Spirit when he saith As the Lord liveth and as my Lord the King liveth surely in what place my Lord the King shall be whether in death or life even there also will thy Servant be 2 Sam. 15.21 And they that furnished David with Provisions especially Barzillai the Gileadite according to this Gent. Doctrine and indeed his whole Discourse of this Matter is meer Enthusiasm as if God did all things without means might have been wiser and saved Charges and committed the thing to God to determine as he thought fit But I am weary of lashing this Doctrine with which none but poor weak crazy Heads can be deceived or vile leud and Atheistical men because it teacheth such Nonsensical Disloyal Unchristian and Unnatural Behaviour towards our King and Country Voluptuous and Effeminate Epicures indeed by this Doctrine may sleep in a whole skin as we say but if they do not betray they will do no service to the Throne and Kingdom in time of Difficulty And as much as I think the late King was to blame I cannot but pity him if all his Adherents were of this Gent. Mind But let God be true and every Man a Liar Is there no distinction to be made between Lawful Kings and Usurqers or Tyrants in Title And again between Lawful Kings having Authority and ruling according to Law and Princes that have Authority but are Tyrants in Exercise and would subvert the Ancient Government and rule Arbitrarily Again he doth not distinguish between God's extraordinary and immediate and his ordinary and mediate Providence between what he doth by his Almighty Power immediately and what he doth mediately by Men as Instruments and these Instruments are Good or Bad. And here should be considered in what manner he works by good Instruments and in what manner by bad And tho' this Subject is difficult yet surely the Primitive Doctors and Fathers of the Church made distinction I have ever thought that all Government in Church and State stands most firm upon its own Foundation Let us have true Divinity and true Policy once more in England for God's sake Fourthly I must consider what he saith to the Williamites And here what he saith P. 35. is true We are satisfied and highly pleased with the present state of Affairs But I observe here that he fails in the usual Complement and Address of a Gent. He might if he had thought of it have honey'd the bow with us as we say in our Country and at his first Aggress given us thanks for assisting in our several Callings and Places to preserve our Religion and that Church of which this Gent. saith he is a Member and our Laws Liberties and Properties But oh this Passive Obedience I have a mind to say once more that I would have it rooted out of the world because this ingenious Gent. and verily in my heart I believe a good Christian hath forgotten the common courtesie of the Nation and falls foul upon us with some morosity He saith VVe have appeared very pertly against the Doctrine of Non-resistance and Passive Obedience Very pretty This Gent. in Conscience could neither resist nor assist and therefore tho' he is glad of the Deliverance yet he cannot thank the Deliverers Well but at least he might be silent and not speak evil of those who with a good Conscience could and thorough God's blessing did deliver him from that Bondage under which he â—â—â—ned If I were in the mire and the greatest Villain upon Earth helper me out so far I would be thankful to him and own his kindness as not to expose him when I am not bound in Conscience But this Gent. design is to put an End to this unseasonable Controversie p. 2. Very well Why then does he assert and defend Passive Obedience as the Glory of the Church of England and the Bulwark of all Religious Kings and States against the rage of mutinous and rebellious Spirits who pretend to fight for God's Truth against the Laws and Governments of their Countries P. 36. This foolish and sottish Charge would move a stone as we say Surely he had a mind to provoke us and quicken this Controversie almost buried in the Grave of Silence I could here fairly illustrate and make it probable that Passive Obedience hath been I will not say the Cause but the Occasion of the Ruin of two Kings and of a Civil War and of the Church of England once and almost the second time for what reasonable man indued with flesh and blood can indure this Church Tyranny that in any case whatsoever we must not resist Would to God this Gent. would have been quiet Does he think that we will be beat out of our Senses once more and that so soon after our eyes have been opened I will rebuke him in the words of Job cap. 27. verses 5 6 7 8. God forbid that I should justifie you till I die I will not remove my Integrity from me My righteousness I hold fast and will not let it go My heart shall not reproach me so long as I live Let my Enemies be as the wicked and he that riseth up against me as the unrighteous For what is the hope of the Hypocrite tho' he hath gained when God taketh away his Soul I will stand by it there is no other way in Conscience to justifie our cause but by asserting defensive Arms in some Case But says this Gent. VVe had no disloyal Exhortations from the Press or Pulpit to perswade men to sight against their Prince nor had we any to perswade us to sight for Him but the thing was committed to God to determine as he thought fit P. 3. God a mercy Prejudice I Suppose our Reverend Fathers and Brethren can give an Account to the world of their own Behaviour without asserting God's Providence in this Gent. wild notion But for once I will write a Latin Sentence Turdus sibiâ—â—â—lum cacat Every man must Answer for himself I 'le blame no man that does not blame me But some Writings from the Press we had and from the hand of a Person who is now dignified in the Church if we are not all mistaken And he is highly approved of by His present Majesty and all the Clergy that are without Prejudice and honour real worth speak honourably of him As for our Gracious King the whole series of his Proceedings since He Landed on English Ground shews his most Excellent Virtues Justice Mercy Clemency Fortitude and Magnanimity And I am confident He can say what the Emperor Trajan said to a Tribune when he set him over the Praetorian Band delivering the Sword Vse this for me when I Command just things and against me when I Command unjust things And now with due Submission to my Governours in Church and State I come to the main Matter of Controversie First I assert That Defensive Arms are in some case Lawful and consequently that the Doctrine of Passive Obedience and Non-resistance is false This I
