more for I will deliver my flock from their mouth that they may not be meat for them Ezek. 34.1 to 11. I shall insist no longer on the Magistrates Duty at present but come to his Due which is contained in those four Particulars mentioned in the Description of Magistracy Power Tribute Honour And Obedience with two Restrictions applicable to them all First The Proportion what is due Secondly The Reason Therefore I shall begin in the next Chapter with the Power of the Magistrate CHAP. VII Treating of the Power which the Magistrate is to be entrusted withall shewing that he is to have so much Power as is adequate to the end of Government relation of a publick Servant and duties of his place and that he hath no right to any Power contrary to that I Am now come to the Magistrates due or to treat of what is due to him from the People which is principally comprehended in four particulars I shall begin with the first Power By the word Power I mean not Authority but strength sufficient for the performance of that trust God and the People have reposed in him which by the Greeks is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and by the Latines Vis and differs from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Authority which is mentioned Rom. 13.1 Because Power is a means of carrying on or executing Authority And therefore that word translated Power had been better rendred Authority For the Power or Strength which the Magistrate hath put into his hand is mentioned afterward in the 4th Verse under the name of a Sword And the Magistrate is said to bear the Sword because it is delivered into his hand for the performance of his duty But to be more plain in this particular I shall shew you what Power is the Magistrates due and what not 1. Then Positively The Magistrate is to have so much Power or Strength as may conduce to the Glory of God and Good of the People as is adequate to the End of Government For otherwise the Office were a vain thing if it were not invested with Power sufficient to answer the End of its Institution 2. So much Power as is adequate to the relation he is in That is a publick and painful Servant Of God and To the People For to make a Servant and give him too little Power for the relation you set him in were to set up a man of straw or the Picture of a Magistrate 3. So much Power as may enable him to perform the duties of his place to execute Justice to Punish those that do Evil and Reward those that do Well Rom. 13.4 And to defend the Nation in general and every one in particular under his charge Thus all both Superiour and Subordinate Magistrates must have Power sufficient to perform the Duties of their several stations and the Trust which the People repose in them This I think none will deny but the question will principally be what Power the Magistrate ought not to have For the greatest inconveniences of Governmently in the excess of the Magistrates Power I shall therefore spend most time about that 1. Then Negatively The Magistrate is not to have any Power which is for the Peoples hurt he was made for their good and no reason he should have any power for their hurt power enough to make the People slaves when ever he pleaseth to persecute them for doing well to take away their Estates Liberties or Lives unjustly this Power is not his due because it is contrary to the End for which he was made The Peoples good Rom. 13.4 It is a madness in any People to suffer their Magistrates to take so much Power into their hands as doth enable them when they please to hurt and oppress the People it were not safe to trust the best man alive wiâ—h so much Power as to be able to injure us if he would for it is a common thing for Governours to play the Hypocrites begin to govern well till they have cunningly established themselves and got power enough into their hands to oppress the People and then begin to Tyrannize Thus did Nero himself his first five years he reigned well And Tyberius did the same but when they had established themselves in the Throne and were possessed of as much Power as they thought sufficient murdered the Senators oppressed the People and committed all manner of outrages 2. The Magistrate is not to have so much power as is unsutable to his Relation of the Peoples Servant to have so much Power as to make himself their Lord If a People will be so unwise as to give the Magistrate Lordly Power they may well be sure he will use it to their thraldom and do we not find it by woful experience this day what are we better than slaves when upon any pretence of the Court they fetch Men out of their Houses where they are peaceably following their Callings and though they have nothing to charge them withall yet send them away to Prisons where they keep them to the utter undoing of them and their Families how many hundreds have been thus dealt withal since these men have had this exorbitant Power in their hands Is not this the very highest slavery when Men dare not pray or preach or meet together to worship God but they are haled to Dungeons Oh England this could not have been if thou hadst been so wise as to have kept thy Power in thine own hands and given no more to thy Servants than is sufficient to perform thy service 3. Magistrates should not have Power to pervert Justice and destroy a Land their duty is to execute Justice and defend us and are they not bereft of Reason who would give them Power to destroy and undoe us For a People to give the Power