the sacking of the City when the Iews were carried Captives into Babilon and were not for ought we know divided into Sects they presently neglected Ceremonies bid farewel to the whole Law of Moses forgot the Laws of their own Country as superfluous and mixed themselves with the rest of the Nations as appears out of Esdras and Nehemiah therefore without doubt the Iews after their Government was dissolved were no more bound by Moses's Law then they were before they became a Commonwealth for while they lived among other Nations before their going out of Egypt they had no peculiar Law nor were obliged to any but the Natural Law observing also the Laws of the Country and the Nation where they lived which were not repugnant to the Divine Natural Law the Patriarchs indeed offer'd Sacrifices to God but that was because they were from their Infancy accustomed so to do it being the Practice of all Men from the time of Enoch to offer Sacrifices to incite and testify their Devotion the Patriarchs therefore offered their Sacrifices neither as Men Commanded by any Divine Precept or Instructed by the Universal Law of Nature but only because it was the Custom of that time and if they did it by any Command that Command was no other then that of the Commonwealth wherein they lived and which as I have shewn in the 3 d. Chapter where I spoke of Melchisedek they were bound to obey Having justified my Opinion by Scripture-Authority I will next from general Principles very briefly shew why Ceremonies were useful to Establish and Preserve the Iewish Commonwealth Society is not only convenient but absolutely necessary to living securely from the danger of Enemies and likewise for the quicker and more easy dispatch of human labour and business for unless Men mutually assist one another they must want both time and means so far as 't is possible to preserve themselves all Men are not equally fit for all things nor is every one able to procure those things of which he singly stands in need no individual Person hath time or strength enough to Plow Sow Reap Grind Bake Boyl Weave Knit and do very many other things necessary to support Life not mentioning Arts and Siences which perfect and make human nature happy we see that those People who live Barbarously without any Policy lead miserable bruitish lives and do not come by those necessaries and sorry Houshold-stuff which they have without helping one another if Men were so constituted by Nature that they would desire nothing but what right reason dictates Societies would need no Laws and only to instruct Men in the precepts of Morality would be sufficient to make them with a free and constant mind do whatever should be for the public Good but 't is far otherwise with human Nature all men indeed seek their own Good and Advantage not according to the Dictates of right Reason but according to their own peculiar Lusts and hurryed with the violence of their own Affections without regard to any thing else believe that to be good which they ardently desire This is the reason why no Society of Men can subsist without Government Force and Laws to moderate and restrain unbridled Passions and Affections but down right compulsion is intollerable to human Nature and therefore Seneca the Tragedian says Empires maintain'd by force last but a little while mild Governments endure longest what Men do out of fear they do against their Will never considering the utility or necessity of what they do but only take care to avoid capital Punishment yea they can hardly refrain from rejoycing at the losses and misfortunes of their Rulers and tho' they themselves suffer by it cannot forbear wishing and doing them all the mischief they are able but above all things Men are impatient of obeying and being govern'd by their equals and lastly nothing is more difficult than to deprive Men of that Liberty which they once enjoy'd From all which it follows that all Societies if it be possible should be govern'd by their own general assemblies that so no Body may be Subjected to his equal but where the reins of Government are in the hands of a few or one single Person there that single Person ought to have extraordinary qualifications above others or at least should endeavour to make the People think so and in every government such Laws ought to be made as are likely to incline Men to do their duty not for fear of punishment but in hope of reward Moreover because obedience consists in executing the commands of those that rule it follows that in a Society where the ruling Power is in the Collective Body of the People and Laws are made by general and common consent there is no such thing as obedience and tho' the Laws be increased or diminished yet still the People remain free because they are not Subject to the Authority of another but Act by their own voluntary universal agreement and consent but 't is quite contrary where a single Person governs for there all are Subject to whatever he commands so that unless the People have been always educated under such absolute government it will be very difficult for a Monarch to make new Laws or to take away any liberty from the People which they have formerly enjoy'd These things being thus generally considered we now come to the Common-wealth of the Iews who when they went first out of Egypt were not obliged to the Laws of any other Nation so that they might then constitute and enact what Laws and Statutes they pleased and fix themselves and their government in any part of the World they had a mind to possess but being a stupid People and by long servitude depraved in their understanding they were unfit to make good and prudent Laws or to govern themselves by their own democratical Authority without a Superior the Power of governing was therefore to be put into the hands of a single Person who was to command the rest and compel them by force who was likewise to prescribe and interpret Laws This Power Moses easily obtain'd because he excell'd all others in divine Vertue and Power which Power he perswaded the People by many Testimonies Exod. chap. 14. v. 31. and chap. 19. v. 9. was given him by God being thus qualify'd he made and prescribed Laws to the People but took special care that the People might do their duty not so much out of fear as of their own free will which he did upon two considerations First because the Peoples obstinate and Rebellious Nature would not endure continual compulsion Secondly because there was an approaching War which was like to succeed better by encouraging then by threatning the Soldiers every one endeavoring by his valor rather to get Reputation then avoid Punishment for this reason also Moses by Gods command introduced Religion into the Common-wealth that Devotion more then fear might incline them to obedience Lastly he obliged them by many
for us to interpret Scripture for most of the things we meet with in it cannot be deduced from Principles known by natural reason as we have already shewn and therefore the Truth of them cannot be made manifest by the strength of natural reason and consequently the true Sense and meaning of the Scripture cannot appear to us without some other light Moreover if this opinon were true the common People who are ignorant of or at least do not mind Demonstrations would entertain no Scripture but what they received from the Authority or Testimony of Philosophers and consequently ought to suppose Philosophers cannot Err in the interpretation of Scripture which truly would be a new Ecclesiastical Authority and a kind of Priesthood which the vulgar would rather scorn then reverence And tho' our method require the knowledge of the Hebrew Tongue which the vulgar have no time to Study nothing can upon that Score be objected for the common People of the Iews and Gentiles to whom the Prophets and Apostles Preached understood the Language of the Prophets and Apostles and by it understood the meaning of the Prophets tho' not the reasons of the things they Preached which according to the opinion of Maimonides they ought to have known to make themselves capable of understanding the Prophets meaning It doth not follow from the rule of our method that the common People must necessarily rely upon the Testimony of interpreters for I have given an instance of a People that knew the Language of the Prophets and Apostles but Maimonides can never shew me a common People that knew the causes of things which he says was the knowledge whereby the mind of the Prophets was to be understood and as for the common People of these days we have already shewn that all things necessary to Salvation tho' the reasons of them be not known may be easily understood in any Language because they are so common and ordinary and for this knowledge the vulgar do not depend upon the Testimony of interpreters in other things they follow the Fortune of the Learned