God in general or with respect to the Publick one For inasmuch as the Worship of God as well as all other Actions requires some Time for the performance of it and Experience shews that what is left at large for the Time is either very rarely or perfunctorily perform'd there ariseth from thence a necessity of appointing a certain Time that it may not be either altogether omitted or carelesly celebrated when it is not And accordingly as all Nations have agreed in the owning of a God and in their own Obligation to worship him so we find them also universally to have set apart certain Times for the Adoration of that Deity they profess'd to own Not perhaps without some hint from the Tradition of better Times or from the Example of God's peculiar People for even in Natural Precepts the dull Mind of Man may sometime need to be excited by the instigation of others but without doubt for the main out of their own consciousness of the necessity of fixing a certain Time that so it might not either be omitted or carelesly perform'd There is yet another Reason of setting apart a certain Time if we consider it with respect to the Publick Worship and that is That they who are so to worship may know when they are to meet for that purpose For if * 1 Cor. 14.8 the trumpet give none or an uncertain sound who shall prepare himself to the battel or know when as Tertullian ‖ Apol. c. 39. Coimus ad deum quasi manu facta precationibus ambiamus Haec vis deo grata est speaks they are to meet to besiege God and extort from him those Blessings which they need 4. But beside the setting apart of a certain Time for the Celebration of the Worship of God there is also requisite such a Rest from our Employments as may give us the leisure to intend it and free us from distraction in the performance of it For as the Mind of Man cannot at the same time intend Things of so distant a nature as Sacred and Civil are so if there be not some Interval between our Employments and our Devotions the Businesses of the World will be apt to insinuate themselves into our Thoughts and thereby divert us from intending of the other Such are the Substantial Parts of this Fourth Commandment of the Decalogue such their Nature and the Obligation which they induce What the Circumstances thereof are and what their Nature and Obligation is another Question and will therefore require a distinct Consideration PART II. Concerning such Duties as are onely Circumstances of the Precept which do either respect the determination of the Time wherein we are to worship or the manner of the Observation of it That there is no Obligation upon us either from Nature or the present Precept to observe a Just day a Seventh day or that Seventh day which is here prescrib'd The Ancient Christians Observation of the Jewish Sabbath together with their own Lord's-day considered and answered A Transition to the Observation of the Lord's-day where is shewn That much less than a whole day cannot be deem'd a competent Time for the solemn performance of God's Private and Publick Worship That since God exacted of the Jews a Seventh part of their Time we cannot give less who have far greater Obligations to the Almighty and That Christ's Resurrection upon the Lord's-day is as just a Motive to consecrate it unto God as that of God's Resting the Jewish Sabbath The Observation of the Lord's-day founded in the Vniversal Practice of the Church which is there also deduced from the days of the Apostles down to the Times of Tertullian That such a Practice is of force to infer an Obligation partly because declaring the Consent of that Body wherein it is and to which therefore it is but reasonable that particular Men should subject themselves and partly because an Argument of its having been instituted by the Apostles According to that known Rule of St. Augustine That what the Universal Church holdeth and always hath if it appear not that the same was first decreed by Councils is most rightly believ'd to have been delivered by the Authority of the Holy Apostles The Reason why when God gave the Jews so clear a Precept for the Observation of their Sabbath he should leave us who live at so great a distance from the Institution of ours rather to collect it from the Practice of the Apostles and the Church than to read it in some express Declaration II. HAVING shewn in the foregoing Discourse what the Substantial Parts of this Precept are together with the Morality thereof it remains that I proceed to those which are Circumstantial which may be reduc'd to two Heads 1. The Determination of the Time wherein we are to Worship And 2. The Manner of the Observation of it 1. In the handling of the former whereof I will proceed in this Method 1. I will inquire whether the Determination of the Time according as it is here fix'd be directly obligatory to us Christians 2. Whether if not any thing may be inferr'd from it toward the establishing of the Lord's-day and by what it is further to be strengthned 3. To which I shall add in the third place an Account of other Christian Festivals and shew their Lawfulness Usefulness and the Esteem wherein they ought to be held 1. Now there are three things which this Commandment prescribes concerning the Time of the Solemn Worship of God That it be a Day That it be a Seventh day and That it be that Seventh day on which the Jewish Sabbath fell or Saturday Concerning each of which I will particularly inquire Whether they are morally or otherwise obligatory to us Christians And first If the Question be concerning a Day according as the Jews reckon'd it and as they were commanded to observe their Sabbaths * Lev. 23.32 that is to say