of the Militia into the hands of the King is by interpretation a giving away of their Birthright and exposing their Lives Liberties and Estates to his will For if the King may command the Militia as he pleaseth what Tyranny is too hard for him I deny not but the King is to bear the Sword for execution of Justice and defending the People but to have the Militia wholly at his disposal is not that Sword due to him for that is to have power to make the People slaves when he pleaseth And do not we find the sad effects of this at present when the Walls of our Cities are thrown down in a time of Peace after an Act of Indemnity which are the strength and defence of our Land in case of a Forreign Invasion Object We see this now but it is too late the Parliament have given the Power of the Militia to the King and since all Authority is against us what can we do Answ The Parliament are our Servants as well as the King we chuse a King to govern us for our good to preserve our Lives Liberties and Estates we chuse a Parliament send them up to consult our Safety to
assert our Liberties and Priviledges to make Laws for the Glory of God and our Good these our Servants conspire against their Masters and have wickedly robbed us of our Power and shared it among themselves we are no more bound to submit to their unjust and most prefidious Acts than a Master is bound to stand still and let his Servant give away his Goods and undoe him What Authority had a Parliament to give away our Birthrights to enslave the Corporations and Counties that sent them up to assert their Freedoms and to expose us to the lusts of wicked Oppressors to give away the Militia of the Land to the King to he disposed of for our slavery for who knowes not that it is put into the hands of bloody Papists and Sons of Cruelty and Oppression in most parts of the Land Did God give them this Authority who dares so to blaspheme Did the People give them any such Commission not in the least and therefore I conclude they had no authority at all to do it That they have no authority from the People I make good thus 1. There is no People can be supposed to be so destitute of reason and such Enemies to themselves their Little-ones and Posterity as to send up Trustees to enslave them and undoe them to give away their Birthrights and Priviledges to expose their Lives Liberties and Estates to Tyranny 2. If any People should be so foolish to send up Trustees with a Commission of this nature yet it were unlawfully done it were against the Law of God and Nature and the Grant it self null and void It were a wicked and treacherous thing for any man to give away the Power of preserving his own but especially his Wise his Children and Posterities Lives Liberties and Estates because both the Law of God and Nature oblige a man to preserve all these to give away the power of self-defence from my self is most abominable treachery to my self To give it away from my Wife and Children is most cursed and unnatural treachery to them and if a man should give away this Power to another yet the other hath no right to it by that grant it is as if it had been never given There are two infallible Maximes which make this good Whatever a man gives if it were not in his power to give it is not obliging But it is not in our power to give away self and family-defence and therfore if a man should do it yet the grant were not obliging Another Maxime as certain is that Against the Law of God or Nature nothing binds But to give away the Power of Self and Family-defence to a King or Parliament or both or to any other Person or Persons is against the Law of God and Nature And therefore if a People should be so ignorant as to do it yet it doth not at all bind them Suppose a Man should give the King or Parliament an absolute Power over himself his Wife and Children and they should come to ravish his Wife or murder his Children before his face were he bound to stand still and suffer it no such thing the Law of God and Nature binds him to rescue his Wife and Children if it be in his power notwithstanding that unlawful Act of his in giving them away before The Parliament had no Authority from God to betray our Rights and Liberties for God ordained Magistrates not for our hurt but good Rom. 13.4 They could have no authority from us because the Law of God and Nature obligeth us to defend them and therefore there is indeed nothing but a pretence of Authority which is as meer a cheat as any in the world and we have the same right to all our Freedoms and Priviledges that we had before they gave them from us and as soon as we can it is not only our Liberty but Duty for the sake of our Wives Children and Posterity to resume them again and to turn these unfaithful Stewards out of our Service with wages suitable to their merits The Lawyers say there are some cases wherein though the King make a Grant to a person by his Letters Patent yet nothing passeth to the Patentee I am sure if Scripture or Reason or both may give Judgement in our case though the Parliament have given away our Birthrights perfidiously to the King yet nothing passed of right to the King thereby The Parliaments giving our Birthrights to the King is just of as much force as if the Convocation of Prelates or Council of Bishops should give our souls to the Devil they have as much Power to do the latter as the Parliament have to do the former for both are against the Law of God and Nature and the King hath just as