But to return to a stricter examination of Maimonides opinion first he supposeth that the Prophets did in all things agree one with another and that they were most excellent Philosophers because as he will have it their conclusions were drawn from the Truth of things but this I have proved in my Second Chapter to be false Next he supposeth that the Sense of Scripture cannot be made out by Scripture for as much as it doth not Demonstrate any thing nor doth it prove the things of which it Treats by definition and Primary Causes wherefore according to the opinion of Maimonides the true Sense of Scripture can neither appear or be deduced from Scripture But I have likewise proved this to be false in the present Chapter For I have made it appear both from reason and examples that the Sense of Scripture is found out only by Scripture and to be derived thence even when it speaks of things unknown to us by natural light Lastly Maimonides supposeth that it is Lawful for us according to our preconceived opinions to expound and wrest the Words of Scripture and to deny or change the litteral Sense thereof be it never so express and plain which Liberty is Diametrically opposite to what I have Demonstrated in this and other Chapters and Savors of too much boldness but should I grant him this Liberty what advantage will he get by it none at all for those things which cannot be Demonstrated make up the greatest part of Scripture we cannot by this way make out nor by this rule expound or interpret them when on the contrary by following our method we may explain many things of this kind and as we have already shewn safely dispute of them but those things which are in their own nature perceptible their Sense is easily drawn from the context and as Maimonides method is unprofitable so it takes from the common People all certainty which they and all that follow any other method can by diligent reading have of the Sense of Scripture and therefore we reject it as dangerous useless and absurd as for the forementioned Tradition of the Pharisees we know not that there is any such and as for the Popes Authority I for no other reason deny it but because it wants clear Proof for had they as much Scripture to shew for it as heretofore the Iewish High Priests had for theirs I should be as little concerned that some of the Popes of Rome have been Hereticks and wicked Men as that the High-Priests of the Iews were sometimes as bad and yet by the command of Scripture had still the Power of interpreting the Law as appears by the 17 chap. of Deut. v. 11 12. chap. 33. v. 10. and Mal. chap. 2. v. 7 8. But because the Popes can shew us no such Testimony their Authority is very much to be doubted and that no Man may deceive himself and think that according to the example of the Iewish High-Priests the Catholic Religion also wants a High Priest it is to be observed that the Laws of Moses were the public Laws of the Country and needed a public Authority to maintain them for if every Man have a Liberty of interpreting the public Laws as he pleaseth no Common-wealth can stand but presently dissolves and public Laws become private but in Religion the Case is quite different for seeing Religion doth not so much consist in external Actions as in Truth and Singleness of Heart it is of no Public Power or Authority for Truth and Sincerity of mind is not infused by the command of Laws or by public Authority and no Man can be compell'd by force or by Laws to be made holy nothing but good brotherly Council education and a mans own free judgment can do that Seeing then every Man hath right to think of Religion as he pleaseth and it cannot be imagin'd any Man can part with this right it is in every Mans Power to judge of Religion and consequently to expound and interpret it to himself for as the cheif Power of interpreting Laws and judging of Public Matters resides in the Magistrate upon no other account but because they are public so likewise for the same reason the Supream Authority of explaining and judging of Religion is in every particular Person because it is every private Mans right The Authority then of the Iewish High-Priest to interpret Laws is far from proving the Popes Authority to interpret Religion but rather the contrary that every particular Man hath right to do it So that it is evident our method of interpreting Scripture i. the best for seeing the supream Power of interpreting it ought to be that natural reason which is common to all Men and not any Supernatural light or external Authority this method ought not be so difficult and abstruse that none but acute Philosophers can make use of or Compose it but it must be
sanctified them for my self But after all the People the Levites only excepted had worshipped the Golden Calf they were defiled and rejected and the Levites who sided with Moses as appears Exod. chap. 32. v. 20 27. were chosen into their room Deut. chap. 10. v. 8. The Lord separated the tribe of Levi to stand before the Lord to minister him and to bless his Name Which change when I seriously consider it makes me think of those Words in Tacitus Illo tempore non fuisse Deo curae securitatem illorum fuisse ultionem At that time God took more care to be revenged upon them than to preserve them God was so extreamly incensed against them that though Laws usually provide for the Safety Honour and Security of People yet the Laws which God gave the Iews were with a purpose to punish and be revenged upon them so that their Laws were not Laws that is the Peoples Safety but their Plague and Pnnishment Consider how many things the People were bound to give to the Priests and Levites beside the Money that was to be pay'd for the Redemption of the First-born Consider likewise that the Levites were only permitted to come near whatever was accounted holy which continually minded the People of their Uncleanness and Repudiation with which 't is very likely the Levites might often reproach them for amongst so many thousand Levites no question but there were some troublesome pragmatical Fellows who provoked the People and the People on their part to be quit with the Levites narrowly watched and pryed into their Actions who being but Men were subject to many failings and miscarriages which as is usual were charged upon the whole Function and at last especially when Provisions were dear in all probability the People grew weary of maintaining so many lazy idle and hated persons who were no Kin at all to them No wonder then when the People were at ease and publick Miracles ceased if they who were in Authority became remiss and the covetous incensed Minds of the People grew careless and neglecting the Divine Worship of which they began to be suspicious and ashamed desired a new 'T is likewise possible that the Princes to keep the Commanding Power still in their own hands might court the People to take part with them against the Priest and bring in a new Religion But had the duration and security of the Government been designed when it was first instituted things might have gone well if all the Tribes had had equal Honour and Power for who would have violated the Sacred Right of his Kindred They would rather for Piety and Religion's sake have maintained their Parents Brothers and Kinsmen seeing from them they were to receive the Interpretation of the Law and the Divine Oracles The Tribes would have been tied in a stricter Bond of Amity if all had had equal Power of administring in the Temple at least there had been less fear of Discord if the Election of the Levites had not been grounded upon the Wrath and Vengeance of God But as I have already said God was very angry with them and that I may again use Ezekiel's Expression he polluted them with their gifts in the redemption of their first-born that he might destroy them This appears by their Histories for as soon as the People began to be idle in the Wilderness many not of the meanest sort began to be offended with the Choice of this Tribe believing that Moses did not act by God's Command but did all things as he himself pleased because he made choice of his own Tribe above all the rest and made a perpetual Settlement of the Priesthood upon his own Brother So that a Tumult being rais'd they tell Moses and Aaron that all the Congregation were every one of them holy and that they lifted themselves up above all the Congregation of the Lord. No Reason could appease them but they were all miraculously destroy'd which occasion'd a Universal Sedition amongst all the People who believed that they who perished were not destroyed by God's Judgment but by some Trick of Moses after which followed a great Plague which made the People weary of their Lives This was the end of the Sedition but not the beginning of any Amity or Affection and God told Moses Deut. chap. 33. v. 21. that he knew the imagination the people went