of that space of Time which is between the Evening of the foregoing Artificial Day and the Evening of the following one so no Reason appears either from Nature or otherwise why such a Day should be look'd upon as obligatory to us Christians For be it that that Account is most agreeable to the Order of Nature in which as the first Chapter of Genesis assures us Darkness had the precedency of Light and accordingly had the precedency both in the Scriptures and the Jews Account Be it secondly as was before insinuated that the Jews were oblig'd so to reckon their Sabbaths as the foremention'd Precept and their own Practice shew Yet as no Reason in Nature can be given why the Worship of God should begin rather with the Evening than the Morning according as it constantly doth with us so that this Commandment binds not such a Day upon us the perpetual Practice of the Church and the Occasion of that Festival we weekly observe shew For the First day of the Week or Lord's-day being set apart by the Church in
God's Designation and Appointment where is shewn first That they neither do nor can pretend to any Immediate Appointment as those of the Jews might but onely a mediate one And secondly That that Appointment is mark'd out to us by the Dispensations of his Providence which are moreover shewn to be a sufficient Testimony of it Evidence of that Appointment in such Princes as arrive at their Authority by the ordinary Course of Things or such as arrive at it by extraordinary Means and particularly by Fraud and Violence By what Means these last become legitimate Powers and particularly by what Means the Roman Emperours came to be so Of the sorts of Honour which are to be paid to Princes which are shewn as before in Parents to be 1. An Inward Esteem of them and 2. An Outward Declaration of it This latter evidenc'd in the Declaration that is made by the Gesture and by the Tongue where moreover is shewn at large the Sinfulness of speaking evil of Princes even where there want not real Failings in them IT being evident from the general Explication of this Commandment that Kings and all that are in Authority are included in the Name of Fathers and it being no less evident from St. Peter 1 Pet. 2.17 that the Honour of Kings is a part of Christianity for the fuller Explication of this Commandment I will allot them a place in my Discourse and therein inquire 1. What the Grounds of Honouring Kings or Princes are 2. What Honours are to be exhibited to them 3. Answer the Objections that are commonly made for the denial of those Honours and particularly that of Submission to their Censures 4. After which I will descend in the fourth place to consider of the Honour of Inferiour Magistrates and shew upon what Grounds and after what Manner and Measure that Honour is to be paid 5. And lastly Speak a Word or two of their Duty 1. Honour as was before shewn being nothing else than an Acknowledgment of his Excellencies whom we honour to know what the ground of the Honour of Princes is we must enquire what those Excellencies are by which they stand commended to the world In order whereunto I know not what shorter course to take than by having recourse to the 13. Chapter to the Romans where this matter is both largely and perspicuously handled For exhorting both once and again that every Soul should be subject to them and that too not only for Wrath but for Conscience sake the Apostle assigns for the reason of that subjection that they are men of Power or Authority that they are invested with that Authority by God that they are appointed by him over those that are under their subjection that they are Gods Ministers and Vicegerents in the governance of them that they have both Authority and Command to reward and encourage the good and to draw out the Sword of Justice against Evil doers from all which put together it is evident that the ground for which a Prince is to be honoured is that he is Gods Minister and Vicegerent here on Earth and of his designation and appointment For the further evidencing the former whereof as in which it concerns us to be well satisfied in regard of some evil Opinions that have been lately opposed to it the first thing that I shall alledge is Gods giving them his own August name For thus Exod. 22.28 after he had said Thou shalt not revile the Gods to let us know what Gods he means he subjoins in the next words nor speak evil of the Ruler of thy people But so we find them elsewhere more apparently stil'd Psal 82.6 For as his words there are express I have said ye are Gods so it is apparent from the whole Psalm that they are Princes to whom he thus speaketh such to whom it belongs to judge the causes that are brought before them to do justice to the afflicted and needy by defending and delivering them and ridding them out of the hand of the wicked Which Offices though they may and for the most part are communicated to Inferiour Magistrates and particularly to those that have the name of Judges yet as they are originally in the Prince by whom they are so communicated and executed in his Name and by his Authority so that they are a part of his natural Power Solomon shews 1 Kings 3.7.9 he upon Gods making him King in the stead of David his Father begging of him that he would give him an understanding heart to judge his people and to discern between good and bad And accordingly as we find Solomon himself in consequence of the Royal Authority giving judgment between the two Harlots that contended for the Living Child vers 27 28. of the forequoted Chapter so that the Kings of England heretofore sat personally in judgment is notorious from Story and the Bench whereon they sat for that very reason stiled to this day The Vpper or Kings Bench. But beside that Princes have the name of God which is no contemptible indication of their being his Substitutes and Vicegerents we find moreover that God judgeth among them yea that their Throne is no other than Gods For thus what is in 1 Kings 2.12 Then Solomon sat upon the Throne of David his Father is elsewhere expressed Then Solomon sat upon the Throne of the Lord as King instead of David his Father 1 Chro. 29.23 And which comes yet more home to our purpose what was said by Jehosaphat to the Judges he had appointed that they judged not for man but for the Lord 2 Chron. 