defect even so theirs if they be so framed according to that which the Law of reason teacheth Secondly Those Laws are investigable by Reason without help of Revelation supernatural and divine Finally in such sort they are investigable that the knowledge of them is general The World hath always been acquainted with them It is not agreed upon by one or two or a few but by all Which we may not so understand as if every particular man in the whole world did know and confess whatsoever the Law of Reason doth contain but this Law is such that being proposed no man can reject it as unreasonable and unjust Again there is nothing in it but any man having natural Perfection of Wit and ripeness of Judgment may by Labour and Travel find out And to conclude the general Principles thereof are such as it is not easie to find men ignorant of them Now the Primary right of Nature so called cannot be changed because it is written in the hearts of men as S. Paul testifies Hence it cannot be blotted out unless Nature be blotted out and Reason cease to be Reason No Pope saith a witty Author nor Prince nor Parliament nor People nor Angel nor Creature can absolve you from it This Law Tully doth not put on one Aspect at Rome and another face at Athens but looks upon all Nations and Persons with an impartial eye It shines upon all Ages and Times and Conditions with perpetual Light It is yesterday and to day the same for ever There is but one Lawgiver one Lord and Supream Judge of this Law God blessed for evermore Natural Right is that which a man knows and can execute without peculiar Institution And the Primary Right of Nature is that which to know and execute a man is carried by an in-bred impeius or motion whose Precepts are as it were born with us As for Example In natural Theology God is to be worshipped He will reward the good and punish the wicked In Oeconomicks our Parents are to be honoured In Politicks Defend thy self against force Hence are drawn these Conclusions First No man ought to hurt us when we are Innocent Secondly If any man indeavours to hurt us when we are innocent we may defend our selves Thirdly Neither God nor Man gives Authority to Governours to hurt the Innocent Fourthly If Governours hurt the Innocent they may defend themselves by the Law of Nature So that Rom. 13. is to be understood of Authority Power or Jurisdiction in it self according to the first Institution as also when it is lawfully laid upon any person For otherwise when it is either wrongfully taken or unjustly used it may be resisted in divers cases for then it is not Lawful Authority May Papists take up Arms with Royal Countenance and Privilege and Prerogative against Law and to destroy Law And may not Protestants take up Arms to defend their Laws Surely he must needs be full of Prejudice very malicious or very weak in his Judgment who cannot see the unreasonableness of the one and the reasonableness of the other All Nations in all Ages by the very Light of Nature have constantly defended themselves by force of Arms when their Princes have turned Tyrants and by their Instruments sought to spoil them of their Liberties Privileges and Estates What Nation ever denied Defensive Arms against the unjust Incroachments Invasions and Oppressions of their Princes to be Lawful In England the Barons Prelates and Commons took a Solemn Oath to maintain their Laws Liberties and Charter yea and to wage War against the King if he refused and to compel him to confirm their Charter in the year 1214. Likwise in King Henry the Third's days in the year 1258 and they threatned Death to all that resisted Again in the reign of King Edward the Second they confederated to live and die together for Justice and to their Power to destroy the Traitors of the Realm especially the two Spencer's All the Reformed Churches have taken Arms to defend themselves The Lutheran Churches against the Emperor Charles 5th and they were justified by Luther Melancthon and other Divines The Protestants in France defended themselves against the French King 1559. The Netherland Provinces against the Duke of Alva and the Spanish Tyranny And Queen Elizabeth King James the First and King Charles the First did countenance and aid all these Which any well minded man ought to presume they would not have done so constantly and deliberately if they had thought Defensive Arms had not been Lawful And Dr. Bilson who was a zealous Defender of our Church and Realm both against the Papists and against the Puritans in his Book of The True Difference between Christian Subjection and Vnchristian Rebellion Perused and allowed by Publick Authority P. 3. Page with me 279. saith I will not rashly pronounce all that resist to be Rebels The Case may fall out even in a Christian Kingdom where the People may plead their right against the Prince and not be charged with Rebellion If the Prince should go about to subject his Kingdom to a Foreign Realm or change the Form of the Commonwealth from Impery to Tyranny or neglect the Laws