about even before he had brought them into the Land which he sware and Moses a little after Verse 27. saith to the People I know thy rebellion and thy stiff neck behold while I am yet alive with you this day ye have been rebellious against the Lord and how much more after my death And as all the World knows so it happened great Changes all manner of Licentiousness Luxury and Idleness made them grow daily worse and worse till being often beaten by their Enemies they brake their Holy Covenant and desired a Mortal King. The Temple became his Palace and the Tribes casting off the Divine Law and the Priesthood his Subjects The Electing of a King was a great occasion of new Seditions to reign precariously or suffer any Power to controll theirs was intolerable to their Kings They who from private Men were elected to the Throne were contented with the Dignity conferr'd upon them but when their Sons came by Right of Succession to the Crown they began by degrees to make Alterations that the Supreme Power might reside only in them which Power they had not so long as the Power of the Laws was not in their hands but were interpreted and kept by the High Priest in the Sanctuary So that the Kings were still subject to the Laws and had not Authority enough to abrogate the Old or make New. Moreover the Levites had power to keep the Kings as well as the Subjects under the Notion of being profane persons from medling with Sacred Matters Lastly Because all the power of their Kings depended upon the pleasure of any one who was accounted a Prophet of which they had an Example in Samuel who with great Boldness and Liberty commanded Saul to do what he pleas'd and for one Offence only transferr'd the Kingdom upon David which indeed made the Government perfectly precarious To avoid this their Kings consecrated other Temples that they might have no more need of consulting the Levites and enquired after others to prophesie in opposition to those who were accounted true Prophets But yet they could never compass their Ends for the Prophets were still ready watching their opportunity till a Successor came and then the Prophets by their Divine Power did sometimes set up some Famous and Worthy Person who being displeas'd with the King did under pretence of vindicating Religion endeavour to usurp the Supreme Power or some part thereof But neither this way could the Prophets compass their Ends for though they took away the Tyrant yet the Causes of Tyranny still remain'd and they did with a great Effusion of the Subjects Blood only
purchase another new Tyrant So that there was no end of their Discords and Intestine Wars and the Causes of violating God's Law were still the same which could never end but with the Total Destruction of the Common-Wealth We have now seen how Religion began in the Iewish Common-Wealth and how the Government might have been perpetual if the Just Wrath of God would have permitted it to continue But because it would not therefore it perished I have here spoken only of their First Government the Second being but a Shadow of their First seeing they were still under the Power of the Persians After they obtained their Liberty of Cyrus the High Priests became their Princes by usurping the Supreme Authority the Priests having as great a Mind to the Crown as to the Mitre Of this Second Government I need say no more Whether their First Government as it was conceived Durable or Religious be a Pattern that may be followed will appear in the next Chapter For the Close of all I desire it may be particularly observed That by what hath been declared in this Chapter it is evident That Divine Right or Religion had its Beginning and Rise from a Covenant or Contract without which there is no Right but that of Nature and therefore the Iews were not obliged by any Precept of Religion to shew any Kindness towards any other Nations who were not concerned in the Covenant but only to those of their own Common-Wealth CHAP. XVIII Certain Political Maxims Collected from the Government and Histories of the Jews Commonwealth THough the Government of the Jews as it hath been describ'd in the preceding Chapter might have been perpetual yet 't is an Example that cannot now be follow'd nor is it advisable to put it in practice for if any Men would transfer their power upon God they ought to do it as the Jews did by an express Contract or Covenant so that not only the mind of them that transfer their power but also the Will of God upon whom the power is transfer'd ought to be known but God hath revealed by the Apostles that the Covenant of God shall no more be written with Ink nor in Tables of Stone but shall by his Spirit be written in our Hearts That form of Government under which the Jews lived might be very useful and convenient for them who lived alone without any foreign Trade or Commerce who kept themselves within their own Territories and separated themselves from all the rest of the World but 't is in no wise fit for People that live by trading with others and consequently it is to very few people that the Jewish government can be of any use or advantage but though it be a pattern that cannot be follow'd in all things yet there were in it many things very worthy of our observation and which are fit to be put in practice Because my intention is not to treat expresly of Government I will pass many things by and only take notice of those that make for my purpose Namely That it is not repugnant to the Kingdom of God to make Majesty Elective that is to chuse the Person or Persons who shall have the Supream Power of Government for after the Iews transferr'd their Power upon God they delivered the Supream Power of Governing to Moses who thereby had in God's Name the sole Authority of making and abrogating Laws of chusing sacred Ministers and likewise the sole power of teaching judging and punishing and though the Priests were Interpreters of the Law yet they had no power at all to judge the People nor to excommunicate any person for none could do that but the Judges and Princes who were chosen out of the People as appears Ioshua chap. 6. v. 26. where Ioshua adjured the people not to rebuild Iericho Iudges chap. 21. v. 18. where the Elders of the Congregation appointed what Women the Benjamites should marry to propagate their Tribe and 1 Sam. chap. 14. v. 24. where Saul commanded the People not to eat any food till Evening If we consider the Histories and Successes of the Iews we shall find other things very well worth our Observation First That there were no different Sects of Religion amongst them till after the Priests in the Second Government usurped the Supream Authority and the Power of making Laws To make their Authority lasting they took upon them the Power which the Princes had and at last would be called Kings The Reason is apparent for in the First Government nothing was made Law by the High Priest because he had no power of decreeing any thing his Business was only to return those Answers to the Princes and Council which were given by God So that at that time their High Priests could not desire to make new Decrees but only to do that which was their known Duty for they had no other way to preserve their Liberty against the Princes but by keeping the Laws free from Violation and Corruption but after the Priests got power of medling with matters of Government and of Priests became Princes then every one as well in Religion as other Affairs would have all things determin'd by the Pontifical Authority daily making Decrees which they would have to be as Sacred as the Laws of Moses so that Religion degenerated into horrible Superstition the true Sense and Interpretation of the Law was corrupted and the Priests after the Restauration attempting to get the Supream Power into their hands to gain the People so soothed and flatter'd them that they approved of all they did were it never so wicked and made Interpretations of Scripture suitable to their Humours and Practices which Malachy in express Words testifies reproving the Priests of his own time in this manner Mal. chap. 2. v. 7 8. The Priest's lips should preserve knowledge and they should seek the law at his mouth for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts But ye are departed out of the way ye have caused many to stumble at the law ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi saith the Lord of hosts And so goes on in reproaching them with interpreting the Law as they pleased with their respecting of persons and taking no heed to walk in God's ways It is certain that though the Priests were never so cautious and wary yet they were narrowly observed by the wiser sort who taking notice of the Priests Boldness declared That the People were not bound to the Observation of any Laws but those that were Written and that all Decrees made by the Priests which the deceived Pharisees chosen as Iosephus tells us out of the meanest of the People called the Tradition of their Fathers were not at all obligatory nor to be obey'd Without all doubt the High Priest's flattering the People the Corruption of Religion and the Multiplication of Laws became a great occasion of those Disputes and Controversies which could never be ended for when men in the heat of Superstition begin to quarrel and
