as is absolute and unaccountable If there be no supreme power in any society when ever there happens any difference among the members of such a society nothing can be done and such a society is an arbitrary and voluntary not a governed society because there is no body to govern and no body to be governed they may govern themselves by mutual consent but if they cannot agree there is an end of their government Where there is any government there must be some-body to govern and whoever has the power of government must not be contradicted or resisted for then he cannot govern for a power to govern men onely when and in what cases they please to be governed is no power Now place this power where you will in a single Person or in the hands of some select persons or in the people and the case is the same where ever the power rests there it is absolute and unaccountable wherever there is any government there must be a last appeal and where the last appeal is whether to a Prince to a Parliament or to the People there is soveraign and absolute power which cannot be resisted without a dissolution of government and returning to a state of war which is a direct contradiction to the first institution of humane societies and therefore that which cannot be allowed by the fundamental constitutions of any society The result of all in short is this 1. That in all civil governments there must be some supreme and soveraign power 2. That the very notion of supreme power is that it is unaccountable and irresistible And therefore 3. whatever power in any nation according to the fundamental laws of its government cannot and ought not to be resisted that is the supreme power of that nation the higher powers to which the Apostle requires us to be subject And from hence it is evident that the Crown of England is an Imperial Crown and has all the rights of Soveraignty belonging to it Since according to the fundamental Laws of the Realm the Person and Authority of the King is sacred and irresistible The Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy those Laws which declare and acknowledge the King to be supreme in his Dominions under God to have the sole power of the Sword that it is Treason to levy War against the King within the Realm and without That both or either Houses of Parliament cannot nor lawfully may raise or levy war offensive or defensive against his Majesty his Heirs or lawful Successors That it is not lawful upon any pretence whatsoever to take Arms against the King and that we must abhor that traiterous position of taking arms by his authority against his Person or against those who are commissionated by him These I say and such like declarations as these both formerly and of late made by both Houses of Parliament and enacted into publick laws are a sufficient proof that the supreme power of these Realms is lodged in the Prince For he who is unaccountable and irresistible is supreme But to avoid all this there are some who tell us that by the higher powers in the Text the Apostle means the Law For laws are the highest and most venerable authority in any Nation and we ought indeed to be subject to Princes who themselves are subject to the Laws which they are as much obliged to by virtue of this Apostolical command as meaner Persons For the law is as much superior to them as they are to their own subjects and therefore when Princes violate publick laws they are no longer to own them for the Higher Powers but may vindicate the laws against them may defend the legal authority of their Prince against his Personal usurpations may fight for the Authority of the King against his Person But in answer to this we may consider 1. That it is evident from the whole context and manner of speaking that the Apostle does not here speak of laws but Persons not of Imperial laws but soveraign Princes Laws were never before called the higher Powers neither in sacred nor profane writers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the new Testament always signifies the authority of a Person not of a law And hence it signifies the Person invested with this authority It were easy to prove this by numerous instances but it will be sufficient to shew that thus it must signifie in the Text. These are such powers as are of God appointed and ordained by God which I suppose does not signifie the laws of every nation many of which are far enough from being divine They are expresly called Rulers in the 3 v. and are the object of fear which can punish and reward if thou wilt not be afraid of the power 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 do that which is good and thou shalt have praise of the same Now I think no law but the Power which executes laws can apply punishments or rewards according to mens deserts and in the 4 v. this very power is called the Minister of God and said to bear the sword which does not belong to laws but Persons and in the Text the Apostle speaks of resisting these powers opposing force to force Now though laws may be disobeyed it is onely lawgivers and Rulers who are capable of resistance 2. But however these higher Powers may signifie Princes and Rulers as governing according to known laws No this cannot be neither because the Apostle speaks of such powers as were under the government of no laws as it is