same Reason the same Judgment which made the difference in their Laws but yet they all tended to the good and happiness of the People and Nations for whom they were made All right being either from the Law of Nature which is the Law of God or from Custom or from Human Laws The right of Nature always stands on its own Legs by its self without the assistance of Custom or of other Laws and always points and leads to happy life and condition which every Man Society and Nation might enjoy if they would but follow her Dictates and take her for their Guide and Rule to walk by But above all Laws no Laws like to those of the Almighty who is the Lord alone of all the Kingdoms of the Earth for they had
may learn wisdom and not fall away Wisd chap. 1. ver 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9. THE Right of Government AND JUSTIFICATION OF DEFENSIVE ARMS c. THough there can be nothing so exactly so accurately so cautiously written that prevaricating and searching Wits and Men of different Principles and different Interests who take and measure only by their own Plummets and their own Lines will not quarrel and throw Stones at when sound Reason and solid Arguments are wanting to refute Yet I presume to expose my Sentiments concerning Government and Governors and to run the same fortune and risk with others not vainly expecting to pass currantly without snaps and snarles laying a very short but firm Foundation as a solid Rock able to bear and justifie all the Superstructures which I shall Build thereon relating to any Form of Government whatsoever thereby avoiding multiplicity and ministring less occasion of Disputes and less Fuel to kindle the fire of Contention and less scope to pick and make Disputes and Quarrels upon I shall not particularly meddle with the several Forms of Government nor how rightly or abusively exercised in any Nation State or Kingdom but shall endeavour quantum in me to set the Right of Governors and Government on a right Foundation in general without respect to this or that Form or to this or that Nation Commonwealth or Kingdom and without particular Reflections as much as is possible unless by way of instance on any particular Kingdom or Commonwealth CHAP. I. Shews the absolute necessity of Government of what Nature it ought to be and how Governors ought to behave themselves in the Management thereof To what Governors Obedience is due I Shall First shew the absolute necessity of Friendly Assotiations and Government Secondly Of what Nature it ought to be Thirdly Who of right have the Power of Government It is a Maxime most Christian an undeniable That pure Religion and undefiled Holiness of Life and Conversation is every Man's bounden Duty in particular and is and ought to be the highest of all the Cares and Concerns of all publick and private Governors and Governments in many respects 1. In respect of gratitude towards God who hath done so great things for us Men and for the Eternal Welfare of our Immortal Souls and who giveth to all Men liberally and upbraideth not and not only for necessity but for delight also 2. In respect of his Almighty Power who is Lord alone of all the Kingdoms of the Earth and doth whatsoever he pleaseth in Heaven above and in Earth beneath and in the great Waters 3. In respect that righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne Psalm 97. 2. and he will judge the World with Righteousness and all Persons with his Truth and who only can give Peace within our Walls and Plentiousness within our Pallaces but that only Hypothetically on condition that our ways do please him 4. In respect of the great power Religion hath to qualifie all unnatural exorbitant humors and passions of Men even most rebellious against God or Men and to incline all Governors to Rule with Conscience and the Governed to obey for Conscience sake It is no Phanatick whim but a matter of â—ound and undeniable consequence That all Duties both of the Governors and Governed are by so much the better executed by how much they are the more Religious For it 's not possible that good Government can continue without good Governors which being most certainly true Policy must submit and be subordinate and dâ— homage to Religion This is more demonstrable in that all good Christians do own these very Truths in their very Prayers to which the several Lyturgies of several Nations give abundant undeniable Testimony Besides they have God's own Command and own Pattern for such Government and Governors viz. Hâ— that ruleth over men must be just ruling in the fear of God 2. Sam. 23. 