supreme Magistrates on one side or other concern themselves in the Dispute the Controversie never ends and there is a necessity of dividing into Sects In the Second place it may be observed That the Prophets who were but private persons sometimes by the great Liberty they used in admonishing reproving and reproaching the People did rather provoke than make them better who notwithstanding would with much greater patience receive correction and instruction from their Kings Yea the Prophets were sometimes intolerable to very pious good Kings by arrogating a Power of judging what was well and what ill done and sometimes by reproving Kings to their faces if they suffer'd any thing to be publickly or privately done which was contrary to their Judgment Asa who was by the Testimony of Scripture a good King imprison'd Hanani the Prophet see 2 Chron. chap. 16. for too boldly reproving and reproaching him for the League he made with the King of Syria Beside this Example there are others which shew That the Liberty the Prophets took did sometimes more hurt than good I need not instance the Civil Wars which were occasioned by the Prophets pretending to the Supream Power A Third thing fit to be observed is That during the time the People governed there happened but one Civil War which being ended the Victors had so much compassion for the Conquer'd Party that their whole care and study was how to restore them to their former Power and Dignity But after the People not accustomed to Kings had changed the Form of their Government into Monarchy there was no end of their Civil Wars they fought such fierce and bloody Battels as almost exceed Belief for in one Battel which is hardly credible Fifty Thousand Israelites were slain by the men of Iudah and in another the Israelites slew a very great number though not specified of the men of Iudah took the King himself Prisoner demolish'd a great part of the Walls of Ierusalem and to shew that the Rage of War hath no Moderation they destroy'd the Temple sack't the City laden and glutted with the Spoils and Blood of their Brethren taking Hostages they leave the King in his almost ruin'd Kingdom and more secured by the Weakness than the Faith of the King of Iudah's Subjects laid down their Arms. The men of Iudah in a few years after recovering strength come again into the Field and fight another Battel wherein the Israelites were again Victors killing an Hundred and Twenty Thousand of the Men of Iudah and carried away Captives Two Hundred Thousand of their Wives and Children with a very great Booty so that consumed by these and other Battels mention'd in Scripture they at last fell a prey to their Enemies Before they had Kings they sometimes lived in perfect peace Forty Years together and once which is scarce credible Fourscore Years without any Forreign or Domestick War but after they were governed by Kings and fought not for Peace and Liberty but the Glory of their Monarch we find them continually embroil'd the Reign of Solomon only excepted whose Wisdom and Vertue better appear'd in Peace than in War the desire of reigning at last became so excessive that their Kings sometimes waded to the Throne in Blood. Lastly During the Government of the People the Laws remain'd in their first purity and were constantly observed for before Kings came in there were very few Prophetsâ— but after the Election of Kings the Prophets grew very numerous We read Obadiah hid at one time an Hundred in a Cave to save their Lives We likewise find the People were often deceived with False Prophets the People before Kings had the Government being as there was occasion sometimes haughty and sometimes humble did when they were in Calamity forsake their evil ways sought God restored the Laws and by these means freed themselves from danger and distress but their Kings whose haughty Minds cannot without shame stoop obstinately persisted in their Sins and Vices till the Commonwealth was utterly destroyed By all this it clearly appears First How dangerous it is both to Religion and Government to put the Power of making Laws and governing into the hands of Priests and that it is much safer to restrain them from medling in any Business till their Counsel be ask'd and to keep them from preaching and teaching New Doctrines and Opinions Secondly It is very dangerous to judge and determine of things meerly speculative by Scripture or to make any Laws concerning Opinions which are or may be in themselves disputable That Government is very Tyrannical where Opinions are counted Crimes 't is a sign the angry Multitude are Masters Pilate to gratifie the incensed Pharisees commanded Christ to be crucified It was usual with the Pharisees when they had a mind to put Worthy Persons out of their Places and Offices of Dignity to ask Questions concerning Religion this made them accuse the Sadduces of Impiety According to the Example of the Pharisees base and abominable Hypocrites under pretence of Zeal for Religion persecute and traduce honest worthy vertuous men whom for that Reason they envy and by publickly inveighing against their Opinions stir up the People against their Persons This unworthy Practice because it is cloaked with Religion can hardly be restrained where the Supreme Powers have introduced any Sect whereof they themselves were not Authors for then the Sectaries not the Supream Powers are accounted Interpreters of the Divine Law that is the Supream Power makes Sectaries Interpreters of Scripture and then the Magistrates Authority signifies little with the People who have great Veneration for their Teachers to whose Doctrine and Decisions they think even Kings ought to submit To avoid all these Mischiefs nothing can be safer for a Commonwealth than to place all Religion and Piety only in Works that is only in the Exercise of Justice and Charity and for Matters of Opinion to leave every Man free to his own Judgment But of this Particular more largely hereafter Thirdly We see how necessary it is for the good both of Religion and Government to fix the Right and Authority of determining even in things pertaining to God and Religion and of judging what is right and what is wrong in the Supream Powers for if the power of judging Mens Actions could not without great danger to Religion and Government be allow'd to the Prophets much less ought it to be granted to Men who can neither prophesie or do Miracles But of this Particular I will speak expresly in the next Chapter Fourthly and lastly We see how dangerous it is for People never accustomed to Kingly Government and have Laws accordingly framed to chuse a Monarch for as the People cannot endure such a Government so Kingly Authority cannot brook Laws or any Rights and Priviledges of the People Establish't by any others of less Authority and a King will have very little mind to maintain Laws wherein the Peoples Interest was more intended and provided for than his own for
their Kings could not personally officiate as a Priest in the Temple because all men that could not derive their Pedigree from Aaron were counted profane and unclean which is now no Obstacle in a Christian Common-wealth for in these days the Priesthood not being entailed upon any particular Family but requiring only some particular Qualifications Kings or Supream Magistrates cannot be barred from medling with Matters belonging to Religion upon any account of profaneness but all is in their power and no body but by their authority or allowance hath any Right to officiate in the Church for the Power of chusing Ministers of setling the Church of stating and determining the Doctrines thereof prescribing Religious Rites and Ceremonies judging of Mens Piety and Manners the power of excommunicating and receiving again into the Church and of providing for the poor are all in the Supream Magistrate and these things are not only true but likewise very necessary not only for the good of Religion but also for the safety of the Commonwealth for all men know how much the People esteem and depend upon the Power and Authority of those whose Function is accounted Sacred they having an absolute Dominion over their Minds He then that endeavours to deprive the Supream Magistrate of this Power goes about to share and divide or else usurp the Government from whence must necessarily arise such Contention and Discords as were heretofore between the Kings and Iewish High Priests which could never be appeased If this Power be