Religion Laws and Liberties might not again be in danger of being subverted upon which Letters Elections have been accordingly made And thereupon the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons pursuant to their Respective Letters and Elections being now Assembled in a full and Free Representative of this Nation taking into their most serious consideration the best means for attaining the Ends aforesaid do in the first place as their Ancestors in like case have usually done for the vindicating and asserting their Ancient Rights and Liberties declare That the pretended Power of suspending of Laws or the Execution of Laws by Regal Authority without consent of Parliament is illegal That the pretended Power of Dispensing with Laws or the execution of Laws by Regal Authority as it hath been assumed and exercised of late is illegal That the Commission for erecting the late Court of Commissioners for Ecclesiastical Causes and all other Commissions and Courts of the like nature are illegal and pernicious That Levying of Money to or for the use of the Crown by pretence of Prerogative without Grant of Parliament for longer time or in other manner than the same is or shall be Granted is illegal That it is the Right of the Subjects to Petition the King and all Commitments and Prosecutions for such Petitioning are illegal That the raising or keeping a standing Army within the Kingdom in time of Peace unless it be by consent of Parliament is against Law That the Subjects being Protestants may have Arms for their Defence suitable to their condition and as allowed by Law That the Election of Members of Parliament ought to be Free That the freedom of Speech and Debates or Proceedings in Parliament ought not to be impeached or questioned in any Court or Place out of Parliament That Excessive Bail ought not to be required nor Excessive Fines imposed nor cruel and unusual Punishments inflicted That Jurors ought to be duly Impannell'd and Returned and Jurors which pass upon men in Trials for High-Treason ought to be Freeholders That all Grants and Promises of Fines and Forfeitures of particular persons before Conviction are illegal and void And that for Redress of all Grievances and for the amending strengthning and preserving of the Laws Parliaments ought to be held frequently And they do claim demand and insist upon all and singular the Premises as their undoubted Rights and Liberties and that no Declarations Judgments Doings or Proceedings to the prejudice of the people in any of the said Premises ought in any wise to be drawn hereafter into Consequence or Example To which demand of their Rights they are particularly encouraged by the Declaration of his Highness the Prince of Orange as being the only means for obtaining a full Redress and Remedy therein Having therefore an intire Confidence that his said Highness the Prince of Orange will perfect the Deliverance so far advanced by him and will still preserve them from the violation of their Rights which they have here asserted and from all other Attempts upon their Religion Rights and Liberties The said Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons assembled at Westminster do Resolve That WILLIAM and MARY Prince and Princess of Orange be and be declared King and Queen of England France and Ireland and the Dominions thereunto belonging to hold the Crown and Royal Dignity of the said Kingdoms and Dominions to them the said Prince and Princess during their Lives and the Life of the Survivor of them and that the sole and full exercise of the Regal Power be only in and executed by the said Prince of Orange in the Names of the said Prince and Princess during their joynt Lives and after their Deceases the said Crown and Royal Dignity of the said Kingdoms and Dominions to be to the Heirs of the Body of the said Princess and for default of such Issue to the Princess Anne of Denmark and the Heirs of her Body and for default of such Issue to the Heirs of the Body of the said Prince of Orange And the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons do pray the said Prince and Princess of Orange to accept the same accordingly And that the Oaths hereafter mentioned be taken by all persons of whom the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy might be required by Law instead of them and that the said Oarhs of Allegiance and Supremacy be abrogated I A. B. Do sincerely Promise and Swear That I will be Faithful and bear true Allegiance to Their Majesties King WILLIAM and Queen MARY So help me God I A. B. Do Swear That I do from my Heart Abbor Detest and Abjure as Impious and Heretical this Damnable Doctrine and Position That Princes Excommunicated or Deprived by the Pope or any Authority of the See of Rome may be deposed or murthered by their Subjects or any other whatsoever And I do declare That no Foreign Prince Person Prelate State or Potentate hath or ought to have any Jurisdiction Power Superiority Prcheminence or Authority Ecclesiastical or Spiritual within this Realm So help me God Jo. Brown Cler. Parliamentor The same day this Declaration bears date Her Royal Highness the Princess of Orange arrived in the River of Thames in the Afternoon and was received with all the Hearty Demonstrations and Expressions of Joy by the City that are usual on such occasions The 13th of February the Lords and Commons ordered the following Proclamation to be published and made WHereas it hath pleased Almighty God in his great Mercy to this Kingdom to vouchsafe us a miraculous Deliverance from Popery and Arbitrary Power and that our Preservation is due next under God to the Resolution and Conduct of his Highness the Prince of Orange whom God hath chosen to be the Glorious Instrument of such an inestimable Happiness to us and our Posterity And being highly sensible and fully persuaded of the great and eminent Virtues of Her Highness the Princess of Orange whose Zeal for the Protestant Religion will no doubt bring a Blessing along with Her upon this Nation And whereas the Lords and Commons now assembled at Westminster have made a Declaration and presented the same to the said Prince and Princess of Orange and therein desired Them to accept the Crown who have accepted the same accordingly We therefore the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons together with the Lord Mayor and Citizens of London and others of the Commons of this Realm do with full consent publish and proclaim according to the said Declaration WILLIAM and MARY Prince and Princess of ORANGE to be KING and QUEEN of England France and Ireland wit all the Dominions and Territories thereunto belonging Who are accordingly so to be owned deemed and taken by all the people of the aforesaid Realms and Dominions who are from hence-forward bound to acknowledge and pay unto them all Faith and true Allegiance Beseeching God by whom Kings reign to Bless King VVilliam and Queen Mary with long and happy Years to reign over us God save
such owe to the most Legal and Rightful Kings but the Convocation asserts due to all Kings whom God hath placed in the Throne by what visible means soever they obtained it as to obey and submit to them not to resist them nor rebel against them to pay all Customs and Taxes to pray for them nay to swear Allegiance to them if it be required p. 7. 