3. Before the Israelites God's own peculiar People for whom God has done so much and shewed so many Miracles by bringing them out of the Land of Egypt by a strong Hand entred that good Land beyond Jordan he taught them by his Servant Moses Laws Statutes and Judgments to govern themselves by saying Behold I have taught you Statutes and Judgments even as the Lord my God commanded me that ye should do so in the Land whether ye go to possess it keep therefore and do them for this is your wisdom and understanding in the sight of the Nations which shall hear all these Statutes and say Surely this great Nation is a wise and understanding People For what Nation is there so great who hath God so nigh unto them as the Lord our God is in all things that we call unto him for and what Nation is there so great that hath Statutes and Judgments so righteous as all this Law which I have set before thee Only take heed to thy self and keep thy soul diligently and teach them thy Son and thy Sons Sons c. What human Oracles can contrive and dictate better Laws Statutes and Judgments than is commanded in Holy Writ And therefore greatest prudence and safety to make them their Pattern But we have not only Divine but Human Sanctions also for what is averred That great Prince Augustus was wont to say That Religion did Deifie Princes And Tully tells us That the Roman State did increase and flourish more by Religion than by any other means All the Laws of Solon and Lycurges of Greece and Rome c. come far short of the Laws of God for the most pure just and excellent Government And whoever shall consult the Antients of the very Heathens themselves as Plato Aristotle Cicero and others shall find that they all center be the Form of Government what it will in just Laws and just Execution without creating Subtilties or coyning Evasions to sham good Laws made in simplicity and in sincerity Thus by Testimony both Divine and Human Religion is the best and surest Basis of Human Society Union Peace Liberty Plenty and distributive Justice to all indifferently without respect of Persons high or low rich or poor Consider also what Edward I. hath left as a Pattern of good Government concerning the Office of a King Rex autem c. The King because he is the Vicar of the great God is ordained to this That above all he should reverence Holy Church that he should govern the Earthly Kingdom and People of God and defend them from injuries and should discountenance and dispel all lewd People out of Church and State which if he do not the name of King remains not in him But Pope John testifying he loseth the name of King to whom Pepin and Charles his Sons not yet Kings but Princes under the French King wrote foolishly complaining that if so the Kings of France ought to be content with the Name and Title of King by whom it was answered That it belongs to them to be called Kings
who carefully defend and govern the Church and People of God imitating David King of Israel Psalm 101. He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house he that telleth lyes shall not tarry in my sight I will early destroy all the wicked of the land that I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of the Lord c. The King ought in all truth and sincerity fully and wholly to observe all the Dignities Rights and Liberties of the Kingdom and to reduce them to their Pristine condition The King also ought to do all things in his Kingdom righteously and that by the judgment of the Nobles of the Kingdom and Right and Justice ought rather to bear Rule in a Kingdom than sinful Wills and Pleasures Law is always that which doth right but Will and Pleasure is violence and force is not right And much more to the same purpose by Edward the First to whose Laws also William the Conqueror subscribed Vid. Lambert Collect p. 142. N o 17. The true Religion of God and honest Conversation even of Priests themselves is our chiefest care saith Justinian Novel constit 6. The search of true Religion we find to be the chiefest care of Imperial Majesty Legum Theodos Novel tit 2. de Judaeis Samaritanis So Gregory the Great earnestly exhorted Edelbert unto the first that was Christned of the Saxon Kings in England For this cause the Almighty God brings the good Princes to the Regiment of his People that by them he may bestow the gifts of his mercy upon all that are under them Beda hist Aug. 32. Consider in the Creation we were all created in Adam equal and equally innocent and upright and had we so continued in that state of Innocency there would have been no need of Impery one over another every one would have been a King to himself God and Nature their only Law-givers but lapsed Man sought out many Inventions and broke the Laws both of God and Nature and thereby provoked God to anger and to vengeance and instead of being homo homini Deus as in their fist Creation and state of Innocency they soon became homo homini Lupus which unavoidably introduced a necessity of Government framed by human Wisdom that they may not like Brutes devour one another but live in Unity Wealth Peace and Godliness that they might have Liberty preserved Justice equally distribute◠Honesty upheld Religion and Piety maintained and propagated all which could not be done when the Race of lapsed Mankind was multiplyed but by Laws ordained by Common Consent as sociable Parts united into one Body which Laws in common Prudence and of right do bind each to serve other and all to prefer the good of the whole before what good soever of any particular without which no House no City no Nation can long subsist in any happy condition For to govern and to be governed is not to be esteemed amongst things only necessary but as things profitable also for the benefit and sollace of all Mankind and hath its ground and warrant in Scripture in Nature in Heaven Hell the Creatures Mans nature and Conscience In Scripture by me Kings and consequently all other Forms of Government reign and Princes decree Justice By me Princes rule and Nobles even all the Judges of the earth Pro. 8. 