19.6 for what greater proof can we desire of Princes being Gods Substitutes and Vicegerents than the bearing of his name and sitting in his Throne and that they who judge for and under them judge not for Man but for the Lord Neither will it avail to say that how true soever this may have been of the Kings of Judah which had sometime the Title of a Theocraty yet the like cannot be affirmed of other Princes For as it is apparent enough that they were not such at the time of their Kings God himself having told Samuel that when they went about to desire a King they rejected him from being King over them and the Word of God that they both desired and had a King after the manner of other Nations So what is in the Old Testament affirm'd of the Jewish Kings St. Paul sticks not to affirm of the powers that then were where he calls them the Ministers of God But from hence it will follow whatever hath been pretended to the contrary that Princes do not derive the power they have from the people For if they be Gods Ministers it is his Authority by which they shine neither have they any other Fountain of their Power than that * Irenae l. 5. c. 24. Cujus enim jussu homines nascuntur hujus jussu reges constituuntur Tertul. Apol. c. 30. Inde est imperator unde h
Suffrages of those who have been eminent for their Learning or Piety in the World I begin with the Ancient Fathers both because the first in Time and because they have been most unanimously esteem'd For the judging of whose Authority and consequently of the Honour that is to be given by us to them I will first of all consider them as Witnesses of Ecclesiastical Tradition and then as delivering their own Sense in Matters of Religion If we consider them in the former notion so little doubt can be made of their Authority especially if we understand by Fathers such of them as had eminent Places in the Hierarchy of the Church as Mr. Thorndike * Socrates Hist Eccl. li. 2. c. 40. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vid. eundem lib. 2. cap. 10. Hilar in fine libr. de Synodis cum observat Thorndic lib. de ratione ac jure finiendi controversias cap. 25. pag. 489 c. hath shewn out of * Socrates Hist Eccl. li. 2. c. 40. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vid. eundem lib. 2. cap. 10. Hilar in fine libr. de Synodis cum observat Thorndic lib. de ratione ac jure finiendi controversias cap. 25. pag. 489 c. Ancient Writers that we ought to understand the Name of Fathers For living so near as they did to the Times of the Apostles by which means they had opportunity to know what things had been delivered by Christ and his Apostles and being moreover thought worthy in those purer Times to be set in the highest Places of Dignity and Authority in the Church the Prerogative of that their Rank and their nearness to the Apostles Times is in reason to oblige us to look upon them as competent Witnesses of the Tradition of the Apostles and consequently to give up our Belief to what they shall so testifie especially if we find them to have so testified with one consent or with no material difference in it Whence it is that all reasonable Men must look upon the Government of the Church by Bishops Priests and Deacons as instituted by the Apostles because with one consent so declar'd by the Ancient Fathers And though the same Authority be not to be given to them where they pretend to speak rather their own Sense than the Tradition of the Church which is the second Notion under which I promis'd to look upon them yet even there they are caeteris paribus to be preferr'd in their Opinions before those of later date both because as was before said they were of eminent account in the Church and because of the opportunity they had by their neerness to the Apostles times to know the sense both of them and of our Lord and Saviour Of the Fathers of the Church what hath been said may suffice at least as to those who are most like to be my Readers proceed we now to consider how far the judgment of Learned men in general is to prevail with us in the squaring of our own in matters of Religion In order whereunto 1. The first thing I shall represent is that whatever Authority the judgment of Learned men ought to have with us yet ought it not to be of any account against the clear and express Dictates of Reason and Scripture Because whatever their judgment is it is but the judgment of men whereas the voice of Reason and Scripture is no other than the Voice of God To which therefore there is but reason the other should yield because it is but fallible whereas Reason and Scripture is the voice of him whose property it is not to be in a capacity to be deceiv'd Again forasmuch as whatever force the judgment of Learned men may be of it is upon the presumption of the concurrency of their judgments with Reason and Scripture which they have such ability to discern the voice of Reason and Scripture must consequently be of more force it self as which gives all the force it hath to the