established by common consent of Prince and People to execute his own pleasure In these and other Cases which might be named if the Nobles and Commons joyn together to defend their ancient and accustomed Liberty Regiment and Laws they may not well be counted Rebels Fifthly The Doctrine of Passive Obedience and Non-resistance is the high way to bring in Popery and Arbitrary Power For if the King is a Papist and Zealous for the Propagation of his Religion the Jesuites who account Protestants damned Hereticks will never cease to stir up such a Prince to promote his own Principles and to discountenance those that resolutely adhere to the established Religion And what will Prayers and Tears signifie to such a Prince when his Prejudice or his erroneous Conscience or his Priests or his Desire of being Absolute or some such like Affections furiously carry him to promote the Catholick Cause as they call it Yea this Perswasion may tempt a just Prince other ways for all Kings have Flatterers to forget his Faith and Promise and to take such courses as will in the event ruin and subvert his Crown and Dignity I wish Experience did not confirm this Now to say We may and ought to deny Obedience to such Commands of the Prince as are unlawful by the Law of God as all grant yea by the established Laws of the Kingdom as few will deny This doth no way destroy Arbitrary Government but rather erect it Saith a Learned Author For Government is not said to be not Arbitrary because the Subjects may deny in word and so left to suffer For then the Turkish Government is not Arbitrary for when the Great Turk Commands his Subjects to do any thing if they will deny and suffer for their denial they may and do sometimes deny their Obedience If
to the King's pleasure and cruel Edict Thus the Primitive Christians chearfully laid down their Lives for the Name of Jesus and resisted not because the Laws of the Heathen Roman Empire as those of the Chaldeans before were against them This is called Abuse of Power in Kings and Governours And in this case Prayers and Tears are the Weapons of Christians and all upright men or flying from Persecution But where there is no Law there is no transgression Rom. 4.15 This is an universal Proposition mentioned by Paul If I defend my self against the Illegal Will or Lust of a Governour who hath received no such Authority from God nor Man it is neither transgression nor resisting of the Power Defin. 3. Obedience is a willing and hearty performance of the Commands of our Governours according to Law Defin. 4. Law the Rule of Obedience is a Sentence proceeding from the right Reason of the Commander And therefore no man must yield Active Obedience to Laws against the Law of Nature or against the written Law of God I go on to Axioms 1. The whole is to be preferred before any one part and the greater good before the less Therefore self-preservation is before the preservation of another because Charity begins at home And the whole Kingdom is to be preferred before the King himself when be who is the principal part stands in opposition to the good of the whole Axiom 2. All natural good may be desired and all natural evil may be avoided And here comes in the Rule of Justice and first Principle mentioned by our Saviour Mat. 7.12 All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you do you even so to them for this is the Law and the Prophets And what you will not have done to you do not you do to another This is a clear and undeleble Principle a first and Alphabetical Notion as one speaks Therefore I may preserve my Liberty and Property and oppose those that would by violence and illegal preceedings invade them And here I shall offer four or five more Postulata 1. Our Saviour did not countenance Oppression nor taught no Doctrine in favour thereof 2. Nothing in Christian Religion contradicts natural Religion The reason is both are from God So that if Natural Religion allows Defence then Christian Religion forbids it not As for Mysteries of Faith they are said to be above but not against Reason 3. Our Saviour never designed to set down a Form of Government and Polity but taught Obedience to Lawful Authority Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar ' s. Polity was before the Law of Moses or the Law of Christ The Law of Moses commanded Moral and Ceremonial performances And as for Judicial Laws they bind us only as to the Equity as all acknowledge And the Law of Christ compleats fulfils or advances the Moral Law indeed and withal adds some Mysteries of Faith to be believed of all Christians But Christ and his Apostles leave Political Government as they found them in the world The Gospel say Theol. Wit is a Doctrine of a Spiritual and Eternal Kingdom in the hearts of men neither doth it externally overthrow Political Regiment but rather establish and confirm it Therefore it follows that the Gospel permits all Natural and Legal Defence agreeing with the Civil Laws The Gospel takes not away Polity or Political Laws 4. No People could be so sottish as to set Governours over them to undo them For safety happiness or well-being is the End of Government It is a self-evident Principle No man is bound to think well or speak well or do well to his Oppressors but may throw off their Yoke as soon as be can And so may a whole Kingdom likewise Again This is another self-evident Principle and needs no proof Trust not him with thy Life Goods and Posterity who hath once endeavoured to ruin thee I am confident few men would lend such a man Ten pounds upon his word A man cannot make any doubt of it but that it is most agreeable to reason and the common Interest of those in Society that they should be true to their Compacts Out of what Author as an ingenious Scholar questions can they shew us a Nation that ever did allow