sufficiently known the Roman Emperours were not their will was their law and they made or repealed laws at their pleasure This Epistle was wrote either under Claudius or Nero and I think I need not tell you that neither of those Emperours had any great Reverence for laws and yet these were the higher powers to whom the Apostle commands them to be subject and indeed though there be a vast difference between a Prince who by the fundamental Constitutions of his Kingdom ought to govern by laws and a Prince whose will is his law yet no law can come into the notion and definition of supreme and soveraign Powers such a Prince is under the direction but cannot properly be said to be under the government of the law because there is no superior power to take cognizance of his breach of it and a law has no authoritie to govern where there is no power to punish But I shall have occasion to discourse this more largely hereafter 3. Let us now consider what is meant by being subject Now subjection according to its full latitude of signification includes all those duties which we owe to soveraign Princes a chearful and willing obedience to all their Just and lawful commands an humble submission to their reproofs and Censures Corrections and punishments to honour and Reverence their Persons and Authority to pay custom and tribute and all legal taxes and impositions as our Apostle addes verse the 7. Render therefore unto all
God himself has for the Prince has God's Authority and therefore cannot be resisted but by a greater Authority than God's And by the same reason if the whole body of the people be subject to God they must be subject to their Prince too because he acts by God's Authority and Commission Were a Soveraign Prince the Peoples Creature might be a good Maxime Rex major singulis sed minor universis that the King is greater than any particular Subject but less than All together but if he be God's Minister he is upon that account as much greater than all as God is And that the whole body of the people all together as well as one by one are equally concerned in this command of being subject to the higher Powers is evident from this consideration that nothing less than this will secure the peace and tranquillity of humane Societies The resistance of single persons is more dangerous to themselves than to the Prince but a powerful combination of Rebels is formidable to the most puissant Monarchs The greater numbers of Subjects rebel against their Prince the more do they distress his Government and threaten his Crown and Dignity and if his Person and Authority be Sacred the greater the violence is which is offered to him the greater is the crime Had the Apostle exhorted the Romans after this manner Let no private and single man be so foolish as to rebel against his Prince who will be too strong for him but if you can raise sufficient forces to oppose against him if you can all consent to Depose or Murder him this is very innocent and justifiable nay an Heroical Atchievement which becomes a free-born people How would this secure the peace and quiet of the world how would this have agreed with what follows that Princes are advanced by God and that to resist our Prince is to resist the Ordinance of God and that such men shall be severely punisht for it in this world or the next for can the Apostle be thought absolutely to condemn resistance if he makes it only unlawful to resist when we want power to conquer Which yet is all that can be made of it if by every Soul the Apostle means only particular men not the united force and power of Subjects Nor can there be any reason assigned why the Apostle should lay so strict a command on particular Christians to be subject to the higher Powers which does not equally concern whole Nations For if it can ever be lawful for a whole Nation to resist a Prince it may in the same circumstances be equally lawful for a particular man to do it if a Nation may conspire against a Prince who invades their Rights their Liberties or their Religion why may not any man by the same reason resist a Prince when his Rights and Liberties are invaded It is not so safe and prudent indeed for a private man to resist as for great and powerful numbers but this makes resistance only a matter of discretion not of Conscience if it be lawful for the whole body of a Nation to resist in such cases it must be equally lawful for a particular man to do it but he does it at his own peril when he has only his one single force to oppose against his Prince So that our Apostle must forbid resistance in all or none For single persons do not use to resist or rebel or there is no great danger to the Publick if they do but the Authority of Princes and the security of publick Government is only endangered by a combination of Rebels when the whole Nation or any considerable part for numbers power and interest take Arms against their Prince If resistance of our Prince be a sin it is not the less but the greater sin the greater and the more formidable the resistance is and it would very much unbecome the gravity and sacredness of an Apostolical precept to enjoyn subjection to private Christians who dare not who cannot resist alone but to leave a powerful combination of Rebels at liberty to resist So that every Soul must signifie all Subjects whether