15 16. saith Gods essential wisdom viz. not only by the secret disposition of his Providence but by the express warrant of his Ordinance by Divine Institution not by naked approbation there being no power but of God either by his commission or permission The powers that are i. e. the several Forms of Government are ordained by God Rom. 13. 1 2 3 4 5 6. i. e. politick Power in general is warranted by a Divine Law but the several Forms of Government is by the Law of Nations Princedom Empire Kingdom and Jurisdiction have their Rise from a positive and secondary Law of Nations and not absolutely from the Law of God or of pure Nature which the Lawyers call Secundariò Jus naturale or Jus gentium secundarium In sum Government is immediately from God but this or that Form of Government is immediately from God by the Interposition and Mediation of the publick consent of Kingdoms and States and so the application of the Persons to the Office is wholly in the Governed The several Forms of Government differ not in nature Morally and Theologically speaking the end of all Government being the very self same but only politically and positively For God appointed not Kings absolute and solely Independent but constituted with them also Judges who were equally obliged to judge according to the Law of God. 2. Chron. 19. 6. as Kings 17. Deut. 15. and have a co-ordinate share in the Government because the Judgment is neither the Kings nor the Judges but the Lords and both their Consciences are in immediate subjection to the King of Kings 2 Chron. 19. 6 7. The persons are sometimes Usurpers sometimes Abusers of their Authority as when they tyrannize or oppress such powers God owns not the Rulers that he ordains are not to be a Terrour unto good works but to the evil for they are the Ministers of God to the governed for good revengers to execute wrath upon them that do evil To such Rulers we must needs be subject not only for wrath but also for Conscience sake therefore whosoever resisteth such powers resisteth the ordinance of God And for this cause pay we tribute but not to those that are a terrour to good works the reason subjoyned is for they are Gods Ministers attending continually on this very thing but if they attend not continually on this very thing there is no absolute necessary Obligation expressed incumbent upon us for our Obedience or for our paying of Tribute Sute or Service but rather on the contary It is better to obey God than Man Acts 5. 29. The same Power St. Peter terms human Ordinances Submit your self to every ordinance of man for the Lords sake whether it be to the King as supreme or unto Governours as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evil doers and for the praise of them that do well 1 Pet. 2. 13 14. so that S. Paul and S. Peter run parallel to one and the self same Sense and the Sword in the Magistrates Hand to revenge is not a material Sword to hack and hew kill and slay at pleasure but the Laws made by the common consent are the true Sword so Bishop Bilson to which both Magistrates and People are equally obliged to submit the Magistrates being but the Conduit and Pipe the Administrators not Patrons of the Powers for the sake of order through which and by whom all Laws are to pass and be executed and by the same Texts they have the like Obligation to praise them that do well as to punish those that do ill so David was taught and practised I will not know a wicked person mine eyes
the second time and anointed him unto the Lord to be chief Governour and Zadock to be Priest 1 Chron. 28. 1. 29. 22 24. Solomon being dead all Israel came to Sechem to make Rehoboam King 1 Kings 12. 11. 2 Chron. 10. 1. Amaziah being slain Uzziah his only Son was made King by all the people 2 Chron. 26. 1. To what tended that saying of Hushai unto Absalom nay but whom the Lord and this people and all the men of Israel chuse his will I be and with him will I abide 2 Sam. 16. 18. but to demonstrate that that King is rightly and lawfully constituted King whom the People chuse And all the men of Sechem gathered together and all the house of Millo went and made Abimelech King Judg. 9. 6. And he that was over the house and he that was over the city the elders also and bringers up of the children sent to Jehu saying We are thy servants and will do all that thou shalt bid us we will not make any King do thou that which is good in thine eyes 2 Kings 10. 5. And all these men of war that could keep rank came with a perfect heart to Hebron to make David King over all Israel and all the rest also of Israel were of one heart to make David King 1 Chron. 12. 