the breach of solemn Compacts The lowest inanimate beings have a power and propensity to their own welfare a blind tendency and inclination to their own Security And such a noble being as man is must needs have it in a more sublime and eminent manner A noble Author of our own tells us in his Book of Truth That he for his part takes them for the Catholick Church that are constant and faithful to first Principles that common Notions are the bottom and foundation upon which the Church is built Excuse our diffidence here great Sir The Church is built upon a surer and higher Rock upon a more Adamantine and precious Foundation yet thus much is acceptable and undeniable That whoever they are that by any Practice or Custom or Tradition or Tenet shall stop the passage of first Principles and sound Reason that flows from them they are in this farther from the Church than Indians or Americans while they are not only Antichristian but Unnatural 5. If any should consent to such unreasonable Conditions their Posterity could not be bound by their mistakes The Precepts of the Law of Nature are so potent and triumphant as he speaks as that some Acts which rebel against it become not only unlawful but void as both Schoolmen and Lawyers observe they are not only Irregularities but meer Nullities Because man wants power to make such Laws God gives no man Authority to contradict the Law of Nature which is his own Law and Commands nothing but what is reasonable so that what contradicts this must be unreasonable He that lays violent hands upon himself for wickedness committed tho' commanded by the Magistrate saith Wendelin Philos Mor. b. 1. c. 28. wrongs himself by executing that Command because the Command of such a Magistrate is unjust and against Natural Divine right therefore Obedience performed to it must be unjust And verily if a Kingdom may not defend it self by Force of Arms when grievously oppressed then this Absurdity will follow that we our Liberties Wives Children and Religion may be destroyed when Tyrants and evil Rulers please And all the Remedy is Lord have mercy upon us and our Children But surely this is against common Sense and Reason as I have shewed and God and Nature hath not placed Mankind in such circumstances If this be so then we are in worse case than the Heathens and all other Humane Commonwealths as an Enemy of ours saith which both before and after Christ have had means to deliver themselves from such Tyrants as were intolerable and evidently pernicious to Humane Society and the good of the People for whose peace and preservation they were created by Men or ordained by God This wicked Doctrine may put
the Magistrate Power or Authority to tyranize and oppress Secondly Because Governours are appointed for the good of the People Thirdly Because this is a violation of the Law of Nature First Because God never gave the Magistrate Power or Authority to tyrannize and oppress So that to resist illegal Oppression is not to resist God's Ordinance but mans Usurpation not the King's Authority but his Lust Hence the Prophet Elisha defended himself 2 King 6.32 Elisha sat in his house and the Elders sat with him and the King sent a man from before him and ere the Messenger came to him he said to the Elders See ye how this Son of a Murderer hath sent to take away my head Look when the Messenger cometh shut the door and hold him fast at the door Is not the sound of his Masters feet behind him He calls him the Son of a Murderer because his Father Ahab had killed God's Prophets and he was like him in disposition But that which is to our purpose is that he resisted the King's Messenger he calls upon the Elders to assist him as knowing that God gives no Power to Princes to punish the Innocent And therefore they may defend themselves There is First Private defence Secondly Publick Private defence is proved by this Text. It is lawful against a sudden and illegal assault of a Messenger sent by the King If against a sudden as one saith why not against deliberated and plotted for they are worse This example of Elisha is brought to prove the lawfulness of using force against a King in using violence Prayers and Tears are very good means against tyranny but they are not the only means To kneel down and say Lord help us and not stretch forth an hand to help our sevles is not to trust God's Providence but to tempt God and to try whether he will work a Miracle for our safety It is Presumption and not Piety so to trust to a good Cause as not to use all lawful means to maintain it Here is forcible Opposition allowed against a Messenger Commissioned by the King The Elders are desired to seize him This act of Elisha was plainly contrary to the King's Command Secondly Because Governours are appointed for the good of the People He is the Minister of God to thee for good Rom. 13.4 But if thou dost that which is evil be afraid for he beareth not the sword in vain for he is the Minister of God a Revenger to execute wrath upon him that doth evil He hath not Arbitrary Power but his Power is limited And this is the end of his Government even the welfare of the Kingdom Now if the Subversion of the Government be designed and the Destruction of the People aimed at by Evil Counsellors then the Law of God allows and the Law of Nature requires the People to defend themselves The Magistrate is the Minister of God He sustains the Person of God as a Legate as one glosses and as is the Lord so is the Minister But God doth not punish the good but praise them Therefore the end of Government is that we may live justly and quietly and that the Body Politick and Publick Honesty may be defended If these are violated in an high measure the People are not bound to stand still and have their Throats cut The Sword is to defend the good and punish