2. The only Enquiry then is No it is no part of the Enquiry for who cares what either they meant or you mean what the Convocation means by the Government 's being throughly settled A Prince who is throughly setled in his Throne has God's Authority and must be obeyed but when is his Government throughly setled Now here it is That men may impose upon themselves if they will and if they think it their Interest to do so and may make as little or as much go to a through settlement as they please No they left that to d. Sherlock for the Convocation has not determined the bounds of it p. 9. The submission of the Prince indeed may be thought necessary to transfer a Legal Right but the submission of the people of it self is sufficient to settle a Government and when it is setled then it is the Authority of God whatever the Human Right be All Sovereign Powers whose Power and Government is throughly setled must be obeyed whatever their Legal Right be for they have the Authority of God p. 9. All Civil Power and Authority is from God for he is the Supreme Lord of the World and has the sole Right to govern his Creatures and therefore no man can have any Authority but from God This will be readily acknowledged by all who believe that there is a God and that he made and governs the World That Civil Power and Anthority is no otherwise from God than as he gives this Power and Authority to some particular person or persons But how does God give it him Perhaps as he gave you the Holy Ghost to govern others For Authority belongs to a person and that Power and Authority which any person exercises is not from God which God never gave him If he governs without receiving his Personal Authority from God he governs without God's Authority p. 10. O Sapientia There are but three ways whereby God gives this Power and Authority to any persons Either by Nature or by an express Nomination or by the disposals of Providence p. 11. Providence is God's Government of the world by an invisible influence and power whereby he directs determines over-rules all Events to the accomplishment of his own Will and Counsels p. 12. Nor does it make any difference in this case to distinguish between what God permits and what he does for this distinction does not relate to the Events of things but to the wickedness of men p. 12. When it comes to action he over-rules their wicked designs to accomplish his own Counsels and Decrees and either disappoints what they intended or gives success to them when he can serve the ends of his Providence by their wickedness and herein consists the unsearchable Wisdom of Providence that God brings about his own Counsels by the free Ministries of men He permits men to do wickedly but all Events which are for the good or evil of private men or publick Societies are ordered by him as the Prophet declares Amos 3.6 Shall there be evil in a city and the Lord hath not done it p. 12. If the advancement to the Throne invests such a Prince with God's Authority then God gives him the Throne and does not merely permit him to take it for no man can take God's Authority but it must be given p. 13. By what means soever any Prince ascends the Throne he is placed there by God and receives his Authority from him p. 13. Sometimes he suffers an aspiring Prince to invade and conquer a Countrey but he never suffers him to ascend the Throne but when he sees fit to make him King p. 13 14. All Kings are equally rightful with respect to God So are all Clergy-men for those are all rightful Kings who are placed in the Throne by God and it is impossible there should be a wrong King unless a man could make himself King whether God will or no. p. 14. The distinction then between a King de jure The Doctor knows not when that Distinction was born and when it died and a King de facto relates only to Human Laws which bind Subjects but are not the necessary Rules and Measures of the Divine Providence In Hereditary Kingdoms he is a righful King who has by Succession a legal Right to the Crown and he who has possession of the Crown without a legal Right is a King de facto that is is a King but not by Law Now Subjects are so tied up by the Constitutions of the Kingdom that they must not pull down or set up Kings contrary to the Laws of the Land but God is not bound by Humane Laws Qui benè distinguit benè docet but can make whom he please King without regard to legal Rights and when he does so they are true though not legal Kings I challenge the Doctor te quote any good Authority fer the Notion of a True King A True and a False Prophet we knew but a True King is a Novelty if those are true Kings who have God's Authority We can have but one King at a time two rival and opposite Princes cannot at the same time possess the same Throne nor can Subjects be bound to two opposite and contrary Allegiances for no man can Serve two masters and yet Allegiance is due to a King by the Laws of God and to every King whose Subjects we are that if we could have two Kings we must have two Allegiances He is our King who is settled in the Throne in the actual Administration of Sovereign Power for King is the Name of Power and Authority Under derivatur King not of mere Right He who has a legal Right to the Crown but has it not ought by the Laws of the Land to be King but is not But he who is actually setled in the Administration of the Regal Power is King and has God's Authority tho he have not a legal Right Allegiance is due only to the King for Allegiance signifies all that Duty which Subjects owe to their Ring and therefore can be due to none but the King If then he who has the Legal Right may not be our King and he who has not may when any such case happens we must pay our Allegiance to him who is King tho without a Legal Right not to him who is not our King tho it is his Right to be so And the reasor is very plain because Allegiance is due only to God's Authority not to a bare Legal Title without God's Authority and therefore must be paid to him who is invested
Disobedience and wilful Rebellion but it is no-where said That where the Right of Sovereignty is transferred by a Successful War there is no Allegiance due to those who possess it p. 2. Ours is only the Case of Just War ☜ Apage nugas which is allowed by all sorts of Casuists who do agree that Allegiance is due to the Party that prevails in it and if it be due to one it cannot be due to another at the same time although he be living and do not discharge Persons from their Oaths for the obligation of Oaths depends on the nature and reason of things and not upon the Pleasure of those to whom they are made But where there is a Right to govern there must be a Duty of Allegiance And that Success in a Just War doth give such a Right What Right do you mean I could produce so many Testimonies of all kinds of Writers as would make the reading of them as tedious as of those in the History of Passive Obedience Nay some go so far as to assert a Right of Sovereignty to be acquired by success even in an Vnjust War So 't is as much as by a Just War But we need none of these Testimonies But doth not all this resolve this whole Controversie into a Right of Conquest 'T is not a pin-matter whether it does or no. which is not so much as pretended in our present Case * It 's a fine thing to be a Schollar I answer That we must distinguish between a Right to the Government and the Manner of Assuming it The Right was founded on the Just Causes of the War and the Success in it But the assuming of it was not by any ways of force or violence but by a Free Consent of the People who by a voluntary Recognition and Their Majesties acceptance of the Government as it is setled by our Laws take away any pretence * But not to an Ecclesiastical Whimsie of an imaginary Right by the Choice of God to a Conquest over the People or a Government by Force The Case of the Allegiance due to Sovereign Powers c. THAT which has perplexed this Controversie is the intermixing the Dispute of Right with the Duty of Obedience or making the Legal Right of Princes to their Thrones the only Reason and Foundation of the Allegiance of Subjects That Allegiance is due only to Right not to Government though it can be paid only to Government It seems to me to be unfit to dispute the Right of Princes a thing which no Government can permit to be a Question among their Subjects p. 1. And therefore I shall not meddle with this Dispute as being both above me and * Then you 'll say nothing to the purpose nothing to my present purpose Subjects have a plain Rule of Duty without understanding Laws and Politicks the Intrigues of Government the Revolutions of States the Disputes of Princes which I am sure is both for the security of Governments and Subjects If then Allegiance be due not for the sake of Legal Right but Government If Allegiance be due not to bare Legal Right but * That is to Glergy-mens Crockets to the Authority of of God If God when he sees fit and can better serve the ends of his Providence by it sets up Kings without any regard to Legal Right or Humane Laws p. 2. If Kings thus set up by God are invested