much right to our Liberties by the Parliaments Donation as the Devil hath to the souls of those whom the Bishops excommunicate and curse Let us not be such Children in understanding as to be frighted with a Pretence of Authority to oppress us for they have no other Authority but what is derived from the Devil and our perfidious Servants the Parliament who have sold us for nought CHAP. VIII I Come from the Power due to the Magistrate to the Tribute and I shall resolve this as I did the former 1. Positively 2. Negatively 1. Positively First So much Tribute as is necessary for prosecuting the Ends of Government viz. the Glory of God and Good of the People that is due to the Magistrate and the People are in justice bound to render unto him Secondly So much as is suitable to the Relation he is in Servants must have sufficient Wages to perform their Service yea it is their due in point of Equity Magistrates are our Servants and Wages competent to their Office is their due from us Many Towns Cities and Nations have been destroyed because their Magistrates had not Wages enough to perform their Service Constantinople was made a prey to the Turk by the Covetousness of the Citizens who would not furnish the Emperor with Money sufficient for the defence of the City Thirdly So much Tribute as is necessary for the several Duties of Magistrates is due to them to carry on Justice and protect the Land which varies according to the greatness of their trust and various Emergencies of publick affaires which is the rule by which the Magistrates Wages is to be proportioned 2. Negatively What-ever Tribute is indeed hurtful to the People is not due to the Magistrate because it is contrary to the End for which Magistracy was ordained he was made for their good therefore they are not bound to maintain him to their hurt If a Magistrate will have a Tax to maintain a standing Army which shall keep the People in slavery they are not bound to pay it because it is for their hurt If a Tax should be levied for building Pauls or any other Superstitious business which is burdensome to the People they are not bound to pay it
the Magistrates whom they made for their good and maintain as their Servants judges what Power and Wages is fit for their Servants to have Que. But how shall we distinguish between such Tribute as is due and such as is not due for we had need be certain that it is not due if we refuse to pay it Answ 1. When Magistrates require Tribute for unlawful uses For instance if they will have Taxes to maintain their Pride Covetousness Lasciviousness Luxury Prodigality we are not bound to pay what they demand I deny not but in prudence we may give it them in case we cannot avoid it without our own undoing as a man would rather give his Purse to a Thief than be killed But in Conscience we are free to refuse if we can with our own safety When it is evident to the World that Magistrates use our money not for our good but hurt serve their own Lusts with our wages we are not bound to maintain them O how many Hundred Thousands nay Millions of money have these men squeezed out of poor England within this three years which hath been all spent upon their Luxury and our Slavery What immesurable Pride and Wastfulness are they guilty of who is able to fathom the Covetousness of the Clergy and Lawyers the insatiable Rapacity of the Courtiers who like the Grave never say 't is enough A Generation whose teeth are as swords and their jaw teeth are knives to devour the poor from off the Earth and the needy from among men Prov. 30.14 A Whirl-pool that sucks in what ever comes near it and so great that if God permit them to continue a few years more they will suck in the whole Land A bottomless Pit as deep as Hell it self And think you that it is your duty to maintain Play-houses and Whore-houses for the Courtiers with that which should buy your Children bread or feed the hungry bellies and cloath the naked backs of the Poor 2. When the Great Ones lay the burden on the Mean the Rich cast the burden on the Poor the Poor are not bound to bear the burden for the Rich. If a Parliament consisting of Lords Knights and Gentlemen who have the greatest part of the Revenues of the Land will cast the burden of the Taxes upon the poor Handy-crafts-men and Labourers who get their Living by the sweat of their brows it is unjust and not at all obligatory 3. When the Tribute is more than the People are able to pay without impoverishing the Land and impairing the Common-wealth when not a few covetous or envious persons but the generality of the Nation groan under their burden and complain 't is more than they are able to bear and the Governours lay on more load still in this case the Governours are Oppressors and the People may remedy themselves if they can Object But the People have entrusted the Parliament with this affair and therefore what Tribute their Trustees have ordained they are bound to pay Sol. I say as before in the case of Power we give the Parliament Authority to raise such Tribute as is sufficient for our security and the Service the King is to do us but we give them no Power to impoverish or oppress us to give away our Wives and Childrens bread to maintain a company of Proud Lazy Drunken Debauched Courtiers filthy idle Drones who will not work and therefore by the Law of God should not eat 2 Thes 3.10 That the People should give away their Estates from their Wives and Children and the Poors due also to make