judgment of Learned men Against the clear and express dictates of Reason and Scripture therefore the judgment of Learned men can be of no avail and consequently in that case no Honour to be given to it 2. But neither secondly is any such Honour to be given to the judgment of Learned Men where there is a strong or very probable reason against it For besides that Learned Men may be biast by Interest and other such like considerations which serve rather to corrupt than inform their judgments a reason as a Learned Man * Taylor 's Ductor Dubit l. 1. c. 4. Rule 9. observes is an intrinsecal proper and apportion'd Motive to the Conscience but humane Authority or citation of consenting Authors is but an extrinsecal accidental and presumptive Inducement and a meer suppletory in the destitution of Reason Truth as the forenamed Person observes from Socrates being not to be weighed by Witnesses but by Argument not by the Authority of Authors but by the Reasons they alledge 3. But because what the voice of Scripture or Reason is is not always apparent of it self nor yet with any great probability to be collected or at least not by men of ordinary Capacities hence there ariseth a necessity of having recourse to the judgment of the Learned and a reasonableness of things of that nature of being bound up by it For as it is but reasonable to yeild to the judgments of others where our own will not serve to extricate our selves so it is but a just respect which we owe to their Learning and indeed to God himself who is the Author of it For what other is it than a contempt of their Gifts and of God who is the Donor of them not to submit to their judgments whom God hath so well furnish'd with an ability to inform us Whence it is That though in matters of Religion men are generally more headstrong yet in matters relating to their Health or Estate there are none of Common Understanding which do not square their Opinions and Actions by the advice of those who are the Sages either of the Law or Physick But so the same Reason will oblige us to proceed in things relating to the discipline and outward oeconomy of Religion For what can be more reasonable especially in things of that nature than to square our judgments by theirs whom God hath bless'd with an ability to discern The only scruple in this Affair is what is to be done where we find Learned Men to differ Where first little doubt is to be made but we are to follow the judgments of those whom we apprehend to be in the right as to the main Thus for example Though there be as much Learning among the Papists as the Protestants in all sorts of knowledge relating to Religion yet inasmuch as I believe the latter to be in the right as to the main and the other not I think it but reasonable to defer to their judgment whom I am so well perswaded of There being
mo antequam imperator inde potestas illi unde spiritus which is the Fountain of their Being And though I know the contrary hath been pretended from the Scripture inasmuch as those Powers are by our Translation of it stiled the ordinance of man 1 Pet. 2.13 yet as the words which they render Submit your selves to every ordinance of Man import no other than ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 See Ushers Power communicated by God to the Prince c. pag 3. seq the doing of it to every humane creature that is to say for so both the Subjection injoin'd and the Persons †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 into whom it is branch'd shews to every humane creature that is in Authority so what the same St. Peter adds as the grounds of our so doing doth plainly overthrow that counterfeit interpretation For requiring the subjecting our selves to them for the Lords sake he shews it is his Authority which commends them and for which they are to be rever'd That Princes are Gods Vicegerents here on Earth hath been at large declar'd it remains that we also shew them to be appointed by God as such For as no one taketh to himself the honour of Priesthood but he who is called of God as was Aaron so undoubtedly no one can assume to himself the honour of Gods Vicegerent unless he be thereto appointed by himself That which is originaly anothers being not capable of becoming ours but by the grant of him to whom it doth so belong To make out therefore the rightfulness of Princes Pleas we must enquire after the donation of the Almighty and by what means both they and we may be assured of it That the Princes of the Jews were appointed by God as his Vicegerents no doubt can be made because he whose Vicegerents they were declared them to be such by men immediately inspired by himself and assured them of that declaration by his word After the former whereof as it was not in the power of their people to doubt so it would have been extremity of madness as well as of Impiety to deny it But because there is not the least appearance of any such immediate appointment of other Princes and beside that they who arrogate to themselves the same Authority do not in the least pretend to it therefore to make out the legitimateness of their Plea some other course must be taken which accordingly I come now to attempt In order whereunto unto the first thing that I shall alledge is those words of St. Paul before remembred that the powers that then were were ordain'd of God For though that will give us little light into the manner of their appointment and consequently contribute little to the understanding of that of our own yet thus far it will contribute to it as to give us to understand that those Princes may be appointed by God who have no immediate designation For inasmuch as it is notorious