with God's Authority which must be obey'd not only for wrath but also for conscience sake If these Principles be true it is plain That Subjects are bound to obey and to pay and swear Allegiance if it be required to those Princes whom God hath placed and settled in the Throne whatever Disputes there may be about their legal Right when they are invested with God's Authority And then it is plain That our old Allegiance and old Oaths are at an end when God has set over us a new King For when God transfers Kingdoms and requires our Obedience and Allegiance to a new King he necessarily transfers our Allegiance too This Scheme of Government may startle some men at first From you it will startle no man of common sense before they have well considered it p. 2 3. The Church of England has been very careful to instruct Her Children in their Duty to Princes to obey their Laws and submit to their power and not to resist tho very injuriously oppressed and those who renounce these Principles renounce the Doctrine of the Church of England But she has withal taught That all Sovereign Princes receive their Power and Authority from God and therefore every Prince who is setled in the Throne is to be obey'd and reverenced as God's Minister and to be resisted which directs us what to do in all Revolutions of Government when once they come to a Settlement and those who refuse to pay and swear Allegiance to such Princes whom God has placed in the Throne whatever then Legal Right be do as much reject the Doctrine of the Church of England as those who teach the Resistance of Princes For the proof of which I appeal to Bishop Overal's Convocation-Book p. 4. I know not how it was possible for the Convocation to express their sense plainer That all Usurped Powers when throughly settled have God's Authority and must be obey'd So that here are the Two great points determined whereon this whole Controversie turns 1. That those Princes who have no legal right to their Thrones may yet have God's Authority 2. That when they are throughly settled in their Thrones they are invested with God's Authority and must be reverenced and obeyed by all who live within their Territories and Dominions as well Priests as People If these propositions be true it is a plain Resolution of the Case that if it should at any time happen that the rightful Prince should be driven out of his Kingdom and another Prince placed in his Throne and settled in the full Administration of Government Subjects not only may but must for Conscience sake and out of reverence to the Authority of God with which such a Prince is invested pay all the Duty and Allegiance of Subjects to him As for the first the Case is plain That the Convocation speaks of illegal and usurped Powers and yet affirms that the Authority exercised by them is God's Authority and therefore those Princes who have no legal right may have God's Authority p. 5. The Moabites and Aramites never could have a Legal Right to the Government of Israel What not by a Conquest and yet the Convocation asserts That when Israel was in subjection to them they knew that it was not lawful for them of themselves and by their own Authority to take Arms against the Kings whose Subjects they were Prove they were Tyrants tho indeed they were Tyrants The like they teach of the Kings of Egypt and Babylon p. 6 There is no Duty Subjects as
with God's Authority who is his Minister and Lieutenant that is to the Actual King who is setled in the Throne and has the Administration of Government in his hands Object But if this be so what does a Legal Right signifie if it do not command the Allegiance of Subjects Answ I answer It bars all other Human Claims No other Prince can challenge the Throne of Right and Subjects are bound to maintain the Rights of such a Prince as far as they can that is against all Mankind but not against God's disposal of Crowns p. 15. We swear to maintain and defend his Right and the Right of his Heirs but yet we do not swear to keep them in the Throne which may be impossible for us to do against a prosperous Rebellion p. 16. These seem to me to be very plain Propositions and to carry their own Evidence with them and if this be true it is a very plain Direction to Subjects in all the Revolutions of Government The most that can be expected from them according to the strictest Principles of Loyalty and Obedience lindx is to have no hand in such Revolutions or to oppose them as far as they can and not to be hasty and forward in their Compliances but when such a Revolution is made and they cannot help it they must reverence and obey their New Prince as invested with God's Authority p. 16. There are different degrees of Settlement and must necessarily be in such new Governments which seem to me to require different degrees of Submission or at least to justify them till it increases to such a full and plenary and setled Possession as requires our Allegiance as being notoriously evident and sensible to all that do not wink hard and will not see it If the generality of the Nation submit to such a Prince and place him on the Throne and put the whole power of the Kingdom into his hands though it may be we cannot yet think the Providence of God has setled him in the Throne while the dispossessed Prince has also such a formidable Power as makes the Event very doubtful yet if we think fit to continue in the Kingdom under the Government and Power of the New Prince there are several Duties which in reason we ought to pay him As To live quietly and peaceably under his Government and to promise or swear or give any other security that we will do so if it be demanded It is reasonable we should do so if we think it reasonable to live under the protection of the Government this all men do in an Enemy's Quarters and no man blames them for it We must pay Taxes to them for these are due to the Administration of Government as Saint Paul observes For this cause pay ye tribute also for they are the ministers of God attending continually on this very thing Rom. 13. 6. And if we owe our secure possession of our Estates to the protection of Government let the Government be what it will we ought to pay for it We must give the Title of King to such a Prince when we live in the Country where he is owned for King for besides that it is a piece of good manners which is the least thing we can owe to him under whose Government we live he is indeed King while he administers the Regal Power though we may not think him so well setled in his Government as to all intents and purposes to own him for our King Nay we must pray for him under the Name and Title of King for we are bound to pray for all who are in Authority and that Prince is who has the whole Government in his hands and has power to do a great deal of hurt or a great of good and this is so far from being a fault that it is a duty while we take care to do it in such terms lindx as to not pray against the dispossessed Prince Thus far I think the doubtful possession of the Throne obliges us and it were very happy if no more were required in the beginnings of such a new Government but when besides the possession of the Throne the Power of the dispossessed Prince is broken and no visible prospect of his recovering his Throne again nay if it be visible that he can never recover his Throne again but by making a new Conquest of the Nation by Foreigners who will be our Masters if they conquer and no very gentle ones neither we may then look upon the new Prince as advanced and setled by God in his Throne and therefore such a King as we owe an entire Obedience and Allegiance to For we must not take the consideration of Right into the settlement of Government No have a care of that for a Prince may be setled in his Throne without Legal Right and when he is so God has made him our King and requires our Obedience p. 17 18. The Scripture has given us no Directions in this Case but to submit and pay all the Obedience of Subjects to the present Powers It makes no distinction that ever I could find between Rightful Kings and Usurpers between Kings whom we must and whom we must not obey but the general Rule is Let every Soul be subject to the higher Powers for all power