Provision for the Lusts of their cruel Taskmasters who spoil them of all their Liberties both as Men and Christians is more than a hundred Parliaments have Power to decree and we are unwise to endure CHAP. IX Treating of the Honour which is due to the Magistrate IN the handling of this Particular I shall observe the same Method I did in the former and shew you First What honour is due to the Magistrate Secondly What is not 1. Then we owe to such Magistrates as are a Terroun to evil Works and a Praise to them that do Well the Honour of such just and lawful Titles as the People bestow on them as King Judge Sheriff Mayor or the like which is so clear both in the Old and New Testament that it needs no proof 2. We owe to them the acknowledgement of the good service they do us and thankful acceptation thereof although it be no more then their duty Thus we read the People did use to acknowledge the good they had received by Moses Joshua Gideon David and other good Magistrates and mourned for them at their Death and good reason for the happiness of a Land is bound up in the Government thereof Such Princes as Govern well deserve Titles of Honour The Romans were wont to give the Titles of Pater Patriae to their good Emperours as they did to Augustus Antoninus Pius and others And Augustus who refused to be called the Peoples Lord as I mentioned before yet did with the highest satisfaction and thankfulness embrace that Title of the Father of his Country The Title of Lord of the Country is far inferiour in the Judgement of all wise men to that of Father of the Country Yea good Magistrates deserve to be honourably mentioned after death and had in blessed Memory by Posterity as Edward the Sixth that young Josiah is and will be to the Worlds end 3. We owe them Honour in our gestures and behaviour as we read the Lords People were wont to do bowing the Head and the Body in token of that honour which was due to them Thus did Nathan to David 1 King 1.23 Thus did Mephibosheth 2 Sam. 9.8 Araunah 1 Chron. 21.21 And I judge it very lawful and requisite to shew bodily respect to good Magistrates although I cannot think it lawful for a Magistrate to punish any of the People who are not satisfied of the lawfulness thereof and upon that account do refuse such ceremonies as putting off the hat or the like But in the next place What honour is not due to the Magistrate 1. False or flattering Titles are not his due though he be the best man upon Earth Job 32.21 Let me not I pray you accept any mans person neither let me give flattering Titles unto man for I know not to give flattering Titles in so doing my maker would soon take me away To call a man Defender of the Faith who is a Persecutor of it To call a profane Tyrant Gracious O what abominable flattery and falsity is this To call wicked perjured profane Dukes or bloody minded Popish Archbishops your Grace what is it less than Blasphemy It were fitter to call them your Vice then your Grace O you flattering Priests Courtiers Lawyers and others who thus accustome your mouthes to lyes that you draw them in like your breath consider what your portion will be from the Lord Rev. 21.8 you are all to be
cast into the Lake that burneth with fire and brimstone The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death Prov. 21.6 What shall be given unto thee or what shall be done unto thee O thou false tongue sharp arrows of the Mighty with coals of Juniper Psal 120.3 and 4. If you do not speedily repent know that you shall cry out one day for a drop of Water to cool this lying flattering tongue But I know what your wicked hearts will answer Let us alone till then and we care not know therefore that not onely God but the People will abhor you the Lord hath denounced that curse against you Prov. 24.24 He that saith to the wicked thou art righteous him shall the People curse Nations shall abhor him 2. The just and lawful Titles of Good Magistrates are not due to wicked Magistrates but they forfeit their right thereto by their Tyranny and Oppression or other misgovernment And therefore we find the Prophets Christ and Apostles giving to wicked Magistrates Titles of ignominy and disgrace suitable to their merits Elijah tells wicked Ahab to his face Thou art he that troubleth Israel 1 King 18.18 Elisha calls King Jehoram The Son of a Murderer 2 Kings 6.32 Isaiah calls the Rulers of his time Rulers of Sodom Isa 1.10 Ezekiel calls the King of Israel Prophane wicked Prince Ezek. 21.25 Christ calls Herod Fox and bids them go and tell him so Luke 13.32 Paul calls the Roman Emperor A Lyon 2 Tim. 4.17 Yea the Apostles and many thousands of Christians together for so the company of Believers was Acts 2.41 with one accord in their Prayers mention Herod and Pontius Pilate by name spread their wickedness before God and desire the Lord To behold their Threats Acts 4.27 It was no wonder the holy Prophets were so persecuted by wicked Rulers since they were such faithful plain-dealing men that knew not how to give flattering Titles unto them but called them Rulers of Sodom Troublers of Israel Sons of Murderers and Prophane wicked Persons No wonder the Governours looked upon Christ and his Apostles with an Evil eye and punished them as Seditious men since they called them Foxes Lyons and gave them such reproachful Titles as they had deserved They hated plain-dealing and reproof as all Tyrants do and would be sure to suppress that spirit if they could which dared presume to reprehend