both from the Scriptures and Profane Authors that the Powers that then were were no other than the Roman Emperours of whose immediate appointment by God there is not the least footstep either in the one or the other it will follow that those Princes may be appointed by him as his Vicegerents who have no such immediate call I observe secondly That as the Powers that then were though they had no immediate call yet are affirm'd by St. Paul to have been ordain'd by God so that they who know nothing of God or of their own appointment are stil'd the Anointed of the Lord which if any thing may seem to have been peculiar to the Jewish Princes For thus in particular Isa 45.1 We find God stiling Cyrus his anointed though as the same God immediately after tells us he had then no knowledge of him I observe thirdly which will bring us yet more neer to the thing intended that though the Powers that now are have no such immediate appointment as the Jewish Princes had yet is there as good Authority for the being of such Power though there be no such designation of the persons that are to be invested with it For it being the voice both of Nature and Scripture that God is not the Author of Confusion but of Peace and Order and it being no less evident from experience that Peace and Order cannot be either had or maintain'd without the Institution of Rulers it is necessarily to be presum'd to be the will and pleasure of God that there should be such Rulers in every Nation Which said a way is opened to the discovery of that appointment which we have said the Powers on Earth to stand by For it being of Divine appointment that there should be Rulers in every Nation and God Almighty having not by any immediate Revelation signifi'd his pleasure concerning the Persons that are to be so it follows that to attain the knowledge of his Will in this particular we are to have recourse to his Providence which is the only way besides to come to the knowledge of it For though the Providence of God be no Rule against his revealed Will because that is the proper measure of Good and Evil yet inasmuch as that also is a declaration of his Will nothing hinders but it may have place where the other is not contradicted and mark out the appointments of our great Master to us But from hence it will follow first That those Powers are to be looked upon as ordain'd by God which come to that Power they have as without any fraud or violence so by the ordinary course of Gods Providence For that Authority to which they arrive being consign'd into their hands by his alone Providence in whom all Authority in Heaven and Earth is vested it is in reason to be presum'd to be appointed by himself and accordingly to be look'd upon as such Upon which account all those Powers must be look'd upon as ordain'd by God that either come to the Throne by a lineal descent from former Kings where the Kingdom is Hereditary or by a free and unconstrained Choice where it is Elective It will follow secondly That those also are to be look'd upon as ordained of God which however they do at first attain to their Power by Fraud or Violence yet are confirm'd in it by the Submission and Acceptance of those in whom the Government formerly was and over whom it is to be exercis'd For it being the Appointment of God that there should be Rulers in every Nation and which is more where there is no other Declaration of his Will that we should have recourse unto his Providence it follows that where the Throne becomes empty as it is by the Rendition of those that before sate in it he is in reason to be presum'd to be appointed to it who is not onely permitted by God to ascend to it but those to whom it formerly belong'd together with those that were govern'd by it mov'd by God to accept of
in a few months after his death so by resisting the Supreme Powers they make God their enemy I speak as to the present world whom otherwise they might experiment as their friend For as on the one hand there is no doubt but he will avenge the contempt of his Vicegerents because it is his Authority and his alone by which they shine so there is as little doubt on the other hand but if men would submit their Necks to the Yoak God Almighty himself would sooner or later ease them of it It being not to be thought but that he who is no respecter of Persons would be as ready to avenge the Exorbitances of Princes as of those who are subjected to their commands 4. Having thus shewn what Honour is due from us to the Higher Powers and moreover remov'd those Objections which are commonly made against submitting to their Censures nothing remains upon this head but to enquire into the honour of Inferiour Magistrates what are the grounds of it the kinds and in what measure it is to be exhibited For that these also are to have our honour St. Peter shews in the place by me so often quoted where he requires not only that we should submit our selves to the King as Supreme but to Governours as those that are sent by him Now though it be not to be deny'd that these also are Gods Ministers and as such to be rever'd by us yet because it is certain that these are neither Gods immediate Ministers nor immediately appointed by himself therefore to make out the grounds of their Honour we must take another course than what we before did in that of Sovereign Princes Now there are two things upon which the honour of Inferiour Magistrates is grounded and into which therefore it is to be resolv'd by us The Authority Princes have to constitute Inferiour Magistrates and their actual constitution of them Of the former of these we need no other proof than that the ends of Government are