is of God p. 18. To say the Apostle here speaks of Lawful Power is gratis dictum for there is no Evidence of it The Criticism between 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 will not do for they both signify the same thing in Scripture either Force and Power or Authority p. 19. When the Apostle says All power is of God there is no reason to confine this to the Legal Powers unless it were evidently the Doctrine of Scripture that usurped Powers are not of God which is so far from being true that the contrary is evident that the most high ruleth in the kingdom of men and giveth it to whomsoever he will 4 Dan. 17. which is spoke with reference to the four Monarchies which were all as manifest Usurpations as ever were in the World and yet set up by the Decree and Counsel of God and foretold by a prophetick Spirit and whoever will confine the Power and Authority of God Wisdom will die with this man in changing Times and Seasons in removing Kings and setting up Kings to Humane Laws ought not to be disputed with p. 20. This I 'm sure The only direction of Scripture is to submit to those who are in Authority who are in the actual administration of Government to reverence and obey them to pray for them to pay Tribute to them as God's Ministers attending continually upon this very thing and not to resist them but there is not the least notice given us of any kind of Duty owing or to be paid to a Prince out of Authority and removed from the Administration of Government whatever his Right may be p. 21. The Prophecy
of the Four Monarchies is not yet at an end for under the fourth Monarchy the Kingdom of Christ was to be set up and Antichrist was to appear and the increase and destruction of the Kingdom of Antichrist is to be accomplished by great Changes and Revolutions in Humane Governments and when God has declared that he will change Times and Seasons remove Kings and set up Kings to accomplish his own wise Counsels it justifies our necessary and therefore innocent compliances with such Revolutions as much as if we were expresly commanded to do so as the Jews were by the Prophet Jeremiah This a man may say without Enthusiasm or pretending to understand all the Prophesies of the Revelations and to apply them to their particular events for without that we certainly know that all the great Revolutions of the World are intended by God to serve those great Ends and when God will overturn Kingdoms and Empires remove and set up Kings as he sees will best serve the accomplishment of his own Counsels and Decrees it is very hard if Subjects must not quietly submit to such Revolutions we must not contrary to our sworn Duty and Allegiance promote such Revolutions No tho we be upon the point of losing our Lan's and Liberties upon a pretence of fulfilling Prophesies but when they are made and setled we ought to submit to them We have no direction in Scripture at all about making or unmaking Kings or restoring a dispossessed Prince to his Throne again and all the Commands we have in Scripture about Obedience and Subjection to Government manifestly respects the present Ruling Powers Let God Almighty turn Kingdoms topsie turvie as he pleases the Doctor will always fall upon his feet without any distinction between rightful and Usurped Powers it seems therefore plainly to determin this Question on the side of the present Powers p. 22 23. If the Choice and Consent of the people makes a Prince then no man is a Subject but he who consents to be so for the Major Vote cannot include my consent unless I please that is the effect of Law and Compact or Force not of Nature If Subjects give their Prince Authority they may take it away again if they please there can be no irresistible Authority derived from the people for if the Authority be wholly derived from them who shall hinder them from taking it away when they see fit If a man gives me a pair of Gloves who shall hinder him from taking them away again when he sees fit Upon these Principles there can be no Hereditary Monarchy one Generation can only chuse for themselves their Posterity having as much Right to chose as they had p. 24. I cannot see where to fix the Foundation of Government but in the Providence of God who either by the choice of the major or stronger part of the people or by Conquest or by Submission and the long successive continuance of power or by Human Laws gives a Prince and his Family possession of the Throne which is a good Title against all Humane Claims and requires the Obedience and Submission of Subjects as long as God is pleased to continue him and his Family in the Throne but it is no Title against God if he please to advance another Prince p. 24. To say that God sets up no Prince who ascends the Throne without a Humane and Legal Right is to say that some Kings are removed and others set up but not by God which is a direct contradiction to Scripture it is to say That the Four Monarchies were not set up by God because they all began by Violence and Usurpation It is to say That God as well as men is confined by Humane Laws in making Kings It is to say That the Right of Government is not derived from God without the consent of the people for if God can't make a King without the people or against their consent declared by their Laws the Authority must be derived from the people not from God or at least if it be God's Authority yet God can't give it himself without the people nor otherwise than they have directed him by their Laws This is all very absurd So 's all the rest of your Book Sir The Providence of God removes Kings and sets up Kings but alters no Legal Right nor forbids those who are dispossessed of them to recover their Right when they can While such a Prince is in the Throne it is a declaration of God's Will that he shall Reign for some time longer or shorter as God pleases and that is an obligation to Subjects to submit and obey for Submission is owing only to God's Authority but that one Prince is at present placed in the Throne and the other removed out of it does not prove that it is God's Will it should always be so and therefore does not divest the dispossessed Prince to recover his Legal Right A Legal and Successive Right is the ordinary way whereby the Providence of God advances Princes to an Hereditary Throne And this bars all other humane Claims but yet God may give the Throne to another if he pleases and this does not destroy the Legal Right of the dispossessed Prince lindx nor hinder him from claiming it when he finds his opportunity p. 26. It is a great Question Why 't is a Legal Commission but it has not the Authority of God which I am not Lawyer enough to decide Whether a Commission granted by a King out of Possession be a Legal Commission p. 31. Oaths oblige every particular man to do no injury to the King's Person or Crown not to enter into Plots and Conspiracies against him and as for actual defence chearfully to venture his Life and Fortunes with his Fellow-subjects to preserve the King But in case the great Body of the Nation absolve themselves from these Oaths and depose their King and drive him out of his Kingdom and set up another Prince in his room it is worth considering Whether some private men i may be but a little handful are still bound by their Oath to make some weak and dangerous attempts and to fight for their King against their Countrey certainly this was not the intention of the Oath for it is a National not a private Defence we swear and therefore a general revolt of a Nation tho it should be wicked and unjustifiable yet it seems to excuse those who had neither hand nor heart in it from their sworn defence of the King's Person and Crown and to make their compliane with the National Government innocent and necessary For an Oath to fight for the King does not oblige us to fight against our Countrey which is as unnatural as to fight against our King The sum is this God when he sees fit can remove Kings or set up Kings without any regard to humane Right as being the Sovereign Lord of the World who rules in the Kingdoms of Men and