single or united for whatever is unlawful for every single Person considered as a Subject is unlawful for them all together for the whole Nation is as much a subject to the higher powers as any single man Thus I am sure it is in our Government where Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament own themselves the Subjects of the King and have by publick Laws disclaimed all power of raising any War either offensive or defensive against the King 2. Let us now consider what is meant by the higher powers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies the supreme power in any Nation in whomsoever it is placed Whether in the King as in Monarchical governments or in the Nobles as in Aristocratical or in the People as in Democracies At the time of writing this Epistle the supreme power was in the Roman Emperours and therefore when St. Paul commands the Roman Christians to be subject to the higher powers the plain meaning is that they be subject to the Roman Emperour And thus St. Peter explains it 1 Epist. 2 Chap. 13 v. Be subject to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake whether to the King as supreme 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word used in my Text as to him who hath a supereminent power and is above all others It is absolutely necessary in all well-governed Societies that there should be some supreme and soveraign Power from whence there lies no appeal and which cannot and must not be resisted For otherwise there can be no end of disputes and controversies men may quarrel eternally about rights and priviledges and properties and preheminencies and when every man is Judge in his own cause it is great oddes but he will give Judgement for himself and then there can be no way to determine such matters but by force and power Which turns humane societies into a state of War and no man is secure any longer than he happens to be on the prevailing side Whoever considers the nature and the end of Government must acknowledge the necessity of a supreme power to decide controversies to administer Justice and to secure the Publick Peace and it is a ridiculous thing to talk of a supreme power which is not unaccountable and irresistible For whatever power is liable to be called to an account and to be resisted has some power above it and so is not supreme Of late years whoever has been so hardy as to assert the Doctrine of Non-resistance has been thought an Enemy to his Country one who tramples on all Laws who betraies the rights and liberties of the subject and sets up for Tyranny and Arbitrary power Now I would desire those men who think thus to try their skill in framing any model of government which shall answer the ends and necessities of humane society without a supreme power that is without such a power
extraordinary spirit to fight their Battels for them and subdue their Enemies and to judge Israel and these men did every thing by a Divine impulse and inspiration as Moses and Ioshua did So that they were as immediately governed by God as any man governs his own house and Family But when the Government was put into the hands of Kings God in a great measure left the administration of it to the will and pleasure of Princes and to the methods of humane Governments and Policy Though God did immediately appoint Saul and afterwards David to be King yet ordinarily the government descended not by God's immediate choice but by the right of Succession and though some Kings were Prophets too yet it was not often so they were not so immediately directed by God as the Iudges of old were but had their Councels of State for advice in peace and war and their standing Armies and Guards for the defence of their Persons and Government They were indeed commanded to govern by the Laws of Moses to consult the Oracles of God in difficult cases and God raised up extraordinary Prophets to direct them but still it was in their own power whether they would obey the Laws of God or hearken to his Prophets good Kings did and bad Kings did not and therefore the government of Israel by Kings was like other humane governments lyable to all the defects and miscarriages which other governments are whereas while the government was immediately in God's hands they did not only receive their Laws and external Polity from him but the very executive power was in God for though it was administred by Men yet it was administred by God's immediate direction with the most exact Wisdom Justice and Goodness This was the sin of the Iews that they preferred the Government of an earthly King before having God for their King and this must be acknowledged to be a great fault but it is such a fault as no other Nation was ever capable of but only the Iews because God never vouchsafed to be King of any other Nation in such a manner and therefore we must not compare Kingly government for there is no competition between them with the Government of God but we must compare Kingly government with any other form of humane Government and then we have reason to believe that notwithstanding God was angry with the Iews and this was a case peculiar to the Iews for desiring a King that yet he prefers Kingly government before any other because when he foresaw that the Iews would in time grow weary of his government he makes provision in their Law for setting up a King not for setting up an Aristocratical or Democratical power which their Law makes no allowance for as you may see 17 Deuter. 