taken away from Supream Magistrates how can they determine of Peace or War or of any other Business if they must be obliged to follow other Mens Opinions by whom they are to be taught what is good or evil That Power is Supream and there can be none greater which hath the Right of declaring and determining what is Piety what Impiety and what in Religion is lawful or unlawful All Ages have been sensible how many Mischiefs such a Power in any but the Supream Magistrate hath produced I will give you but one Example As soon as such a Power was granted to the Pope or Bishop of Rome by degrees he became Superiour to all Kings and at last ascended to so high a pitch of earthly Dominion that whatever Kings or Emperours have since done to lessen it hath been to no purpose but they have rather much encreased it and that which no Monarch ever effected by Fire and Sword Church-men have been able to do only with their Pen which is a plain proof of the Pope's Power and a convincing Argument to perswade Supream Powers to keep that Authority he pretends to in their own hands If we consider the Observations I have made in the preceding Chapter we shall find that the residing of this Power in the hands of Supream Magistrates is very much for the Benefit and Advancement of Religion and Piety for as I have already declared the Prophets themselves though fill'd with Divine Power and Vertue yet because they were but private men the great Liberty they took in admonishing reproving and upbraiding the People did rather provoke than amend them who notwithstanding patiently submitted to the Reproof and Chastisement of their Princes Besides Kings themselves because they had not the power of judging and determining Matters of Religion many times forsook the true Religion and most of their People with them which hath likewise upon the same account often happen'd in Christian Governments But here perhaps some will ask if Supream Powers should chance to be wicked who shall then have the Power and Authority of vindicating and maintaining Religion and Piety And who shall then be the Interpreters of it I ask them on the other side What if Priests and Ecclesiasticks grow wicked and impious must they continue Interpreters of Religion and God's Word If they that have Supream Power should do whatever they please whether they do or do not meddle with Religion all things without doubt both Sacred and Civil are like to be in a very ill Condition but in much worse when private men shall seditiously pretend to a Divine Right of defining and defending all chings which concern or in any wise pertain to Religion The denying of this Power to Supream Magistrates must necessarily cause very ill Consequences for they will in all probability as did the Iewish Kings who had not this Power absolutely grow wicked and ungodly and from that which is but uncertain and contingent will follow most certain Mischief and Ruin to the Government If then we have any regard either to the Just Right of Supream Power to the safety of Government or the advancement of Religion and Piety we must grant that the regulating and determining all things concerning Religion and the Worship of God depends upon the Decrees of the Supream Power and that such only are Ministers of God's Word who are authoriz'd by the Supream Magistrate to teach and instruct the people in those principles of Religion and Piety which they that have the Supream Power think most likely to procure the publick Good of the Common-wealth I have now no more to do but to declare the Cause why in Christian Governments there hath been so much dispute about this Power when in the Iewish Commonwealth it never that I know came into controversie It is little less than a Wonder that a thing so necessary and profitable should still be a Question and the Subject of continual Cavil and that Supream Magistrates should never be able to exercise this Power without contention and without fear of danger and prejudice to Religion If the Cause of this could not be found out I would confess all I have said in this Chapter to be meer Theoretical Speculative Notions of no use but any person that will but look back and consider the beginnings of Christian Religion may easily discover the Cause of this Controversie They that first taught Christian Religion were not Kings but private persons who contrary to the Will and Commands of those in Supream Power whose Subjects they were preached in private Churches or Congregations and instituted Forms of Worship without any respect had or account given to the Government and likewise regulated and determined all things relating to Religion Though Christian Religion after many years began to be profest in Commonwealths by those that had the Supream Power yet the Ecclesiasticks who instructed Emperours and Kings in the Christian Religion were without any difficulty still acknowledged Teachers and Interpreters of God's Word Pastors of the Church and God's Ministers but that Christian Kings and Princes might not afterwards assume any such Authority to themselves Churchmen very warily provided against it by forbidding the Chief Ministers and the High Priest of the Church to marry by multiplying the Doctrines and Tenets of Religion to a prodigious number and by so confounding them with Philosophy that it was absolutely necessary for the Chief Interpreter and Judge of Religion to be a Philosopher as
Man's Fidelity to the Commonwealth as his Faith towards God ought to be judged and known only by his Works namely by Charity towards his Neighbour we cannot doubt but that the best Commonwealths will give every Man the same Liberty of Reasoning that they do of Believing I confess by such a Liberty some Inconveniences may sometimes happen But what Wisdom and Prudence can prevent all Inconveniences He that by Laws thinks to prevent all will sooner provoke then amend vicious Men. Inconveniences that cannot possibly be prevented or avoided must be tolerated we must bear with them tho' we suffer by them Of how many Mischiefs are Luxury Drunkenness Envy and Covetousness the Cause Yet these are tolerated because tho' they be Vices it is not in the power of Laws to restrain them How much more then ought Liberty of Judgment to be allowed which is truly a Vertue and should not be supprest No Inconveniences can arise from it which may not as I will prove be avoided by the Authority of the Supreme Magistrate Beside this Liberty is very necessary to the Advancement of Arts and Sciences in which the greatest proficiency is made by those men who have their Judgments free from preoccupation But suppose mens mouths may be stopt and so awed that they shall not dare to utter any thing against the Determinations of the Supreme Power yet 't is still impossible to keep them from thinking what they please and when men think ill of Magistrates there breach of Faith soon follows and nothing is to be expected in such a Commonwealth but abominable Flattery Perfidy and the destruction of all ingenious Arts. 'T is not so easie a matter to keep men from talking the greater care is taken to keep them silent the more many times will they talk Perhaps Covetous men Flatterers and mean-spirited People who place their chiefest Felicity in filling their Bags and their Bellies may hold their Peace but vertuous honest men who have had Liberal Education cannot be silent Such is mens Nature that nothing is a greater Vexation to them than to see those Opinions which they verily believe to be true condemn'd and themselves accounted wicked and sinful for doing that which they think is their Duty both towards God and Man. This makes them detest the Laws and count any seditious Attempts against the Magistrate lawful and just In Laws against Opinions wicked men are seldom concern'd such Laws are commonly made not to restrain bad but to provoke good men and cannot be defended without a great deal of danger to the Government Such Laws are likewise useless for men cannot obey Laws which condemn those Opinions they firmly believe to be true And on the other side they who think those Opinions false take the Laws that condemn them to be be their Privileges wherein they so triumph that afterward the Magistrate if he would is not able to repeal them Lastly The making of such Laws hath often caused great Schisms in the Church for if men did not hope with the general applause of the People to insult over their Adversaries and get Preferment by procuring the Magistrate to favour and the Laws to countenance their Opinions Learned Doctors would quickly leave their fierce Disputes and bitter Contentions Reason and daily Examples tell us That Laws which command what every man must believe and forbid speaking or writing against this or that Opinion are commonly instituted to gratifie or give way to the Passions of those who rather than endure a Baffle from ingenious men