GOD's WAYS OF Disposing Kingdoms AND Some CLERGY-MEN'S Ways c. Vtrum horum OR GOD's WAYS OF Disposing of KINGDOMS AND Some CLERGY-MEN's Ways OF Disposing of THEM Who is blind but my servant or deaf as my messenger that I sent Isa 42.19 The Prophets prophesie lies in my name neither have I commanded them neither spake unto them They prophesie unto you a false vision and divination and a thing of nought and the deceit of their heart Jer. 14.14 O ye hypocrites ye can discern the face of the sky and can ye not discern the signs of the times Matth. 16.3 LONDON Printed for Richard Baldwin near the Oxfords-Arms Inn Warwick-Lane MDCXCI TO THE READER IT is the General sense of Mankind That Discourses upon any Particular Government ought to be grounded upon the Laws and Constitution of that Government And it is a Position so clear in it self that applied to any other thing whatsoever the contrary will appear ridiculous No man that were to build a Ship would consult the Commentators upon the Book of Genesis for the Fabrick and Dimensions of Noah's Ark. Nor is Solomon's Temple made the Pattern of our Churches Nor are the Laws of the Jews observ'd by any Christian Kingdom or State And yet some late Divines in their Discourses upon our Present Government and the Settlement of the Nation under Their Majesties and the Revolution that brought it about do not confine themselves to our Laws and Ancient Government but broach Opinions of their own or other Mens Invention pretended to be grounded upon Scripture or Reason to justify what has been done and to persuade the People of England that 't is their duty to submit and to plight their Allegiance to Their Majesties or at least that it is lawful for them so to do Whether the Grounds they proceed upon are consonant to right Reason the Laws of God and of this Realm or are not is far from the Design of these following Papers to dispute That which is aim'd at being no more than to present the Reader with the Sense and Judgment of those who acted in the Revolution and who contributed their Endeavours to settle the Nation after the Late King's withdrawing himself with the Sense and Principles of some few Divines amongst us concerning these Matters If the latter run wide from the former then it is to be feared that those Gentlemen who would seem to espouse the Interest of the Government by putting Pen to Paper in Defence or at least in excuse of it do it more disservice than if they had forborn the venting their Opinions For it cannot but weaken a well-establish'd Government to persuade the People under it that it stands upon another Foundation than really it does especially when that Foundation is not only contrary to the Sentiments of the Nation express'd as will appear hereafter but is really a Fiction of speculative Heads and no better than the building of a Castle in the Air. The Opposition will appear in a great measure by considering these few Particulars His Highness the then Prince of Orange declared That his Expedition was intended for no other Design but to have a Free and Lawful Parliament Assembled for doing all things which the Two Houses should find necessary for the Peace Honour and Safety of the Nation To which Parliament he referred all things relating to the Succession and promised to concur in every thing that a Free and Lawful Parliament should determine They tell us of Sovereign Princes Successes in Just Wars and Appeals to God Whereas the Prince of Orange was not actually a Sovereign Prince being dispossess'd of his Principality Nor made war upon the Nation or so much as upon King James but came over with an Army to enforce the sitting of a Free Parliament to which Parliament he made his Appeal and not to God though as a Pious and Christian Prince he relied on the blessing of God for the success of his Undertaking in which he placed his whole and only Confidence His Highness invited and required all Persons whatsoever All the Peers of the Realm both Spiritual and Temporal All Lords Lieutenants Deputy-Lieutenant and all Gentlemen Citizens and other Commons of all Ranks to come and assist him in order to the executing of his said Design against all such as should endeavour to oppose him And accordingly great numbers actually did and many more nay the body of the Nation would if there had been occasion And when the Government was setled Their Majesties with the concurrence of both Houses of Parliament Enacted That the Oath appointed by the Statute of 13 Car. II. Entituled An Act for ordering the Forces of the several Counties of this Kingdom And also so much of a Declaration prescribed in another Act made in the same year Entituled An Act for the Uniformity of Publick Prayers and Administration of the Sacraments c. as is expressed in these words viz. I A. B. declare That it is not lawful upon any pretence whatsoever to take Arms against the King and that I do abhor that Trayterous Position of taking Arms by his Authority against his Person or against those that are commissioned by him Should not from henceforth be required or enjoined But these Gentlemen tell us That notwithstanding the unreasonable Cavils of Gainsaying Men Hickman Passive Obedience always was and they hope always will be the Doctrine and Practice of the Church of England That Kings are the only Persons upon Earth unto whom God has given an immediate delegation of his Authority whom to obey is to obey his Ordinance and whom to resist is to resist his Power They tell us That the Church of England has been very careful to instruct her Children to obey their Princes Laws Sherlock and submit to their Power and not to resist tho very injuriously opprest and that those who renounce these Principles renounce the Doctrine of the Church of England That whatever Prince is setled in the Throne is to be obeyed and reverenced as God's Minister and not to be resisted That the Church of England condemns all those wicked means by which Changes of Government are made That Subjects have no right to make war without the leave of their Princes for that St. Asaph as God has given to Princes the Power of the Sword so he has forbid it to Subjects under a great penalty They that take the Sword shall perish with the Sword When the Lords and Commons met at Westminster they grounded the Vacancy of the Throne upon the Late King 's having subverted the Fundamental Laws of the Realm and since withdrawn himself Whereas according to these Gentlemens Notions they ought not to have gone upon a Vacancy but have recognized the Prince of Orange's Title to the Crown as being already chosen thereunto by God who had given him success in a Just War against King James Tho it would have been a hard task for them to have brought the Queen in at
that Door And whereas the Parliament that is now in being recognized Their Present Majesties to be Rightful and Lawful King and Queen of this Realm according to the Laws of the same They ought to have acknowledged him King as being set up by God who is not bound by Humane Laws and the Queen as set up by God-knows who who is not bound by Humane Laws neither and at the same time to have own'd that this Providence of God in setting up the King and this Providence of God-knows-who in setting up the Queen does not take away the Legal Right of the Late King but that he having a Legal Right may assert and vindicate it in opposition to the Providence of God and the Providence of God-knows-who and that all who are not under any obligation to Their Present Majesties may lawfully assist him in order to the recovery of this Legal Right Tho we who are under an obligation to Their Present Majesties are bound to obey them by reason of the Events of the Providence of God and of the Providence of God-knows-who Other Instances of this kind might be added and it were a very easie matter to word some parts of the then Prince's Declaration the Votes of Parliament the Instrument of Government and some few Laws made since the Settlement as they ought to and would have been worded if the Prince the Two Houses and the People of England had proceded upon these Gentlemens Principles But that I forbear because it would seem scurrilous I leave it to be the result of comparing the two Columes of these ensuing Papers In short here 's the Sense of the Legislative Body of the Realm and of the People of England set