not to be attain'd without For it being impossible for any one man especially where his Dominions are any thing large to distribute justice to all those that are committed to his charge there ariseth a necessity of conferring part of the care upon other men as without which it is impossible to be discharged In conformity whereto as we find Jethro the Father-in-Law of Moses advising him for his own ease and the benefit of the people to set such inferiour Rulers over them Exod. 18.21 and so on so we find the same Moses constituting such Rulers over them from Rulers of Thousands to Rulers of Fifties and of Tens vers 25. of that Chapter Now forasmuch as the ends of Government are not possible to be attain'd unless there be Inferiour Rulers as well as others it is to be look'd upon as the intention of God who doth nothing in vain that such Rulers are to appointed and where they are to be rever'd and obey'd As little doubt is to be made of Princes constituting the Persons that are to be so to procure them that honour which is due unto them For being appointed by God as his Ministers in solidum in those places where they are authorized to preside witness St. Paul's both commanding every Soul to be subject to them and representing them as Gods Ministers for Reward and Vengeance which comprehend within them the whole of all Civil jurisdiction whatsoever other Powers there are must derive their Authority from them whom he hath entrusted with that command Whence it is that St. Peter himself where he speaks of submission to them requires it upon this score even because they are sent or rather commissionated by the Supreme It is true indeed that designation is not always apparent not only the Election of Inferiour Magistrates being permitted to several Societies but those Magistrates formally Invested in that Authority by some of the members of it But as the Election or Constitution of such is indulg'd to those several Societies by the Laws or Charters of Princes so being such they who are so Elected or Constituted are to be look'd upon as the Ministers of the Prince and appointed by his Authority and Command He who is appointed by those who are comissionated by the Prince being to be look'd upon as appointed by himself Having thus shewn the ground of honouring Inferiour Magistrates to be that they are with the approbation of God constituted by him whom he hath immediately appointed and consequently that they are Gods Ministers in a secondary manner the next thing to be enquir'd into is what kind of Honours are to be afforded them Which we shall find to be much the same with those we are to pay unto the Supreme because though in an inferiour manner partaking of that Authority with which the Prince himself is vested Of this nature is first esteeming of them according to their several places demeaning our selves respectfully toward them and speaking honourably to and of them so far I mean as their respective Dignities do exact no Authority being likely to have its due force and efficacy where these are not duly paid Of the same nature is secondly yielding Obedience to their Commands and submitting our selves unto their Censures otherwise we do in effect oppose our selves to the Authority of the Prince from whom they have their Commission and consequently also to that of God Add hereunto where any such thing is made their due the ministring to them of our substance as being but a just reward for their attending upon the affairs of the Republick and a just regard to him by whom they are appointed over us The only thing of difficulty is in what measure these Honours are to be paid which accordingly I come now to resolve In order whereunto the first thing that I shall offer is that it ought always to be with subordination to the Divine Majesty For if we are to obey God rather than Princes how much more ought we to do so rather than those who are but their Ministers As little doubt is to be made in the second place but that the Honour which is to be paid to Inferiour Magistrates is to be with subordination to the Supreme For being as St. Peter instructs us to be submitted to and honour'd as Persons that are sent by him that Honour is in reason to be subordinate to his by whom they are so sent or commissionated That by which any thing is such being much more such it self and consequently to be preferr'd before it Excellent to this purpose is that of St. Augustine as I find him quoted by the late Reverend Primate of Armagh * Power Communicated by God to the Prince and the Obedience required of the Subject pag. 116. If thy Curator command thee any thing must it not be done yes questionless And yet if the Proconsul countermand and thou obey him thou despisest not the power of thy Curator but servest a greater Neither ought the lesser to
shall by and by have occasion to confirm it that God hath endu'd the Husband with Authority over the Wife and commanded her to pay Obedience to it But because it is not impossible Men may arrogate to themselves a greater Authority than ever God intended them or exercise it more fully and with greater rigour than they ought therefore it may not be amiss in describing the peculiar duties of the Husband to shew him what kind of Authority he hath how it is to be exercis'd and about what For answer to which I say first that the Authority of the Husband over the Wife is not coercive but directive that is to say an Authority which priviledges him to command but not to constrain her to Obedience For being given by God to Man as a Companion * Malach. 