will with their stern and morose Authority turn the Peoples Zeal into Fury and hound them on upon whom they please But would it not be much better to suppress the Anger and Rage of the Multitude rather than make Laws against men that love Vertue and Learning and bring the Commonwealth into such a Condition that honest harmless men cannot live in it What can be more mischievous to a Commonwealth than to send Honest men like Rogues into Banishment only because they are of this or that Opinion and cannot dissemble Can any thing be more pernicious than to treat Persons of a free ingenuous disposition like Enemies and for no Crime or Wickedness put them to death making the Scaffold which frights none but Villains a publick Theatre whereon innocent Persons give such Examples of Courage and Patience as turn to the shame and reproach of the Supreme Magistrate's Majesty They that know themselves to be honest never fear Punishment as the wicked do neither will they by base whining Submissions and Recantations endeavour to avoid it Their innocent Minds are not troubled with Guilt or Repentance they do not think it shameful but glorious to die for Liberty and a good Cause To whom can their Death be a Terror The base ignorant Multitude know not why they suffer honest men are their Friends and none but seditious Persons their Enemies and all but base Sycophants and Flatterers are ready to follow their Example That Faith and Honesty then may be in greater esteem than Flattery and Dissimulation that Supreme Magistrates may keep their Power and not be forced to yield to seditious Persons Liberty of Judgment ought to be allowed and men are so to be govern'd that tho' they be of different and contrary Opinions they may however live together in peace and amity Without doubt this way of Governing is best and subject to least Inconveniences seeing it is most agreeable to Mens Nature For in Democratical Government which comes nearest to the State of Nature all covenant to act but not to reason and judge by common Consent my meaning is because all men cannot think the same things they have agreed to make that a binding Law which had most Voices reserving still a Power of repealing that Law when they thought fit And therefore where there is least Liberty allow'd of Judging there men are farthest from their natural State and the Government is full of Force and Violence To make it evident that from this Liberty can arise no Inconveniences which the Supreme Magistrate may not with ease avoid and keep men of contrary Opinions from hurting one another I need not go far for Examples The City of Amsterdam hath to the wonder of all the World and its own great advantage tasted the Fruits and Benefit of this Liberty for in that flourishing Commonwealth and famous City men of all Nations and Religions live together in peace and when they would trust any man with Goods or Money they only desire to know whether he be rich or poor or whether in his Dealing he be a man of his Word or a cheating Knave they never enquire of what Religion or Sect he is neither is that regarded in any Court of Justice there is no Sect so odious but hath the Publick Magistrate's Protection if they do no man wrong live honestly and give every one his Due How great a Schism was there occasion'd not long since by a Controversie in Religion between the Remonstrants and Contra-remonstrants And it appeared by many Examples that Laws made to take away Disputes concerning Religion did much more provoke than pacifie People and made some take the greater Liberty Schisms proceed not from the study of Truth that Fountain of Meekness and Moderation but from an imperious Humour of prescribing to others And therefore they are rather to be counted Schismaticks who damn other mens Writings and stir up the waspish Multitude against them than those that write to Learned men and call nothing but Reason to their aid So that they are truly Disturbers of the Publick Peace who in a Free Commonwealth would take away the Liberty of mens Judgments which ought not to be supprest We have now shewn First That 't is impossible to take away mens Liberty of speaking what they think Secondly That this Liberty may without prejudice to the Rights of Supreme Power be granted to every man and that every man may use this Liberty provided he design no Innovations in the Commonwealth and act nothing against the known establish'd Laws thereof Thirdly That this Liberty which every man may enjoy if he do not break the Publick Peace can cause no Inconveniences which may not easily be restrained or remedied Fourthly That all men may make use of this Liberty without being guilty of any Impiety Fifthly That all Laws made concerning Opinions and Matters meerly speculative are useless and unprofitable Sixthly and lastly we have proved That this Liberty may not only be allow'd without any Danger to Publick Peace Piety and to the Right of Supreme Power but ought to be granted for the Preservation of all these For where there are Endeavours to take away this Liberty and men are arraigned only for Opinions without examining whether they have any evil Intentions there honest men are made Examples and suffer a Martyrdom which doth not at all terrifie but irritates and moves the People to Pity and Revenge Learning and Arts decay Faith is corrupted Flatterers and perfidious Persons are countenanced Adversaries triumph in having their Will and prevailing on the Supreme Powers to embrace their Doctrine which at last inclines them not only to undervalue but usurp their Authority boasting they are God's Elect that their Power is from God but the Magistrate's Authority only from men and consequently the Magistrate's Power subordinate to theirs which absolutely destroys the very Being of all Commonwealths and therefore as I shew'd in the 18 th Chapter a Commonwealths greatest Safety is to place Religion and Piety in the Practice of Justice and Charity and to make things Sacred as much subject to Supreme Power as things Civil and to take cognizance of nothing but mens Actions suffering every man to think what he will and speak what he thinks I have now in this Treatise done what I design'd and I do again sincerely profess That I have written nothing which I do not freely submit to the Examination and Judgment of the Supreme Powers of my Country If they think any thing I have said be contrary to the Laws or Publick Safety thereof I recant it I know my self a man subject to Errors but my chiefest Care hath been to write nothing but what is consonant to Reason to the Laws of my Country and to the Rules of Piety and Good Manners FINIS
Neguniah the Son of Hiskiah the Book of Ezechiel had been absconded because there are expressions in it repugnant to the words of the Law By all which it is manifest that the learned in the Law held a Council to determin what Books should be receiv'd for Sacred and what should be rejected so that whoever will be sure of the Authority of all must search into the Council and know upon what ground and reason every Book was receiv'd I should now examin the Books of the New Testament but I hear it hath been already done by Men learned in the Sciences and skilful in Tongues I am not Grecian good enough to undertake it beside we want Original Copies of those Books which were written in Hebrew and therefore I will not ingage my self in the business but only observe some things which make to my main purpose and that shall be the work of my next Chapter CHAP. XI Enquires whether the Apostles wrote their Epistles as Apostles and Prophets or only as Teachers and sheweth what is the Office of an Apostle WHoever reads the New Testament must be convinc'd that the Apostles were Prophets but because the Prophets as I have shew'd in the end of the first Chapter did but seldom and not always speak by Revelation it may very well be a Question Whether the Apostles like Moses Ieremy and others did by express Command and Revelation write their Epislles as Prophets or else only as private Men and Teachers especially because in the 1 st Epist. to the Corinthians chap. 14. v. 6. Paul in express terms declares there are two sorts of speaking the one by Revelation the other by Knowledge I say therefore it may be doubted whether the Apostles in their Writings did Prophesie or instruct Their Stile if we mark it is very far different from that us'd in Prophesie it was alway the custom of the Prophets to declare That they spake by the Command of God still beginning with expressions like these So faith the Lord The Lord of Hosts saith The Word and Decree of the Lord which they did use not only in their publick Speeches but also in their Letters or Writings which contain'd Revelations as appears in the Letter written by Elijah the Prophet to King Iehoram 2 d Book of Chron. chap 21. v 12. and there came a Writing to him from Elijah the