Cheek by Jowle with the Sense of a few Gentlemen of the Sacred Order who would persuade us that our Government is drop'd out of the Skies like the Image that fell down from Jupiter or as the Egyptian Priests persuaded Alexander the Great that he was the Son of their God being convinced of it themselves I suppose by the Events of Providence and his Success in a War Just or Vnjust God's Ways of Disposing of Kingdoms AND Some Clergy-mens Ways of Disposing of Them THE Measures that were taken in the late King's Reign for the introducing of Popery and Arbitrary Power were so open and undisguised That the most purblind amongst us could not but see them and all Protestants that is the whole Body of the People were uneasie under their then present Circumstances and dreadfully apprehensive of their future Instead of enumerating the several Illegal Practices then on foot to subvert the Establish'd Religion and Government I shall insert verbatim the Declaration of his present Majesty then Prince of Orange which gives a true and lively Scheme of the Condition of the People of England under King James his Government and grounds the Lawfulness and Justice of his Arms who had so near a concern in the Succession upon the Obligation he was under for his Princess's his Own and the Nation 's Interest to interpose in order to their deliverance God's Ways of Disposing of Kingdoms The Declaration of his Highness William Henry by the Grace of God Prince of Orange c. of the Reasons inducing him to appear in Arms in the Kingdom of England for preserving of the Protestant Religion and for restoring the Laws and Liberties of England Scotland and Ireland 1. IT is both certain and evident to all men That the Publick Peace and Happiness of any State or Kingdom cannot be preserved where the Laws Liberties and Customs established by the lawful Authority in it are openly transgressed and annulled More especially where the Alteration of Religion is endeavoured and that a Religion which is contrary to Law is endeavoured to be introduced Upon which those who are most immediately concerned in it are indispensably bound to endeavour to preserve and maintain the Established Laws Liberties and Customs and above all the Religion and Worship of God that is established among them and to take such an effectual care that the Inhabitants of the said State or Kingdom may neither be deprived of their Religion nor of their Civil Rights which is so much the more necessary because the Greatness and Security both of Kings Royal Families and of all such as are in Authority as well as the Happiness of their Subjects and People depend in a most especial manner upon the exact Observation and Maintenance of these their Laws Liberties and Customs 2. Upon these grounds it is that we cannot any longer forbear to declare That to our great Regret we see that those Counsellors who have now the chief Credit with the King have overturned the Religion Laws and Liberties of those Realms and subjected them in all things relating to their Consciences Liberties and Properties to Arbitrary Government and that not only by secret and indirect ways but in an open and undisguised manner 3. Those Evil Counsellors for the advancing and colouring this with some plausible pretexts did invent and set on foot the King 's Dispensing Power by Virtue of which they pretend that according to Law he can suspend and dispense with the Execution of the Laws that have been enacted by the Authority of the King and Parliament for the Security and Happiness of the Subject and so have rendred those laws of no effect tho there is nothing more certain than that as no Laws can be made but by the joynt concurrence of King and Parliament so likewise Laws so enacted which secure the Publick Peace and Safety of the nation and the Lives and Liberties of every Subject in it cannot be Repealed or Suspended but by the same Authority 4. for tho the King may pardon the Punishment that a Transgressor has incurred and to which he is condemned as in the Cases of Treason or Felony yet it cannot be with any colour of Reason inferred from thence That the King can entirely suspend the Execution of those Laws relating to Treason or Felony unless it is pretended that he is clothed with a Despotick and Arbitrary Power and that the Lives Liberties Honours and Estates of the Subjects depend wholly on his good Will and Pleasure and are intirely subject to him which must infallibly follow on the King 's having a power to suspend the Execution of the Laws and to dispence with them 5. those Evil Counsellors in order to the giving some Credit to this strange and execrable Maxim have so conducted the Matter that they have obtained a Sentence from the Judges declaring That this Dispensing Power is a Right belonging to the Crown as if it were in the power of the Twelve Judges to offer up the Laws Rights and Liberties of the whole Nation to the King to be disposed of by him Arbitrarily and at his Pleasure and expresly contrary to Laws enacted for the Security of the Subjects In order to the obtaining this Judgment those Evil Counsellors did before-hand examine secretly the Opinion
whom God raises up to be the Restorers and Delivers of a People when they are either brought low by Tyranny and Oppression or when they are torn in pieces by Factions among themselves p. 12 13. Thus when the Roman State being torn by a long Civil War had even bled it self to death it had certainly expir'd if it had been left to it self Augustus came in and not only bound up the Wounds but put as it were a new Soul into the Body He made it not only live but flourish by his great Care and Wisdom and Industry which so oblig'd the People that they even forc'd him to accept of the Empire These were such Benefits to Mankind as whosoever was enabled to do it was as if God had put a Glory about his Head it so markt him out to the People that they could not go beside him in their Choice No they took him as a successful Tyrant whom they had not power to withstand The Romans did not understand our new-coin'd Choice of God And if our Regency-men had known that the Prince of Orange was chosen of God they would not have voted as they did they took him as one already chosen of God p. 13. In those Kingdoms wherein the Succession is continued by a new Election upon every Vacancy or wherein a new Election is made upon the Extinguishing of the Royal Family the person on whom the Election falls in either case owes his promotion to God from whom it comes the same way to him as it came to his first Predecessor in that Kingdom p. 16. In all sorts of Government as the Sovereign Power in every Countrey or Nation is of God so they that are invested with it whether one or many are in the place of God and have their Promotion from him The Transferring of this Power from one to another is the Act of God And this he does proceeding Judicially as being Judge p. 17. First God does this Secondly He does it Judicially For the first of these God has such an Interest in the disposing of power as none can pretend to but himself Men have their part in setting up what they cannot put down again It is a Woman's Consent makes a Man be her Husband the Fellows of a College chuse one to the their Head a Corporation chuse one to be their Mayor All these do only chuse the person they do not give him the Authority It is the Law that gives that and that Law so binds their hands that they cannot undo what they have done No more can a Nation undo its own Act in chusing Men into Sovereign power I do not say but they may chuse Men into Government expresly with that Condition That they shall be accountable to the people and then the Government remains in the Body of the Nation it is that which we properly call a Commonwealth But for Sovereign Princes and Kings even where they are chosen by the Nation and much more in Hereditary Kingdoms as they have their Authority from God so they are only accountable to him For he is the only Potentate King of king and Lord of lords He alone both makes Kings by his Sovereign Power and by the same he can unmake them when he pleases p. 18 19. Nay more than so He puts down one and sets up another Both the Words imply something