the evil but if the Sword be used to the contrary then the People must defend themselves Finally The cause of the Institution of Magistracy is to defend and honour the Good This is the call that Magistrates have for they ought not to rule for their own sakes only but for the publick good And they are not possessors of an unbridled Power but with such as is for the safety of their Subjects Thirdly Because this is a Violation of the Law of Nature The Subject as several Authors speak may be said to take up Arms either First As an Act of Self-Preservation Or Secondly As an Act of Jurisdiction exercised towards his Prince The first way we say it is lawful The second way we contend not for it because Jurisdiction properly signifies Power of Office The Schools out of Aristotle saith Wendel Philos Mor. b. 1. c. 29. distinguish Natural and Civil right by the Properties He assigns three Properties of Natural right The first is taken from the Efficient For Natural right hath its Original and Authority from God who first put it into the Minds of men in the Creation and after the Fall also in some manner preserved it in the Posterity of the first Men. Hence it is called by Aristotle The first Right or the first thing that is Just The second is from the Force and Efficacy The Right of Nature is understood by all indued with a sound Mind and every where among all hath the same Force Hence it is immutable and cannot be abrogated The third is from the end The Right of Nature is chiefly referred to Honesty There are also three Properties of Civil and Legal Right taken from the same Arguments The first is from the Efficient Civil Right hath its rise and authority from men by whom it is constituted with common consent with probable Reasons taken from the Law of Nature or some Circumstances The second is from the Force and Efficacy This Right obliges no body before it is established and constituted but after it is established and confirmed it begins to oblige under pain of Transgression Hence it may be changed and abrogated The third is from the End It is chiefly referred to Profit tho' it presupposeth Honesty from Natural Right Here it will not be amiss to lay down a few Definitions and Rules for the more ease understanding what we mean by the Law of Nature First There is an Eternal Law which the Schoolman out of S. Aug. b. 6. Of Free Will describes thus The Eternal Law is the highest reason which we must always obey by which Evil Men deserve Misery and Good Men a good Life by which that which is Temporal is rightly made and rightly changed From this Eternal Law flows the Law of Nature And accordingly Aquinas tells us The Law of Nature is nothing but a Participation of the Eternal Law in the reasonable Creature And Grotius saith Culverwell describes it thus The Law of Nature is the Dictate of right Reason shewing that there is Moral filthiness or Moral necessity in some Act from the convenience or inconvenience or disagreement thereof with the reasonable Nature it self and consequently that such an Act is either forbidden or commanded by God himself the Author of Nature The Laws of Reason saith the ever-renowned Hooker Eccl. Pol. b. 1. Parag. 8 have these Marks to be known by First Such as keep them resemble most lively in their voluntary acts that very manner of working which Nature her self doth necessarily observe in the course of the whole World The works of Nature are behooveful beautiful without superfluity or
and Argument But this is not our Case I will state the Case Suppose a whole Nation Christian and the true Religion fixed by Law so that it is our Birthright and Property as it were and we have a Legal and Civil Right or Human Right as well as a Divine to our Religion and yet this is evidently Invaded by Evil Councellors about the King and he is drawn to destroy Religion If this Gentleman can shew any Primitive Christian or ancient Father and Doctor of the Church who saith in this Case it is not Lawful to Defend our Religion Laws Liberties and Properties I yield the Cause Otherwise we grant all his Examples and Instances as nothing to our purpose They shew indeed the Peaceableness Meekness Humility Patience and Faith of those Primitive Christians their Zeal and Affection for the Happiness of the Empire and their Submission to the Government Laws and Usages of their Country and to their Superiours in their most rigorous Execution of them to the destruction of them and their Religion which is called the Abuse of Power and Legal Tyranny in which case we also own Passive Obedience Secondly I differ from this Gent. about Conquest He would have King William a Conqueror tho' He claims not by it And so tho he was none of them that did or durst have resisted or rebelled against King James yet after his Desertion he forsook him P. 13. Answ If the Prince of Orange had designed an Invasion and Conquest as this Gent. calls it both he and we had been bound in Conscience to Oppose him because there is a Loyalty to our Country as well as to our King And Invasion and Conquest are dismal things as well as shameful But blessed be God He came not as the Enemy of our Country but as our Friend as our Joshua our Saviour to deliver us from Popery and Slavery He ventured his Life to save us from Oppression not to Conquer us Besides if he conquered King James and this Gentleman He did not Conquer those that joyned with him which were by far the greatest part of the Nation I am sure in our County multitudes Subscribed the Association to stand by the Cause with their Lives and Fortunes not to Enslave themselves by Conquest And then it followed That they humbly desired the Prince of Orange to take the Government upon him and Circular Letters were issued out for a Convention and that Convention or Parliament Elected him King and the