their wickedness and yet these holy Men were not afraid to give them Titles of dishonour answerable to their merits Oh you wicked flatterers that daub with untempered morter and flatter great Men for advantage see here what the holy Prophets and Apostles did and take shame to your selves for your filthiness Wo to him that calleth good evil and evil good that putteth Darkness for Light and Light for Darkness Isa 5.20 Who justifie the wicked for reward and take away the Righteousness of the Righteous from him Your root shall be rottenness and your blossom dust The Lord is no respecter of Persons and hath forbid us to be so If Kings or great Men be wicked they deserve to be called as they are Nay take notice of this that when the Christians in their assembly lift up their voice with one accord to God and boldly prayed to the Lord To behold the Threats of Herod and Pontius Pilate whom they mentioned by Name relating their wickedness the Lord shewed how exceedingly he was pleased therewith in that as soon as the prayer was ended the place was shaken and they were all filled with the holy Spirit and great Grace was upon thâ—â— all Perhaps if there were more boldness in the Assemblies of the Saints at this day in bearing a faithful Testimony for God against these wicked Rulers there would be a greater Presence of the Spirit of God among them and greater measures of Grace upon them And in like manner have the faithful Servants of the Lord in all Ages born their Testimony against the wickedness of their Rulers The Title which John Knox that famous Servant of Jesus Christ and eminent Instrument of the Scotish Reformation frequently gave to the Tyrannous Queen who ruled the Land was Bondslave of Satan and he constantly prayed in publick in words to this purpose That God would deliver her from the Power of Satan to whom she was now a bondslave John Hus that glorious Martyr of Jesus Christ was not afraid to affirm to the Emperors face That wicked Kings were not worthily Kings before God Acts and Mon. Vol. 1. Pag. 807. And pag. 813. he sayes That Subjects and common People ought openly and publickly to detect and reprove the Vices of their Rulers having Power given them of Christ and Example of Paul so to do The Bishop of Burgen in his Oration which he made in the Counsel of Basil layes down this assertion It is absurd for a King to be of more Authority than his Kingdom and he that ruleth not for the Good of his Subjects is not to be counted a King but a Tyrant Eleutherius in the Letter which he sent to Lucius King of this Island about 170. years after the Death of Christ affirms the same in these words A King hath his Name of Ruling not of having a Kingdom and so long shall you be a King indeed while you rule well which if you do not the Name of a King shall not remain with you but you shall lose it Acts and Mon. Vol. 1. Pag. 139. Which Eleutherius is in high esteem by Ecclesiastical Historians for the Eminency of his Wisdom and Piety both as indeed that very Epistle doth sufficiently evidence he deserves to be Thus you see several eminent Lights in the Church of God concur in the same Perswasion That wicked Magistrates have no right to the Titles of such Magistrates as rule well Nay the Antient Laws of this Nation give full testimony to this Truth For in the Chapter of the Laws of King Edward commonly called the Confessor by whom most of the good Laws we enjoy were made treating of the duty of the King the Law saith thus The King because he is the Vicegerent of the highest King is appointed for this purpose to reverence and rule the Kingdom the Lords People and holy Church and to defend them from injurious persons to pluck away evil-doers utterly to scatter and destroy them which if he doth not perform the Name of a King shall not agree to him but he looseth the title of a King Well then let no man be so foolish and perverse as to charge this assertion with novelty or singularity for you see what abundant Evidence there is both from Scripture and Reason That a wicked and unrighteous King forfeits his right to the Title of a King And though the perfidious Parliament or rather mock Parliament have lately betrayed their own Trust and our Liberties making it Treason for us to mention the cruel Tyranny and Oppression we groan under yet by
or Servant of God a Revenger to execute Wrath upon him that doth evil v. 4. Wherefore ye must needs be subject not only for Wrath but for Conscience sake ver 5. But this can lay no obligation upon our Conscience to be subject unto one who is a Servant of the Devil to revenge him upon those that do well So likewise ver 6. he tells us the cause why we are to pay Tribute to Magistrates For for this cause pay ye Tribute because they are God's Ministers or Publick Servants attending continually upon this very thing What thing is that that which he had mentioned before They are God's Servants continually attending upon your good to praise those that do well to punish those that do evil and this is the cause why you are to pay them Tribute But there 's no such cause to acknowledge unrighteous Rulers but one may plainly invert the words thus For this cause pay them no Tribute for they are the Devil's servants continually attending upon this very thing to injure and oppress you So that I conlude there is no reason or cause why we should be subject to Oppressors and therefore no obligation Object But doth not the Apostle mean Nero because he sayes Let