of an high place and here they are used of Civil Government or Dominion Of this it is said That God so deprives one of it as that he advances another in his stead This can be understood of nothing else but the Conquest of one Prince over another For what one resigns by a Voluntary Act he is said to lay down or to give it up to another But putting down is the Act of a Superior by which one 's place is taken from him against his Will Now God being the Superior that does this by the Act of his Providence it must be such an Act as gives the Power from one against his Will to another whom God is pleased to set up in his stead Thus in giving one Prince a Conquest over another he thereby puts one in Possession of the other's Dominions he makes the other's Subjects become his Subjects or his Slaves accordingly as they come in upon Conditions or at the Will of the Conqueror In short he giveth him the whole Right and Power of the other Prince p. 18 19 20. When those Kings that living in a settled Kingdom will not govern according to the Laws thereof it is a breach of Faith not only to their people but to God also where they are sworn to the observing of Laws And though they are not therefore to be deposed by the people yet they cannot escape the vengeance of God who ordinarily punishes them with the natural effects of their Sin On the other hand if a Prince will have no law but his Will if he tramples and oppresseth his people their patience will not hold out always they will at one time or other shew themselves to be but Men. At least they will have no heart to fight for their Oppressor So that if a Foreign Enemy breaks in upon him he is gone without remedy unless God interpose But how can that be when God is Judge himself Should the Judge hinder the doing of Justice It is God's Work that Foreigners come to do Howbeit he meaneth not so He means nothing perhaps but the satisfying of his own Lust But though he knoweth it not he is sent in God's Message for which all things being prepared by Natural Causes and God not hindering his own Work but rather hastning it no wonder that it succeeds and that oftentimes very easily p. 24 25. When it happens as it doth sometimes and that especially for the Sins of a Nation that they come to be under weak or wicked Kings even these they must not resist God hath taught them otherwise What then Must they be left to the Wills of these Tyrants Or of them that govern weak Kings which is commonly worse Must they endure all the load of Oppression that these will lay upon them That is For a few Mens pleasure must a Nation be made miserable This is far from God's design in the Institution of Government He makes Kings his Ministers for the good of their People If any will take that Office upon them they must be have themselves accordingly Otherwise if they take it as given them only for themselves it is such a breach of Trust that God cannot but punish them for it But how should he do this so as that the punishment may have its effect in warning others not to transgress in like manner He cannot do this better than by making Men his Instruments in it And therefore it is that God tho he has infinite ways yet commonly chuses to employ Men in this Service He either finds them at home that are not afraid of the Power as they ought to be or
giveth them to whomsoever he will but Subjects in setting up or removing Kings must have regard to Legal Right and if they pull down a rightful King and set up a King without right unless the Constitution of the Government in some cases should allow it greatly sin in it especially when they have sworn the defence of the Legal Right and Legal Succession but the Duty and Allegiance of Subjects does not immediately respect Right but the actual Administration of Government when there is a setled Government in a Nation for that is God's Authority which much be obeyed no man must swear away this no more than any other part of his Duty and no man does swear away this by the Oath of Allegiance as I have already shown p. 31 32. Object But have not Pyrates and Robbers as good a Title to my Purse as an Usurper has to the Crown which he seizes by as manifest force and violence Answ The Outrages of Thieves and Pyrates are very impertinently alledged in this Cause They have force and violence which every man must submit to when he cannot help it but Sovereign Power is God's Authority tho Princes may be advanced to it by no honester means than Thieves take a Purse or break open my House and take my Money or Goods The beginnings of the Four Monarchies were no better and yet their Power was God's p. 34. This Doctrine of Obedience and Allegiance to the present Powers Gen. 49.14 is founded on the same Principle with the Doctrine of Non-Resistance and Passive-Obedience and therefore both must be true or both false for it is founded on this Principle That God makes Kings and invests them with his Authority which equally proves That all Kings who have received a Sovereign Authority from God and are in the actual administration of it which is the only evidence we have that they have received it from God must be obeyed and must not be resisted Set aside this Principle That all Sovereign Princes receive their Authority from God and I grant that Non-Resistance is Nonsense ☜ for there is no other irresistible Authority but that of God p. 36. These Principles answer all the ends of Government both for the security of the Prince and Subjects and that is a good Argument to believe them true A Prince who is in Possession is secured in Possession by them as far as any Principles can secure him against all Attempts of his Subjects who must reverence God's Authority in him and submit to him without Resistance tho they are ill used They will not indeed serve the Revolutions of Government to remove one King and set up another and if they would Princes might be jealous of them for whatever Service they might do them at one turn they might do them as great Disservice at another The Revolutions of Government are not the Subjects Duty but God's Prerogative and therefore it is not likely that he has prescribed any certain Rules or Methods for the overturning and changing Government which he keeps in his own hands and which when he sees fit to do it he never wants ways and means of doing But when any Prince is setled in the Throne by what means soever it be these Principles put an end to all disputes of Right and Title and bind his Subjects to him by Duty and Conscience and a Reverence of God's Authority which is the fastest hold he can possibly have of them No Interest is the fastest hold in these cases for those whom Religion will not bind nothing but Force can And therefore these are the only principles which in such Revolutions can make Government easie both to Prince and People and if Government must be preserved in all Revolutions those are the best Principles which are most for the ease and safety of it But on the other hand such an immoveable and unalterable Allegiance as is thought due only to a Legal Right and Title and must be paid to none but to a Legal and Rightful Prince serves no ends of Government at all but overturns all Government when such a Prince is dispossessed of his Throne how long soever he continue dispossessed And what long Inter-regnums may this occasion to the dissolution of Human Societies p. 43 44. I cannot indeed think neither do I believe that any body else does that for a King to leave his Crown and Government in a fright is in all cases necessarily to be interpreted such an Abdication as is equivalent to a voluntary Resignation whereby he renounces all future Right and Claim to it But if he have reduced himself to such a state that he is forced for his own preservation to leave his Kingdom and Government it is plain that in some sense he leaves his Throne vacant too that is there is no body in it no body in the actual Administration of the Government Thus far I think Subjects may be very guiltless who do not drive the King away but only suffer him quietly to escape out of his Kingdoms for this is no Rebellion no Resistance but only Non-Assistance which may be very innocent for there are some cases wherein Subjects