Princess Queen and He accepted it as a Trust and all Government is a Trust and founded in Covenant as I have elsewhere proved and then we honoured Him and prayed for Him as our King According to those Exhortations in Scripture which order us to Fear God and the King Prov. 24.21 to be subject to the higher Powers which are of God Rom. 13.1 and to pray for Kings and all in Authority that under them we may lead a peaceable and quiet life in all Godliness and honesty 1 Tim. 2.1 2. All which are as much now due to Their present Majesties as to any that ever sat on the Throne It is true by His Affection to our Nation and Zeal for our Religion and Liberties he conquered our Hearts and will for ever reign there and He merits our Lives and Fortunes but it is not for the Honour of our Nation to say He Conquered us And indeed 14000 Men cannot subdue England by force which is properly Conquest We received him as sent from God with hearts full of joy and with chearful countenances And were it not for that Doctrine of Passive Obedience in its vast extent with which many devout Christians and many Learned Pious and great Bishops and Doctors through prejudice were possessed I will not say infected the whole Nation had sounded with Songs of Triumph and our Churches and Pulpits with Praises and Hallelujahs as if we had had Heaven upon Earth So great was the Mercy of our God in delivering us and our Posterity from Popish Ignorance Error Superstition and Idolatry and restoring our Laws and Liberties For my own part I was transported with joy and I care not if all the world saith as some said in Hosea his time c. 9. v. 7. The Prophet is a Fool the spiritual Man is Mad. But surely in truth and reason they are Fools and Madmen that reject so great Deliverance and Salvation out of fondness to a silly Opinion There need no Eloquence if I could use it our great Fears and imminent Dangers are Oratory sufficient Popish Judges Popish Officers in the Army Popish Priests and Jesuits at Court Popish Heads of Colleges in the University Popish Justices of the Peace Mayors c. with the Dispensing Power might well affright us And tho' we perhaps might have spun out a slavish life without great Persecution yet our Children could expect nothing but French Dragoons and Torture or voluntary Exile if not the Marian days of Fire and Faggot But as for those who plead Conquest for the King they know not what they do in making this Plea as a Learned Man speaks For if there were no other right neither Precedent nor consequent but meerly because such an one was stronger and got it and so holds it now then whosoever is strongest at any time he hath right and if a stronger than he comes he shall have right This is no good Divinity nor Policy to Plead thus That which subjects my Conscience to such an one is Submission upon some Compact Covenant or Agreement Besides this sort of Men by flattering Monarchs and deluding the People with crying out The King the King have wholly forgotten the very Heathens Lesson It is sweet and comely to Die for our Country that is our Laws Liberty Property c. I must confess Conquest makes way for Subjection as it did in Caesar over the Jews but I hope no man will say this is our case nor do they do their King or Country any Service who put the Controversie upon this Issue Thirdly I must consider what this Gentleman saith about God's Providence in disposing Kingdoms And here I must needs say that he is honest in the main but he hath not read and digested Divinity enough to handle this subject and therefore he is very confused And I will not arrogate so much to my self as to say I have sounded this depth which hath cost me some years study and yet I must admire for I am ignorant or unsatisfied about many things concerning God's Providence I will not at this time ingage in the Controversie between the Remonstrants and Contra-Remonstrants God's Providence and Man's free acting are not inconsistent that is certain How they concur is most mysterious and the Highest Point in School-Divinity And I may safely say that it is above my strength to cut asunder or my wit to untie this knot But it is mine and every mans Duty to do God's Will and submit to his Pleasure who doth whatsoever pleaseth him in
I shall shew that it was just to depose Nebuchadnezzar To this purpose we must consider 1. That all Government is a Trust 2. That all Government is for the safety and good of the Community 3. That there may be such crimes as may forfeit the Crown and Throne and reduce all to first Principles 1. We must consider that all Government is a Trust The Dominion of one man over another is by consent and is founded in Covenant All men are free by the Law of Nature to chuse what kind of Government they think most convenient And the Positive Law of God hath left this to their Election The Nomination of the person and the Limitation of the power is originally and radically in the Community Hence some Nations have Lords Dukes c. their supream Governours Some Nations have Kings by Election every Reign Others have Succession in one Family Some have Queens to rule over them others will not allow Women to reign Some are absolute Monarchs others are limited Some have Aristocratical others Democratical Government And almost all Nations vary in these Circumstances It is true Authority is from God There is no Power but of God saith St. Paul Rom. 13.1 And By me Kings reign and Princes decree Justice saith God by Solomon Prov. 8.15 But tho' the Donation of the Power is of God yet the Designation of the Person and the Limitation of the Power how much or how little or in what manner Mankind must be ruled and give Obedience and owe Submission is wholly by Positive Law and Agreement at the first Constitution or afterwards Thus we read 2 Sam. 5.3 All the Elders