28. Several times the making of a King is ascribed and given to the People viz. Wherefore is it recorded Deut. 17. 14. when thou shalt say I will set a King over me if it were not their Right and Power to make a King and without such Power no Law could be imposed on them Not to make a stranger King and yet to chuse one of their Brethren is certainly a warrant from Heaven to chuse beyond contradiction All the congregation made Jeroboam King over Israel 1 Kings 12. 20. So they have power both to make and not to make a King over themselves and also to limit and bound their Kings to what conditions they please or else to fall from them as the people of Israel did from Rehoboam and chuse another 1 Kings 12. 19. Nor was Saul himself formerly King as soon as Samuel had anointed him nor yet because another Spirit was infused in him no not until all Israel chose him King at Mizpeh Jehoash and Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord and the king and the people that they should be the Lord's people and between the king also and the people 2 Chron. 23. 16. By all which it appears that though Kings were so constituted and influenced by the Prophets from God himself yet not so absolutely as to exclude common consent but that they were to be under Covenants and Agreements with the People whereunto they were equally strictly and reciprocally obliged to performance and that their just right of admitting Governors over them was reserved unto them upon their own Tearms and Conditions even then and certainly much more now seeing God doth not now immediately interpose in any such choice the same right by the Law of God and Nature is so undeniably in them that it cannot be denied unto them And all Kings Governing otherwise than by the consent of the People are but Intruders Usurpers and Tyrants And whoever violates those Covenants in a high degree are undoubtedly Rebels to the Law and whoever commits any unjust force against the Law the defence must necessarily be just and warrantable before God and Man. Consult prophane Histories and it will be found the Power and Liberty of the People is asserted and defended and practised accordingly even among the Heathens And in all well-governed Kingdoms the Children did not succeed their Parents until the People by their Magistrates had de novo invested them by the Diamond and Scepter In Christian Kingdoms which to this day Reign by succession the same is evident The Kings of France Spain c. are all Inaugurated and Crowned by the Peers Patritians and Magistrates representatives of the Kingdom no otherwise than the Emperors of Germany are by the Princes Electors thereof and the Kings of Poland by the Vayvodes or Palatines Neither is their Kingly Honour owned in the free Cities till so Crowned Constituted and Confirmed neither was the time of their Reign computed but from the day of their Inauguration which manifestly appears in the Kingdom of France and other Kingdoms where the States often preferred a Kinsman before a Son a younger Son before an elder which Kingdom by the Authority of the People was translated from one to another without regard had to the right Heir As to the Franks before they came into France it 's manifest that their petty Kings were subject to the Ordines Populi as Julius Caesar testifieth lib. 5. c. 8. f. 57. De bello Gallico Whilst Ambiorix Catileucus Eburonum rex i e. King of a People inhabiting between the Rhyne and the Mose the People of Leige or Luke beyond Brabant in a certain Oration rehearsing the words saith That such is his Empire that the People have not less right against and over him than he over them Ut non minus in se juris multitudo quam ipse in multitudinem The same also appears by the words of Vercingentorix Arvernorum Rex a People of France by the River of Loyer defending his Cause in a publick Assembly as it is recorded by the same Caesar lib. 7. c. 4. Afterwards the Franks and the Gauls became one under the name of Franco-Galli who although they chose their Kings first out of the Family of Merovey then out of the Posterity of Charles the Great and after out of the Successors of Hugh Capet yet from the beginning they so constituted their Monarchy that their Kings did not Reign only by the right of Succession but were also chosen Consensu Ordinum Regni And such was the Oath of the Franco Galli Kings according to Aymoinus lib. 5. c. 23. which Charles the Bald spoke Quia sicut isti venerabiles Episcopi c. Because you venerable Bishops have proclaimed me chosen to the Government for your safety and profit know ye that I will preserve the Honour and Worship of God and of holy Church and of every one of you according to your Ranks and Qualities and according to my Knowledge and Power will honour and keep safe And to every one both Clergy and Laiety preserve and maintain Law and Justice that Kingly Honour and Obedience of the People may be preserved and defended as your Fore-fathers did to my Predecessors justly and faithfully And so the Sons of Pepin Charles the Great anno 751. Lewis the Third and Carloman anno 768. Bastards to Lewis and no regard had to the Institution of Lewis's Will who had named Endes for Regent and so were both Crowned Kings Lewis the Idle Son or Brother to Carloman takes upon him to be King but not being acknowledged by the States as they were ready to dispossess him he died Charles the Second called the Gross Emperor