every soul be subject to the higher Powers now it is generally received that Nero was the highest power when the Apostle wrote this Epistle Sol. 1. There are very learned men who do affirm otherwise that this Epistle was written in the dayes of Claudius Caesar but because Histories are so various I shall not insist on that 2. Suppose it had been written in the Reign of Nero either it was written in the first five years of his reign while he ruled well or afterwards when he turned Tyrant If it were written in the first five years of his reign and we should allow that the Apostle means Nero yet this doth no way contradict what I have asserted That it is lawful to resist Tyrants or Oppressors For while he ruled well I shall grant that it was unlawful to resist him But if it were written after the time that Nero turned Tyrant which is that the advocates of Tyranny would have I utterly deny that the Apostle means Nero for these reasons First Because the Properties of this Power which the Apostle speaks of do no more agree with Nero after he turned Tyrant then the Properties of Light with Darkness The Power Paul speaks of is a praise to them that do well and a terrour to them that do evil but Nero was then one of the greatest terrours to them that did well that ever was in the world the greatest Murderer of the Saints that filled the streets with the dead bodies of those that did well The Magistrate Paul speaks of Is a Servant of God to the People for good Nero was the greatest plague one of them that ever was both to the Church of God and the whole world one that murdered Senators Citizens Christians Kindred all manner of persons filled the Rivers with Christian-blood Secondly The Magistrate Paul speaks of is one whom we are to honour vers 7. but Paul himself speaks reproachfully of Nero and calls him Lyon 2 Tim. 4.17 Nay Thirdly By this interpretation the Senate of Rome must be damned because they resisted Nero and condemned him to a most shameful Death which action of theirs was never disapproved of by any man that had not lost his Wits or Conscience or both as it is to be feared most of the Prelates have before they undertake to plead for Tyranny But I conceive it to be meant neither of Nero in the time while he reigned well nor in the time of his Tyranny or any other particular Governour or Governours but of Government in the general as the Ordinance of God and true Magistrates who are conformable thereto as indeed the whole Series of arguments which the Apostle there uses doth evidence The Apostle in that Chapter gives us a summary of the Doctrine of Magistracy the Lord knew that his Church would increase and that the multitude of Believers would be more and more augmented till the Second coming of Christ and therefore he left rules of Magistracy to direct Christians how to behave themselves in conformity to that Ordinance The Apostle doth most perspicuously lay down the Nature and End of Magistracy the duties of Magistrate and People Rulers and Ruled with the grounds and reasons thereof Shewing Christians what is the Magistrates Relation to God and them and what is the benifit and advantage of this Ordinance and perswading them to live in subjection to those who govern according to the Rules of Magistracy but here is not a word of Tyranny or subjection to Tyrants to be found And whereas he bids us Be subject to the Higher Powers that also makes it plain that he meant not Nero or any other particular person for he puts it in the Plural Number taking in all lawful Governours whatsoever as well as the chief Magistrate and it were better rendered the Super-eminent Authorities or the Authorities that are over us and so Judges Mayors and other subordinate Governours are as fitly termed Authorities over us as the Supream Magistrate they are as much the Ordinance of God as he Servants of God to us for good and appointed to punish Evil-doers and a praise to them that do well and the chief Magistrate is not the highest Power for the Peoples power is above his they make him and maintain him and can depose him if he deserve it as the Senate of Rome did Nero for Nero was not the highest Power of Rome but the Senates Power was above his and for his Tyranny they condemned him to a most Shameful Death to avoid which he executed himself Object But doth not the Apostle command us to be subject to the Powers that are it seems by that that whosoever have the Power we must be subject to them good or bad Governours Sol. No such thing For the word translated Powers in its proper and native signification is Authorities or lawful Powers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the whole scope of the place shews plainly the Apostle means no other Powers but just rational and good Governours who are a terrour to evil works and a praise to good The Apostle doth not intend to assert Tyranny or teach us that the unrighteous Powers of the Earth are the Ordinance of God but he means the righteous Powers that are such as God hath ordained for the Good of mankind Object But we receive some good from unrighteous and oppressing Magistrates and though they do not fully come up to the duties God requires of them yet they defend us from Theeves and Murderers and it is better then it would be if there were no Magistrates for then we could not live no man could have any assurance of any thing he calls his Own and for that good we receive from them we are to be subject to them Sol. 1. This Objection