14. 2. Another objection against Kingly power and Government is that Samuel in this place represents it as very oppressive and burdensome to the Subject For what some men answer that Samuel speaks here only of the abuse of Regal Power I think is not true for the meer abuse of power is no Argument against it because all kind and forms of power are lyable to be abused and by this reason we should have no government at all And it is evident that Samuel does not mention any one thing here that can be called an abuse of power nothing but what is absolutely necessary to maintain the State and Magnificence of an Imperial Crown For how can a Prince subsist without Officers and Servants of all sorts both Men and Women both for the uses of his Family and the service of his government both in Peace and War and how can this be maintained but by a Revenue proportionable to the expence and since none of them had such an estate as to defray this charge themselves whoever was to be chosen King must have it from others by publick Grants and publick Taxes which he here expresses by taking their fields and their vineyards and their olive-yards the tenth of their fields and their vineyards and the tenth of their sheep for himself and his servants the tenth â—â—â—ng the usual Tribute paid to the Eastern Kings This is not an abuse of power though some Princes might be excessive in all this but it is the manner of the King that which is necessary to his Royal State There is nothing of all this forbid in 17 Deuter. where God gives Laws to the King and indeed to forbid this would be to forbid Kingly power which cannot subsist without it Indeed I find some Learned men mistaken in this matter for they take it for granted that what Samuel here calls the manner of the King is such an abuse of power as God had expresly forbid to Kings in the 17 of Deuter. 16 17. but why the abuse of Regal power should be called the manner or the right of the King is past my understanding Mishpat however you Translate it must signifie something which is essential to Kingly government otherwise Samuels Argument against chusing a King had been sophistical and fallacious For there is no Form of Government but is lyable to great abuses when it falls into ill hands and this they had experience of at this very time for the miscarriages of Samuel's Sons was the great reason why the people at this time desired a King 1 Sam. 8. 3 4 5. And if we compare these two places together what God forbids the King with what Samuel calls the manner of the King we shall find nothing alike In the 17 of Deut. 16 17. v. God tells them that their King shall not multiply horses to himself nor cause the people to return into Egypt to the end that he should multiply horses for as much as the Lord hath said unto you Ye shall henceforth return no more that way God would not allow them to have any Commerce or intercourse with Egypt and therefore forbid their Kings to multiply horses with which Egypt did abound that there might be no new familiarity contracted with that Idolatrous Nation Neither shall he multiply wives to himself that his heart turn not away Where multiplying wives seems plainly to refer to his taking wives of other Nations and other Religions as appears from what is added that his heart turn not away that is lest they should seduce him to Idolatry as we know Solomon's wives did him who are therefore said to turn away his heart 1 Kings 11. 3 4. Neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold For such a covetous humour would mightily tempt him to oppress his Subjects This is all that God expresly forbids their Kings when they should have any But now Samuel in describing the manner of the King takes no notice of any thing of all this but only tells them that their King would appoint out fit persons for his service of their Sons and Daughters that they should pay Tribute to him and should themselves be his servants not as servants signifies
flaves and vassals but Subjects who owe all duty and service to their Prince as far as he needs them But what is it then that Samuel finds fault with in Kingly power which he uses as an argument to dissuade the Children of Israel from desiring a King why it is no more than the necessary expences and services of Kingly power which would be thought very grievous to them who were a free people and at that time subject to no publick services and exactions The government they then lived under was no charge at all to them They were governed as I observed before either by their High Priest or by Iudges extraordinarily raised by God As for their High Priests God himself had allotted their maintenance sutable to the quality and dignity of their Office and therefore they were no more charge to the people when they were their Supreme Governors than they were when the power was in other hands either in the hands of Iudges or Kings As for their Iudges whom God raised up they affected nothing of Royal greatness they had no Servants or Retinue standing Guards or Armies to maintain their Authority which was secured by that Divine power with which they acted not by the external pomp and splendour of a Court. Thus we find Moses appealing to God in the Rebellion of Korah I have not taken one Ass from them neither have I hurt any of them 16 Numbers 15. And thus Samuel appeals to the Children of Israel themselves Behold here I am witness against me before the Lord and before his Anointed whose Oxe have I taken or whose Ass have I taken or whom have I defrauded whom have I oppressed or of whose hands have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith and I will restore it 1 Sam. 12. 