of Germany confirmed in the Regency by the States following the example of the Bastards is Crowned King and afterwards was degraded from the Empire and the Crown Charles the Simple after Twenty two years was forced to renounce his Crown though a lawful King. Lewis the Fourth his Son carried into England by his Mother c. And Ralf or Raoul Duke of Burgundy called to the Crown though an Usurper after whose death the said Lewis the Fourth called Doutremer is restored to the Crown Lewis the Pious though the Son of Charles the Great yet was elected anno 812. in whose Will extant in Naucler Charles the Great besought the People that they would chuse one of his Nephews which they pleased by the publick Council of the Kingdom and commanded his Uncles by the publick decree of his People to acquiesce Hence Carolus Calvus Charles the Bald a Nephew by Lodovicus Pius and Juditha confesseth himself chosen King. Aymoinus Historiogr 85. From the Merovingiens being Twenty two Kings of the Merovees to the Garlovingiens by Charles Martel Major of the Palace in name but King in effect of which Race there have been Thirteen Kings then the Crown came to the Capets In the choice of Pharamond first King of France after many Harangues pro and con about all kinds of Government at last they resolved on Kingly Government as the best sort of Government then the Lords Peers Magistrates and chief Captains as Representatives of all the People chose him King and was Inaugurated or Crowned by setting him on a great Shield or Target and carrying him into the Field where also both the common Soldiers in Arms and the People were assembled who confirmed and approved the choice by their Acclamations about the Year 419 or 420. And then they did Swear to the King to keep Faith and Allegiance to Honour Serve Maintain and Defend him against his Enemies but on condition that he be Religious Valiant Just Merciful Impartial Diligent understanding in management of Affairs skilful to resist their Enemies to punish Evil doers and to preserve the Good and to defend the Christian Faith likewise This Mutual and Reciprocal Swearing and Covenanting equally obligatory on both sides was the Custom from Pharamond to Pepin and afterwards in the Race of the Carliens descended of Pepin the French of their own free will chusing their Kings the Crown in those Days not descending Hereditarily If at any time the Crown came to the Son or Brother did succeed the Father or Brother it was not by any right of Inheritance or Succession to which they could not possibly have any right or pretence by any Law of God or Nature that wholly depending on consent of Parties to be governed but only through the affection which the French did bear to the memory of the good King deceased After Pharamond they chose one Daniel a Monk whom they sirnamed Chilperick whom for his Debauchery they banished and chose one Gillon or Gilles a Roman Senator or Master of the Roman Militia for their King who Governing as ill as Chilperick they sent and intreated Sigibert King of Metz to take the Crown of France and Crowned him Les Burguignons and les Austrasiens having made Peace with the other French chose Clotaire for their King in all the Three Kingdoms and afterwards chose Childerick King of Austrasie who delaying to come they chose one Odon After the decease of Dagobert his Son Clovis being young they chose him after his decease they chose his Son Clotaire King who dying Four years after they chose Thyerre his Brother whom they afterwards deposed and chose Childerick in his room Histories are full of the like examples in other Kingdoms Afterwards in the Posterity of Pepin who having been Ten years Master of the Palace to Childerick a weak Prince set up for himself and by his Power and Artifices by the help of Pope Zachary his ghostly Father dispensing with the Oath of Allegiance which the People had Sworn to Childerick the last King of the Race of Clovis whom the People caused to be put into a Monastery And after the death of Pepin the French by common consent chose Charles and Carloman his Son for their King with a charge that they did equally part and share the Kingdom between them At the end of the Race of Pepin Lewis King of the Francs being dead they being willing to transfer the Kingdom to Charles King of Austrasie or according to others Duke of Lorrain but whilst he deferred his coming Hugh Capit took possession of the Crown It is also evident in Story that one Kings Son hath been rejected and another inthroned For the French not being pleased with the Infancy and Weakness of Charles Son of Loys de Begue about Nine or Ten years old chose for their King Odon Son of Robert Saxon which was killed by the Normans in Battel and that Two years after they being displeased with the Government