are not bound to assist their Prince and if ever there were such a Case this was it What then shall Subjects do when the King is gone and the Government Dissolved the people left in the Hands of another Prince without any Reason or any Authority or any formed Power to oppose him The Government must be Administred by some-body unless we can be contented that the Rabble should govern But I shall not meddle with that Interval between the going away of the King and the Prince's coming to the Throne but only consider him as placed in the Throne and setled there And now we can find no alteration in the Ancient government of the Nation but only the exchange of persons and all things concur to make this a very advantageous and acceptable Change excepting such difficulties as usually accompany such Revolutions p. 49 50. Legal Rights must be determined by a Legal Authority and there is no Authority can take cognizance of the Titles and Claims of Princes and the disposal of the Crown but the Estates of the Realm They indeed are obliged to take notice of the legal Descent of the Crown ☜ and if through mistake or any other cause they set the Crown upon a wrong Head they must answer for it but private Subjects who have no legal Cognizance of the matter are bound by no Law that I know of to disown a King whom the Estates have owned though they should think the Right is in another p. 52 53. Hitherto have been displayed the Principles of some of our heavenly Guides with respect to our Present Settlement The Conclusion of the whole matter take in the Words of a Worthy Divine lately delivered in a Sermon before the House of Commons viz. WE may safely conclude from the late Deliverance which we have found and the
Success wherewith it has been attended since 1. That God has signally manifested his favour to this our Church And 2. That the King is the Instrument whereby he has conferr'd this Favour on us And from hence there arises a twofold Duty upon us 1. That we should have a regard and reverence for the Church 2. That we should pay Honour and Obedience to the King And 1. How great a veneration and esteem do we justly owe to that Church which first rescued us from the Tyranny of the Roman Yoke recovered the pure Word of God from their usurpation and disguise and instated us in the true light of the Gospel A Church which for the purity of her Faith and the Regularity of her Institution has ever since stood the Envy and endured the brunt of Antichrist and has so many miraculous deliverances to shew that God has espoused her Cause We have heard with out Ears and our Fathers have declar'd unto us the Wonders which he did for her in their days and our own eyes also have seen the salvation of God How he rescued us from an implacable ravenous Herd of Men who had nothing but numbers to entitle them to a Catholick Church and with those numbers they design'd to over-power the Truth with those Wolves they thought to have worry'd this little Flock Against us alone they bent all their Rage and whet their Teeth in the late unhappy Reign and when their small stock of Arguments was spent they prepar'd for another kind of onset But God deliver'd us from all the expectation of the Romans and shew'd that it was not their Church but ours that is founded upon that Rock And I wish all they that are still projecting to overturn it would for their own security consider this What do you think of Oliver Crumwell That no weapon ever prosper'd yet that has been lifted up against it And now for any of us to question the honesty of our Mother-Church which we have seen attested by so many unquestionable proofs by all the demonstration that the nature of the thing will bear must be something more than Ignorance something that I am loath to name To forsake this guide of our youth who never deserted us in any times of difficulty never consulted her own safety when she saw her Sons in danger ☜ but boldly oppos'd every Enemy and stood in every breach for us I say to desert her upon any score is such vile ingratitude as hardly can be parallel'd but can never be excus'd What iniquity have your fathers found in me said God that ye should forfake me and follow after other gods A very serious Expostulation a most pathetical Complaint And the same thing may be said in behalf of our native Church What is there in this our way of Worship that can justly give offence What is there in the substance that the godliest Man can scruple or the wisest Man can mend What Supplication or Prayer can be made for any Blessings A Prayer for honest Clergy-men would do well to be added or any Grant of which our humane nature stands in need that is not daily and decently offer'd up to God from this our House of Prayer What Portion of God's Holy Word is there that is not here duly read and I hope faithfully explain'd unto you What Christian Doctrine have we conceal'd from you or when have we taught you for Doctrine the Commandments of men When ye coin'd new Articles of Faith and obtruded them upon us Jure Divino Where have we defrauded you of that which is the Word of God or impos'd upon you that which is not If any of these Charges can be made out then we will willingly bear the blame till there is a Reformation but if they cannot be prov'd upon us as I am certain that they can't if our Church has constantly discharg'd the duty of a careful Mother God knows they can then well may she expect from us the obedience of Sons or else cry out upon our disobedience What iniquity have you or your fathers found in me In the mean while I wish every man would conscientiously consider this That a needless Separation is very far from being an indifferent harmless thing and therefore they whose Consciences will give them leave to communicate with us at some times I know not how they can excuse themselves for not doing always so for certainly Union is so positive a Command of God and the want of it is of so pernicious consequence to the Souls of men that nothing but absolute necessity can give us a dispensation nothing can justify us for breaking the Unity of the Church but when the terms of Communion are utterly unlawful if any man thinks that our terms are such they have their liberty and we have ours and so I hope there may be Charity although there is not Union amongst us and therefore leaving every man freely to his own way as he will answer it to God who cannot be deceiv'd as well as to his own Conscience which can let us proceed to the last thing propos'd wherein I hope we do all agree and that is in paying Homage and Obedience to our Sovereign Civil and Sacred must be distinguish'd and that not only upon a Civil but also upon a Sacred account not only for wrath but for Conscience sake Kings are the only Persons upon Earth unto whom God has given an immediate delegation of his Authority whom to obey is to obey his Ordinance and whom to resist is to resist his Power And whosoever denies Obedience to be a religious duty takes away from the King the fairest Jewel in his Crown and the strongest Fortress in his Dominion But this is a Doctrine that has been so frequently discuss'd of late so learnedly demonstrated and so undeniably establish'd amongst us that there is no need to insist upon it now Only give me leave to say That notwithstanding the unreasonable Cavils of gainsaying men yet Passive Obedience always was and I hope always will be the Doctrine and Practice of the Church of England I am sure 't is a Doctrine of which no Church need to be asham'd and no King can be afraid And to this I shall only add That all that Obedience which the Scripture requires us to pay unto the King we must now look upon as devolv'd upon Their present Majesties and properly belonging to Their Claim The powers that are saith the Apostle are ordained of God and upon that account they justly challenge our submission And in this point tho I must not say with St. Paul that I think I have the Spirit of God yet I dare say You mean of a great many of your Church-men the Spirit of your Church you understand not that I have the Spirit of that Church in which I was born and bred And I dare say no more For Crowns and Scepters are very nice curious things something a-kin to the