of Israel came to the King to Hebron and King David made a League with them in Hebron before the Lord and they anointed David King over Israel Here was an Assembly or Parliament who chose David King and covenanted with him God and Man are not opposite but subordinate in this case That which is of God saith a learned Divine may be of Man also For the second cause doth not exclude the first or contrarily Because the fruits and increase of the Earth are obtained by the care and labour of Man therefore are they not given of God So that as the Prophets and Apostles in old time were called immediately by God not by Men but other Pastors and Bishops of the Church being not immediately called by God but by men yet cease not to have their Vocation from God Because God ceaseth not to do what he doth by means As God designed Timothy Bishop not immediately as Paul but by the Imposition of the hands of Paul and the Presbytery So God in old time by an immediate call set Magistrates and some Kings upon the Throne as Moses Joshua the Judges David Jehu c. But he gave Power and doth not cease to give Power to others as to the seventy Elders by Man's counsel and means and that according to the Laws and received Customs of the People either by Election and the consent of the Senate as now the Roman Empire or by the Suffrages of the People as Consuls Governours of Cities either meerly or mixtly Democratical or by the will of the Souldiers as the old Empire of Rome or finally by Hereditary Succession as the Kings of France of Spain and of Great Britain c. and the Princes of the Empire For there is no Power but of God And certainly the Authority of one or a few in humane Consideration would not suffice to govern and contain so many in Duty and many times very cruel and evil Men unless there were something of the hand of God in it Therefore God himself is the proper and first Cause of Magistracy tho' Men are the next Cause The Prince is bound saith no mean Divine to look to the safety and welfare of the Kingdom as is agreed by all And therefore he is bound to it because he receives this Power originally I speak not in opposition to God but I say originally from the People themselves as appears by the Government of Judah and the Kings of Israel For Judg. 8.22 The men of Israel came to Gideon to make him their King It is true Gideon refused this offer saith Mr. Rogers in his Commentary with great resolution and wisdom telling them that the Lord should rule over them v. 23. His meaning was that the Order that God had set of Governing by such as had no continued Government should stand and not be perverted by or for him or his but contrarily to his Power he would hinder it And God reigned indeed in the Commonwealth of Israel which flourished in Gideon's time wherein the Elders were chosen by common consent some Ecclesiastical to give the meaning of the Law and others Civil and Temporal as men call it to rule the people thereby c. And if any War fell out the Lord himself stirred up Guides and Judges and they were not chosen I suppose he means only or in a usual course by Men as appears c. 1. v. 1. neither did their Children succeed them And thus the Lord both in Peace and War ruled over them and so Gideon meant that the Office of a Judge was no ordinary Magistracy such as the King is but a Temporary and Occasional much like to the Dictatorship of the Romans in respect of the use whereto it served tho' otherwise of divine Election immediately not by Men. And Judg. 9.6 They gathered together and made Abimelech their King And Judg. 11.8 9 10 11. the people covenanted with Jephtha and made him their King And as for Saul tho' he was designed by God for the Kingdom yet the people themselves chose the kind of their Government first when they said Give us a King to rule over us after the manner of the Nations After that God had anointed Saul it is said 1 Sam. 11.15 And all the people went to Gilgal and there they made Saul King before the Lord in Gilgal And as for David tho' he was anointed King by Samuel yet we find that he continued subject unto Saul after that And 2 Sam. 2. He came to Hebron thither the men of Judah came and there they anointed David King over the House of Judah v. 4. After that he was thus anointed by Judah to be King over them yet he did not rule over Israel till the other Tribes also went out and made him King over them 1 Chro. 12.38 It is said That all these men of war came with a perfect heart to Hebron to make David King over all Israel And as for Solomon tho' he was designed by God to the Kingdom yet it is said of him also 1 Chro. 29.22 That all the Congregation did eat and drink before the Lord and they made Solomon the Son of David King the second time and anointed him to the Lord to be Chief Governour Solomon being dead 2 Chro. 10.1 it is said of Rehoboam that he went to Shechem where all Israel
elected And Charles the the third the last Emperor of Pipins Line was deposed by the same people for a Bedlam As also when Justinus the younger was distracted of his wits Tiberius was placed in the Empire So he And if Governours may be deposed and the Succession altered for natural defects and calamities then much more for Moral defects such as universal Oppression and Tyranny over their Subjects Because the other might be helped by Protectors and Guardians but this neither will nor can Again p. 179. If any Prince were repressed since the Foundation of the Earth for five thousand years it was done by their own States and Realms and that for their Extream Tyranny Priests always refrained those attempts and never thought it any part of their vocation to meddle with the changes and alterations of Kingdoms as Gregory the seventh called Pope Hildebrand did Now to return to Nebuchadnezzar that which happened saith