of Odon they discharged him of the Government and set up Charles again who misbehaving himself was imprisoned and they put in his place Raoul King of Bourgongue by which examples it is apparent the Kings of France were Elective not Hereditary But after they obtained Hereditary Possession of the Crown the Custom of the Election by the People which had lasted long being laid aside the Kings were Crowned and Chosen at Rhemes by the Peers of France in the name of the Church of the Nobles and of the People Bernard de Gerard. Sieur Mezeray Jean de Serres In summ All Kings were at first Elected and Chosen by the People and though now many succeed by Inheritance as by much the better way yet that way also is Constituted Approved and Confirmed by the People or their Representatives No Kings drop out of the Clouds neither do they start out of the Earth though the People chuse the Root yet do they not so absolutely chuse the Stems or Branch but if they do degenerate they in Prudence and Justice may make a better choice The Heirs of such Roots are not so much born Kings as adopted so not so much Kings as fair Candidates for Crowns Presumptive Kings only where Succession is not settled by Laws made by publick consent CHAP. V. Some Opinions of Hobs's Machiavil Pulpits and others examined The Peoples Power asserted in chusing refusing and rejecting Kings according as they did or did not observe Laws and Covenants Covenants equally oblige If broken by one the other is thereby set free Vsages and Customs of other Nations Sad examples of Perjury IT is true that Machiavil Hobs the Pulpits and others do inculcate That Kingly Power is so founded by God immediately that there remaineth nothing human in it and that publick consent is nothing at all requisite and that Kings are responsible to God only which is the ground of all Tyrannical Arbitrary and Unbounden Sway. For if Kingdoms by common consent can neither set Bounds nor Conditions nor judg of
Kings receive all Royalty from the People and for behoof of the People and that by a special Trust of safety and liberty expresly by the People limited and by their own Concessions and Oaths ratified as for certain they do then Emperors and Kings cannot be said to have so unlimited and high a property in our Lives Liberties and Possessions or in any things else appertaining to their Crowns as the Governed have in their Dignity or in themselves The safety of Kingdoms is to be valued above any right of any Monarch as the end is to be preferred above the means It is not just nor possible for any Nation so to enslave it self to resign its own Interest to the will of one or many Lords as that they may destroy or abuse it without Injury and yet to have no right to preserve or right it self For since all natural Power is in those that obey they which contract to obey to their own Ruine or Slavery or having so contracted they which esteem such contract before their own preservation are fellonious to themselves and rebels to Nature Livy lib. 1. ab V. C. describing the beginning of the Roman Kingdom Records that among those Hundred named Kings after the Death of Romulus who succeeded and governed that People successively That if they did not please the People it was ordained by common consent that the People should chuse their Kings and that the Authority of the Senate should confirm them It 's manifest that Kings being set up by the People on conditions which if they perform not the People being Convocated according to their distinct Orders and Ranks by the same Authority they had to set up Kings on Tearms and Conditions by the very self-same Authority they may curb and dethrone them which they made good against proud Tarquin their last King. Moreover Seneca observes out oâ— Cicero de Republica that Appeals do lie from the King to the People as in the case of Horatius that killed his Sister who by Delegates appointed by Tullus Hostilius the King was condemned yet was afterwards absolved and quitted by the People Dionysius testifies the same that Romulus when he consulted about settling the Kingdom did declare That the King was the keeper of the Laws yet in the mean time that the Power of creating Magistrates making Laws War and Peace was still left with the People as inherent in them Populi suffragia sunto Magistratus creanto leges sciscunto pacem bellumque jubento Calv. 985. Which farther appears by the History of Collatinus who first was Consul with Brutus that the People by which Title is understood the Plebeian State which now is called the Third State as among the Romans viz. Patritian Equestrian Plebeian had the same Power against the Consuls although they had the Supreme Power when there were no Dictators To this Livy lib. 2. ab V. C. gives Testimony Timens the Consul fearing to be called to Account at the end of his Consulship quitted it But Collatinus the Consul though accused of no crime yet being of the Name and Family of the Tarquins was suspected and removed by the People Hence it is easily gathered that the People would much more use their Authority on any Consul