2.14 and a helper and which is more in such a degree as to become one with him it is unreasonable to think he should have such a power over her as to constrain her to a compliance by force and violence A forcible Treatment degrading her from the condition of a Mate and ranking her among Subjects or Servants Neither will it suffice to say that so also will the laying of Commands because according to the usual saying par in parem non habet potestatem which is alike true as to Commands and Coercions For beside that by the Divine Institution the Man is priviledg'd to rule over her as you may see Gen. 3.16 beside that in this case there is not a perfect parity as the rule before spoken of shews the power of Command is not only not destructive of the conjugal Society but absolutely necessary to the maintaining of it For inasmuch as the Married parties may both entertain different apprehensions concerning such things as are to be done and also take up different resolutions concerning them if there were not a power of ruling somewhere it would be in the power of either party to obstruct the common good of both But as there is not the same necessity of a coercive Power partly because the Husband hath the Law of God to back his Commands and partly because not without a sufficient Power from the Laws of the place he lives in to be able to effect his own purposes so it is perfectly inconsistent with that Society and fellowship into which the Wife is assumed by him It may suffice the Husband that he hath the power of Commanding and in case of refusal that of Reproof and Admonition as which those of far less Authority are not excluded from but other coercion than that no Law of God gives him and is not therefore to be arrogated by him The Authority of the Husband over the Wife being thus explain'd and shewn to consist in Commands Admonitions and Reproofs proceed we to enquire how this Authority is to be exercis'd the second thing propos'd to be discoursed of For the resolution whereof though I might again take my measures from that Partnership into which we have said the Wife to be admitted yet I shall choose rather to shape my Discourse by that Love which the Husband is every where commanded to shew her who is so admitted by him For Love where it is either finding or making Persons equal especially where there is not too great an imparity between the Parties it will follow that the Commands or Admonitions of the Husband are not generally to be delivered in imperious terms and such as savour more of Authority than Kindness St. Paul having taught us by his own behaviour toward Philemon that though a Man may have power to Command yet where that will serve the turn for Love's sake he should rather entreat and not so much constrain as invite them to a compliance I say not the same where she whom God hath commanded to obey shews her self utterly averse from a compliance For in such a case to be too officious were to make himself contemptible and not only so but that Authority which God hath vested in him Only as we learn from St. Paul elsewhere * Col. 3.19 even here also a mean is to be used and though nothing hinders him to express himself in terms suitable to his own Authority yet no Law either of God or Man allows him to be bitter against her The third and last particular comes now to be discours'd of even about what the Authority of a Husband is to be conversant which if we may judge of by the obedience the Wife is required to pay appears to be every thing as you may see Eph. 5.24 But as the same Apostle elsewhere where he entreats of that very Argument adds by way of limitation as it is fit in the Lord Col. 3.18 thereby manifestly restraining the Authority of the Husband to all such things as are within the bounds of our Religion so Reason requires the limiting it to such things also as are suitable to that fellowship into which she is admitted From whence as it will follow that the Husband ought not to impose upon her such things as are more proper for a Servant or Vassal than a Wife so also that he is generally to leave the administration of Houshold affairs to her alone care and management Because as I have often said she is admitted into a Copartnership with him which cannot well be salv'd if that should be taken from her and because both St. Paul 1 Tim. 5.14 and the Laws of Nations appropriate the guiding of the house to her According to that known Proverb which the Roman Matrons were wont to use when they were brought home to their Husbands Houses Vbi tu Caius ibi ego Caia Where you are a Master I expect to be a Mistress and enjoy the priviledges of such 2. Having thus shewn the Duty of the Husband to the Wife as to that Authority wherewith he is invested over her it remains that we enquire what is due from her to him as well in respect of his Authority as her own necessary subjection to it Now though that be easie enough to infer from the foregoing Discourse and may therefore seem to require the less pains in the investigating of it yet I think it not amiss if it were only to observe a due proportion between them to be as particular in the declaration of it as I was before in that of the Authority and Duty of the Husband In order whereunto I say 1. That inasmuch as God hath invested the Man with Authority over the Wife it must be look'd upon as highly irreligious in her to be so far from submitting to it as on the contrary to usurp Authority over him Such a Behaviour bidding defiance to the order of God and Nature because not only thwarting but perverting it And accordingly as St. Paul not only proscribes it as a thing unlawful but moreover represents it as a thing not to be suffer'd 1 Tim. 2.12 So he hath also given us there to understand what is to be