3. Now a people who lived so free from all Tributes exactions and other services due to Princes must needs be thought sick of ease and liberty to exchange so cheap so free a State for the necessary burdens and expences of Royal power though it were no more than what is necessary which is the whole of Samuels argument not that Kingly government is more expensive and burdensome than any other form of humane government but that it was to bring a new burden upon themselves when they had none before No humane Governments whether Democracies or Aristocracies can subsist but upon the publick charge and the necessary expences of Kingly power are not greater than of a Commonwealth I am sure this Kingdom did not find their burdens eased by pulling down their King and I believe whoever acquaints himself with the several forms of government will find Kingly Power to be as easie upon this score as Commonwealths So that what Samuel discourses here and which some men think so great a reflection upon Kingly government does not at all concern us but was peculiar to the state and condition of the Iews at that time Let us then proceed to consider how sacred and irresistible the Persons and Authority of Kings were under the Iewish Government and there cannot be a plainer example of this than in the case of David He was himself anointed to be King after Saul's death but in the mean time was grievously persecuted by Saul pursued from one place to another with a designe to take away his life How now does David behave himself in this extremity What course does he take to secure himself from Saul Why he takes the onely course that is left a Subject he flies for it and hides himself from Saul in the Mountains and Caves of the Wilderness and when he found he was discovered in one place he removes to another He kept Spies upon Saul to observe his motions not that he might meet him to give him Battel or to take him at an advantage but that he might keep out of his way and not fall unawares into his hands Well but this was no thanks to David because he could do no otherwise He was too weak for Saul and not able to stand against him and therefore had no other remedy but flight But yet we must consider that David was a man of War he slew Goliah and fought the Battels of Israel with great success he was an admired and beloved Captain which made Saul so jealous of him the eyes of Israel were upon him for their next King and how easily might he have raised a potent and formidable Rebellion against Saul But he was so far from this that he invites no man to his assistance and when some came uninvited he made no use of them in an offensive or defensive War against Saul Nay when God delivered Saul two several times into David's hands that he could as easily have killed him as have cut off the skirts of his garment at Engedi 1 Sam. 24. or as have taken that spear away which stuck in the ground at his bolster as he did in the hill of Hachilah 1 Sam. 26. yet he would neither touch Saul himself nor suffer any of the people that were with him to do it though they were very importunate with him for liberty to kill Saul nay though they urged him with an argument from Providence that it was a plain evidence that it was the Will of God that he should kill Saul because God had now delivered his enemy into his hands according to the promise he had made to David 1 Sam. 24. 4. 26 ch ver 8. We know what use some men have made of this argument of Providence to justifie all the Villanies they had a mind to act but David it seems did not think that an opportunity of doing evil gave him license and authority to do it Opportunity we say makes a Thief and it makes a Rebel and it makes a Murderer no man can do any Wickedness which he has no opportunity of doing and if the Providence of God which puts such opportunities into mens hands justifies the wickedness they commit no man can be chargeable with any guilt whatever he does and certainly opportunity will as soon justifie any other sin as Rebellion and the Murder of Princes We are to learn our duty from the Law of God not from his Providence at least this must be a setled Principle that the Providence of God will never justifie any action which his Law forbids And therefore notwithstanding this opportunity which God had put into his hands to destroy his enemy and to take the Crown for his reward David considers his duty remembers that though Saul were his enemy and that very unjustly yet he was the Lords Anointed The Lord forbid says he that I should do this unto my Master the Lords Anointed to stretch forth my hand against him seeing he is the Lords Anointed Nay he was so far from taking away his life that his heart smore him for cutting off the skirt of his Garment And we ought to observe the reason David gives why he durst not hurt Saul Because he