if criminally accused although by the Law they were not to be questioned till their time was ended It 's true after the Decemvirate was constituted which was Anno 302. no Appeal did lie from them to any other Magistrates But when they alternately Governed it was lawful to Appeal from the Judgment or Sentence of one to the Judgment and Sentence of another So far unpleasing was an unlimitted Power to the Romans that at last the Decemvirate was forced to quit their Power It 's true no Appeal lay from the Dictatorship but that Power was never erected but in very perillous times and extreme oppression necessitating and lasted but a very little while Cal. 1050. Semestre scilicet And which is yet more admirable if at any time an Appeal to the People from the Supreme Power of the Dictator was brought he of his own accord consented As may appear by the Transactions between L. Papyrius Dictator 2. Fabias Anno ab V. C. 429. Tho' Julius Caesar violently obtained his Power over the Romans yet would seem and did pretend to have had all his Dignities and Gifts according to the ancient custom from the People for which Usurpation he was afterwards slain So Augustus no Heir of the Empire but adopted by him to be his Successor pretended that he was of right chosen by the consent of the People Neither did Tiberius by any other way succeed him and after him Caligula was chosen by the consent both of the Senate and the People but Claudius first obtained the Empire and the Military Power by Bribes but did not govern without the consent of the People Nero having poysoned him succeeded him and reigning tyrannically the Senate resumed their Power which had a long time slept condemned him as an Enemy to the Roman State By all which it appears that Caesars becoming Tyrants may lawfully be resisted and censured and tho their Empire seem very large by the Lex Regia made for Augustus and confirmed for Vespasian yet it was circumscribed and limited neither was it approved of without exception as long as there were places for Law and Equity So the Athenians when they changed their Democracy into an Aristocracy they set over themselves first Thirty then Ten who abusing their Poower they soon removed and punished them by the same Power by which they created them The Lacedaemonian Kings having been wont to be chosen out of the Family of the Heraclides which Lysander endeavoured to have altered but could not Plutarch their Kings being chosen on Terms and Conditions the People appointed certain called Ephori to be a Bridle to them These Ephori sometimes deposed banished and beheaded till at last Cleomenes the Tyrant traiterously slew them all Zenophon records of the Lacedaemonians that both the Kings and Ephori were wont every Month mutually to swear to each other these in the Name of the People and the King in his own Name That he would govern according to the Prescript of their Laws and that they would keep the Citizens true to him if he kept his Oath This was the Right Power and Practice of the Heathen of which more hereafter Let us now consider the State of the Israelites the most perfect Government in the World if they would have been contented with it for they had God for their only Monarch not only because he was Lord of the whole World but because he chose them to be his peculiar People in that he gave them Laws by Moses and gave them the promised Land by Jeshua who governed them by Judges at which time the Government was Monarchical tho by the Ministry of the Judges which if Kings would now imitate and govern accordingly there would be no need of these
you be moderate and mild towards your Subjects and that you govern them with Justice and Piety and that none of you in your own Person give Judgment on any Captive or guilty Person but that it be done by the publick Judgment of the Judges appointed thereunto using both Severity and Indulgence with great Wisdom and Moderation that whilst a pious Temper is used by us all the King may rejoyce in his People and the People in their King and God both in King and People And concerning our future Kings we pronounce this Sentence That if any of them contrary to the Reverence of our Laws by Regal Haughtiness and proud Domination shall treat us Tyrannically Anathema sit Let him be accursed from Christ and be separate from God for that he presumed to bring the Kingdom into trouble and distress De Smithilane vero c. As for King Smithilane who being guilty and sensible of his own hainous Enormities and Wickednesses deprived himself of the Kingdom and laid down his Royal Ensigns and we decreed with the consent of the Nation that neither he nor his Wife nor his Children for his Tyrannical Government should never be joined to our Society neither would we at any time promote them to Honour or Dignities This is a singular and excellent Example to which we may add a another Decree of the sixth Synod Toledo cap. 3. In which after the Statute of banishing the Jews it is said That in vain they did ordain good Laws except they did also provide that they should be kept Therefore afterwards if the King