Prophet saying Thus saith the Lord God but in the Apostles Writings we meet with no such expressions but the clean contrary 1 st Epist Corinth chap. 7. v. 40. Paul says he speaks after his own Judgment Yea in many places we find expressions which argue a doubtful and uncertain mind as in the Epist. to the Rom. chap. 3. v. 28. Therefore we conclude And Rom. chap. 8 v. 18. for I reckon and many of the like kind Beside these there are other manners of speaking which do not at all savor of Prophetical Authority as in the 1 st Epist. Corinth chap. 7. v. 6. But I speak this by permission not of commandment and in the 25. verse of the same chap. I give my Iudgment as a Man who hath obtain'd mercy of the Lord to be faithful and it is to be observ'd That when Paul in this Chapter speaks as if he did not know whether he had or had not a command from the Lord for what he said it is not to be understood of a Command from God by Revelation but only that he preach'd that Doctrine which Christ the Lord taught his Disciples in the Mount. Moreover if we observe in what manner the Apostles deliver the Doctrine of the Gospel in their Writings we shall find it much different from the Prophets way of instructing for the Apostles are always found reasoning insomuch that they seem rather to dispute than Prophesie Prophesies contain nothing but positive Opinions and Decrees therefore God is always introduced not arguing with Reason but peremptorily commanding by the Power and Soveraignty of his Nature and Essence Prophetieal Authority allows of no rational disputing for whoever will by reasoning confirm his Opinions doth in so doing submit them to the Arbitrary Judgment of another as doth Paul reasoning in his 1 st Epist to the Corinth chap. 10. v. 15. I speak as to wise men judge ye what I say And lastly because the Prophets did not understand the things that were reveal'd to them by Reason and Natural Knowledge as we have shewed in the first Chapter tho' some things in the Pentateuch seem to be concluded and confirmed by Inference and Illation yet if we consider them they cannot be taken for peremptory and decisive Arguments For example when Moses said to the Israelites Deut. chap. 21. v. 27. Behold while I am yet alive with you this day ye have been rebellious against the Lord and how much more after my death We are not here to think that this was an Argument used to convince the Israelites by Reason that they would certainly after Moses death depart from the worship of God because the Argument had been false as may be prov'd by Scripture for the people persevered constantly in it during the life of Ioshua and the Elders and afterwards also in the life time of Samuel David and Solomon these words therefore of Moses were but a moral manner of speaking which he Rhetorically us'd the more strongly to imagin and foretel that peoples future defection the reason why I do not say that Moses to make his Prediction true spake these words of himself and not by Revelation as a Prophet is because in the 21 verse of the same Chapter God reveals to Moses in other words what the people would do so that there was no need of reasoning to make Moses surer of this Prediction and Decree but it was only necessary to give him a livelier representation thereof in his imagination as I have shewed in the first Chapter which could be done no better way than by imagining that the peoples present rebellious Humor which he had so often try'd would be the very same for the future so that we are not to think Moses's Arguments which we meet with in the Petanteuch to be drawn from the Repositories of Reason but to be taken only for manners of speaking whereby he did more lively imagin and more effectually express God's Decrees I will not deny but that the Prophets might reason and argue by Revelation but that which I maintain is That the Prophets by how much more rational the Arguments were which they used so much more natural did their Knowledge appear which they had of things revealed and that the Prophets knowledge was supernatural chiefly appear'd in their speaking Dogmatically Imperiously and Sententiously so that Moses the chief Prophet never made use of any Logical Argument and I therefore conclude Paul's long Deductions and Reasonings which we find in his Epistle to the Romans were never written by Supernatural Revelation and the manner of speaking and arguing in the Writings of the Apostles doth
Foundation and proper Subject of Philosophy Nor ought we to be troubled or concerned if after we have found out the true sense of the Scripture the Scripture in some places seem repugnant to Reason for whatever of that kind we meet with in the Bible and of which Men may without any breach of Charity be ignorant doth not at all concern Theology or the Word of God and consequently of such things a Man may without sin think what he pleaseth and therefore we positively conclude that Reason is not to be accommodated to Scripture nor Scripture to Reason But seeing the fundamental point in Divinity of Mens being saved only by Obedience cannot be demonstrated by Reason to be true or false it may by way of Objection be then asked Why then do we believe it If we do it blindly without Reason we act like Fools without Judgment if on the other side we say this Fundamental Tenet may be proved by Reason then Divinity is a part of Philosophy and cannot be sever'd from it To this I answer That I do clearly confess this Fundamental Doctrine of Theology cannot be made out by Natural Reason at least no Man that I know hath ever done it therefore Revelation was absolutely necessary in the case but yet we may make use of our Judgment and Reason that what hath been revealed may with a moral certainty be believed by us I say with moral certainty for it is not to be expected that we can have any greater assurance than the Prophets themselves had to whom the Revelation was first made and who had no more than a moral certainty as we have shewed in the second Chapter of this Treatise They therefore are in a very great error who endeavour to prove the Authority of Scripture by Mathematical Demonstration for the Authority of the Bible depends upon the Authority of the Prophets and consequently can be proved by no stronger argument than the Prophets made use of to perswade the people of theirs Our certainty of the Scriptures Authority can be grounded upon no other Foundation than that whereon the Prophets founded their Certainty and Authority and we have already shewn the certainty of the Prophets consisted in three particulars First In a clear and lively imagination Secondly In a Sign Thirdly and principally in a Mind inclined and devoted to Justice and Vertue nor could they give any other evidences of their Authority either to the people to whom they spake in their own persons by word of mouth nor can any other be given to us to whom they speak by their Writings the lively imagination of the Prophets was an Argument only to themselves and therefore all our assurance concerning Revelation doth and must consist only in the other two particulars namely in a Sign and in the Doctrine The eighteenth Chapter of Deuteronomy commands the people to obey that Prophet who in the name of the Lord gave them a true Sign but if he prophesied any thing that was false tho' it were in the Name of the Lord he was to be put to death as he was who endeavoured to seduce them from the true Religion tho' he confirm'd his Prophesie with Signs and Miracles as appears in the 13 th Chapter of Deuteronomy whence it follows that a true Prophet was to be known from a false by his Doctrine and by a Miracle both together for such a one only Moses declareth to be a true Prophet and commanded the people to believe him without any fear of being deceived But he declared those to be false Prophets and guilty of Death who foretold any thing that was false tho' it were in the Name of God or he that preached false Gods tho' he wrought true Miracles We then are oblig'd to believe the Scripture that is the Prophets upon account only of their Doctrine confirm'd by Signs because we see the Prophets above all things commend Justice and Charity and intended nothing else because with a sincere Mind without any guile or deceit they declared that Men by Faith and Obedience should be made happy and confirm'd this their Doctrines with Signs We therefore conclude and perswade our selves that when they prophesied they did neither dote or speak unadvisedly in which Opinion we are the more confirm'd when we consider that all their Moral Doctrines did perfectly agree with Reason for it is very observable that the Word of God in the Prophets is exactly consonant to the Word of God within us so that I say again we are as much assured of these things by the Scripture as the Iews were by the Prophets preaching to them viva voce for we have proved