a learned Divine to the furious King in his madness by the decree of God why may not ought not that be done to other impious Kings also Calvin indeed speaks dubiously in his Commentary on Dan. 4. It is uncertain whether he was cast out by Tumult and the Conspiracy of the Nobles or also by the consent of the whole people This is doubtful because the Histories of that time are unknown to us While Calvin thus doubts he denies not in the mean time that the furious King was removed by publick Authority The Text is express They shall drive thee from men v. 32. And verily by force of Gods Decree Command Therefore other impious Kings taken with like fury may fear the same punishment Like Oppression at any time will justify like defence proceedings The famous Doctor of the Church Oecolampadius judgeth right whose words are these in his Commentary Observe the equity of the Judge that the Lord measures to us with the same measure that we measure to others He was much exalted and much humbled he received many gifts from God many are taken away he banished many and he also is driven from men he had delicious meats now he feeds with beasts he was clothed with purple now he is wholly covered with frightful hair he was anointed with balm and precious Ointments now he is wet with showers and the dew of Heaven And here I shall sum up the whole in principles according to the use of Mathematicians in Postulata Definitions and Axioms Such things saith the renowned Hooker Eccl. Pol. b. 1. par 8 As soon as they are alledged all men acknowledge to be good As God is to be worshiped Parents are to be honoured The main Principles of reason are in themselves apparent For to make nothing evident of it self to mans understanding were to make away all possibility of knowing any thing And herein that of Theophrastus is true They that seek a reason of all things do utterly overthrow it In every kind of knowledge some such grounds there are as that being proposed the mind doth presently imbrace them as free from all possibility of error clear and manifest without proof Postulatum 1. Every creature by the instinct of nature preserves itself and promotes its well being For as the Philosopher saith all defire Good and Happiness naturally is to be sought 2. No Positive law ought to or can invalidate or destroy the Law of nature which is the highest reason in man Because positive Laws are to better the condition of mankind not to make it worse 3. The primary right of nature so called cannot be changed because it is written in the heart of man as S. Paul testifies Hence it cannot be blotted out unless nature be blotted out and reason cease to be reason See the former discourse 4. The great End of Government is the security of the Community Were the People first or the King first Surely there were People to be governed before there were Governours Did Kings descend from Heaven and were they immediately appointed by God or mediately by the Election of the People Surely the Fathers of Families and Elders of the People chose one to be their Head and Governour Did they chuse him to make themselves in a better condition or in a worse Surely that they might live better and more secure that no one Person or Family might wrong another because they were stronger The Law of Nature tells us it is not necessary as one saith in another case That they that give should always formally have beforehand received that Power which they give it is enough if they have received it virtually For instance a multitude of free People may Elect and Ordain a King over them and yet none of them had beforehand received Kingly Power It is enough they have a Virtual Power to set up and to submit to any Lawful Form of Government which they see good for themselves in the Land 5. Defend thy self against Foroe is the first Principle of true Politicks There can be no Time Age Person wherein this is not true according to the former Postulata Hence are drawn these Conclusions mentioned in my former Discourse 1. No man ought to hurt us when we are innocent 2. If any man endeavours to hurt us when we are innocent we may defend our selves 3. Neither God nor Man gives Authority to Governours to hurt the Innocent 4. If Governours hurt the Innocent they may defend themselves All this presupposeth my former Discourse to which I refer the Reader The general and perpetual Voice of men saith Hooker is as the Sentence of God himself For that which all men have at all times learned Nature her self must needs have taught and God being the Author of Nature her Voice is but his Instrument By her from him we receive whatsoever in such sort we learn Infinite duties there are the good whereof is by this Rule sufficiently manifest tho' we had no other warrant besides to approve them The Apostle Paul having speech concerning the Heathens saith of them They are a Law to themselves Rom. 2.14 His meaning is that by force of the Light of Reason wherewith God illuminates every one that comes into the world men being enabled to know truth from falshood and good from evil do thereby learn in many things what the Will of God is Which Will himself not revealing by any extraordinary means to them but they by natural discourse attaining the knowledge thereof seem the makers of those Laws which indeed are his and they but only the finders of them our I now proceed to Definitions 1. Defence is the preserving the Innocent from wrong 2. Tyranny is the wilful Oppression of the Innocent against Law or Conscience Yet there is Tyranny in the Legislative Power when Princes and men in Authority make wicked and unjust Laws and here submission is due or Passive Obedience so called Thus Daniel and his Companions could not Actively obey Nebuchadnezzar because we must obey God rather than Man but they humbly submitted