having the Reins of Government do violate the Observation of his Faith promised Let him be Anathema Maranatha in the sight of God and made Fuel of Eternal Fire and whoever else Priest or Christian shall comply with him in so doing By which it is plain what Power the States of that Kingdom have over their Kings if they violate their Oath when by the Feudary Right which comprehends the Kingdom a Vassal or Slave owes no Service to his Master if excommunicated but is free from his Oath of Fidelity lib. 2. Feud tit 28. § 1. v. de Jure Magstr p. 67 68 69. Take here also the ancient Form whereby the Kingdom of Arragon did oblige their King not only at his Inauguration but iterated it also in their Triennial Conventions in which the King was present that he might receive his Power from them and they theirs from him where after many Ceremonies performed and past between that which is called the Justice of Arragon which represents the Person of the Supream Power and to which the King by Oath is obliged to submit and the King himself either to be created or already created Formula qua Hispaniarum reges inaugurantur Nos qui volemos tanto comme vos y podemos Mas que vos Elegimos Rey con est as y est as conditiones intra vos y nos un que manda mas que vos i. e. We that are as great as you and can do more than you choose you King on these and these Conditions between you and us and one can command more than you By which you may see that that wise and Prudent People do honour their Kings as they ought Ibid 71 72. If we consult the Empire of Germany what Power the Princes Electors have there it is manifest to all the World both in choosing the Emperor and deposing of him as it hapned to Adolphus Anno 1296. and to Wenceslaâ—s Anno 1400. Emperors for there was such an Oath whereby their Caesars were bound and obliged as is described in a Treatise entituled Speculum Saxonicum lib. 3. § 54. For when the King is chosen he is obliged by Oath to perform Faith and Homage to the Empire and promise that with all his might he will promote the Administration of Justice and punish all Injuries and by all endeavours maintain the Rights of the Empire Now that they that had power to chuse them Kings had power also to curb and punish them is manifest by undisputable reason and matter of Fact. Ejus est tollere cujus est ponere Childerick was expulsed Anno 361. and Gilo substituted who was not of the Family of the Meroves and Chilperick Anno 578. and Theodorick Anno 667. Moreover Anno 890. the States neglecting Charles the Son of Lewis Balbus chose Euden alias Oden to be King. We read also that Hugh Capet cheated Charles the Brother of Lâ—thariâ—s whilst he neglected the Government In short if the Kingdom of Fraâ—cegalli had no Power to choose then neither Pepin nor Capet had any right to the Crown there being no want of Heir Males of Merovey when Pepin usurped the Crown nor were wanting Sons of Charles the Great when Capet challenged the Crown How great the Power of the States ordines regni of that Kingdom in the first Constitution thereof was and how long it continued so and how the Face of that Government is now altered and degenerated into Tyranny Histories are full which no Prescription of what date soever by any Law of God Man Nature or Reason can justifie it being contrary to the Solemn Oaths they take at their Inauguration which justifies all the rest It was but about Anno 1380. that the States of that Kingdom cancelled and made void the Will of Charles the Fifth surnamed the Wise and but Anno 1467. when Lewis the XI endeavouring to turn that Monarchy into Tyranny was deservedly impeached for Male-Government and therefore the States being assembled at Turin they appointed Thirty Curators alias 20. 16. by whom he should be governed but he soon got quit of them because under pretence of the Idol Claronensis which he worshipped with great Superstition he slighted and ridiculed all his Oaths and Promises but with so much unsuccessfulness horrour and unquietness even to his death that he sadly experienced which was the better and more happy Condition to be loved or feared of his Subjects Take the sad Example following of Perjury Charles VII whilst yet the Dauphin most wickedly caused John the last Duke of Burgundy of the Stock of the Gallick Kings to be miserably slain in his presence contrary to all Faith Peace and Friendship plighted unto him a little before near Melo dunum i. e. Melun This Perjury was afterwards expiated by the death of many Millions of Souls almost to the subversion of the Kingdom and Charles himself the King reduced to that misery that he was disinherited of his Father and saw his Capital Enemy Inaugurated by the Kingdom at Paris and from thence was rather Rex Biturigum i. e. King of a People of Aquitane inhabiting Bourge then King of France at last was forced to redeem his Peace on shameful and dishonourable Terms as may appear in a treatise Apud Atrabates with the People of the Province of Artois in which the King himself treated with Duke Phillip Son of the said murdered John his Subject this Clause was