in the end of the second Chapter that the Scripture as to its Doctrine and the principal Histories thereof is derived down to us uncorrupted and therefore this Fundamental Doctrine of Scripture and Theology ought with good reason to be embraced by us tho' it cannot be proved by Mathematical Demonstration It is very great folly not to believe a thing which hath been confirmed by so many Testimonies of the Prophets and which is so great a comfort to those who have but ordinary portions of Reason which is so beneficial to the publick and which may without any danger or loss be believed We can give no reason for our doubting or unbelief but our not having Mathematical Demonstration to prove it as if nothing could contribute to living vertuously and prudently but that which is absolutely and apparently true in which there is not the least shadow or doubt and as if there were nothing of chance and uncertainty in our Actions I confess they who think Philosophy and Divinity contradictory one to another and therefore conclude one of them ought to be dethroned and subjected to the other do very well to build Divinity upon a sure Foundation and endeavour by Infallible Demonstration to support it yet I cannot but condemn those that make use of Reason to destroy Reason and by Certain Reason endeavour to prove there is no certainty in Reason while they are demonstrating the Verity and Authority of Theology and strive to deprive Reason of its power they subject Theology to the Empire of Reason and allow it no other splendor than what it borrows from Natural Light If they boast of relying upon the Internal Testimony of the Holy Spirit and say they make use of Reason only to convert Infidels we ought not to believe them because 't is evident that the Holy Spirit beareth witness to nothing but good Works which Paul Galath 5. 22. therefore calls the fruits of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit is nothing else but that Tranquility of Mind and Peace of Conscience which ariseth in us from doing good But of the truth and certainty of things meerly speculative no other Spirit but Reason beareth witness Reason only can challenge the power of judging what is true they that pretend to any other Spirit whereby to make themselves certain what is true maintain
according to his Will to whom he hath parted with that Liberty and from him only must expect Protection Injury or Wrong is when a Citizen or Subject is compell'd to suffer loss or damage from another contrary to Civil Right and the Decrees of the Supreme Power for there can be no such thing as Wrong or Injury any where but in a Civil State nor can any wrong be done to Subjects by the Supreme Power which may lawfully do whatever it pleaseth and therefore hath place only amongst private persons who by Law are obliged not to offend one another Justice is a constant resolution of giving to every one that which by the Law rightly interpreted belongs to him Justice and Injustice are sometimes called Equity and Iniquity because they that are appointed to end Suits and Differences are bound not to have any respect to persons but to look upon all as equals and equally to defend every Man's right neither envying the rich nor despising the poor Confederates are Men of two Cities or Societies who to avoid the danger and inconveniencies of War or for any other advantage and benefit mutually covenant not to offend or hurt one another but in case of necessity to assist and help one another both preserving their own Power and Dominion This League or Contract will so long continue firm and binding as the consideration of danger or profit upon which it was founded continues because no person covenants or is oblig'd to perform his contracts unless it be in hope of some good or fear of some evil which being the Foundation of all Contracts take away that Basis Experience tells us they all fall to the ground For tho' divers Empires and Governments do mutually covenant not to do any thing to the prejudice or hurt of one another yet 't is always the endeavour of both to hinder one another from growing too powerful neither do they believe one anothers promises unless they be fully satisfied that the End of their agreement be for the benefit of both nor is there any wrong in the case for who but a Fool ignorant of the right of Supreme Power will give credit to the words or promises of him who having Supreme Power hath right to do what he will and who is obliged by no other Law but the publick safety and benefit of the people under his Government we likewise observe that Religion and Piety signify very little for who ever hath the Supreme Power cannot without consequent mischief keep his Promises which prove prejudicial and destructive to his People and Government or that he cannot perform them without breaking Faith with his Subjects by which Faith he is principally obliged and which usually with Oaths he solemnly and religiously promiseth to keep An Enemy is one that liveth out of the Commonwealth and neither as a Confederate or Subject will own its Power or Government for 't is not the hatred of a Commonwealth but its Right and Power which maketh a Man an Enemy for the Power of a Commonwealth over him who will by no kind of Contract own its Power is the same that it hath over him who doth it harm because it hath right to compel him one way or other to yield and submit to it or confederate with it Lastly Treason in Subjects or Citizens is only where they have by express or imply'd Contract transferr'd all their right to the City or Commonwealth and that Subject is counted guilty of Treason who endeavours to usurp the right of the Supreme Power to himself or transfer it upon another I say he that but endeavours it for if none were to be condemned till after the commission of the fact the punishment would many times come too late therefore I say positively he that by any means goes about to usurp or take away the right of the Supreme Power making no difference whether the Commonwealth shall be a gainer or loser by it upon what account soever he attempted or did it yet he hath committed Treason and is justly condemned which every one also acknowledgeth to be just in War for if a Souldier keep not his station but without his General 's knowledge or command assaults the Enemy tho' he beat him and did it very advisedly yet doing it of his own head he deserves death having violated his own Oath and his Geneneral's Authority Now tho' Subjects do not see that their case and a Souldiers is alike yet in truth the reason is the same in both sor seeing the Commonwealth ought to be governed defended and preserved by the Counsel only of the Supreme Power and all have absolutely covenanted that this right shall reside only in the Supreme Power if any Man shall at his own Will and Pleasure without the knowledge of the Supreme Council make any publick attempt which would certainly prove very advantageous to the Commonwealth yet having violated the right of the Supreme Power he is lawfully and deservedly condemned Now to clear all scruples if any Man ask Whether maintaining that a Man in his Natutural State hath Natural Right to live according to the Laws and Dictates of his own Appetite be not flatly contrary to the revealed Law of God Seeing every Man whether he have or have not the use of Reason is equally obliged by God's Command to love his Neighbour as himself and therefore we cannot without being very injurious do any harm to another and live according to our own Lusts. This Objection is easily answered for if we consider only the state of Nature that state and Nature it self were before there was any Religion for by Nature no Man knows that there is any obligation upon him to obey God nor can he come to the knowledge of it by Reason but whoever knows it must know it only by Revelation confirm'd with Signs and therefore before Revelation no body was bound by the Divine Law of which every Man must be necessarily ignorant The state of Nature then and the state of Religion must not be confounded but considered apart and as we have proved by Paul's Authority the state of Nature is understood to be without Religion without Law without sin or wrong doing Nor do we consider the state of Nature as before and without the revealed Law of God in respect of Ignorance only but in respect also of that freedom and liberty in which all Men were born for if Men by Nature were bound by the Law of God or if God's Law were by Nature a Law there was no need of God's making a Covenant with Men and obliging them by Oath and Contract It must therefore be absolutely granted that God's Law took place from the time that Men by an express Covenant with God promised to obey him in all things by which Covenant and Promise they did as it were depart from their natural freedom and transferr'd their natural right upon God in like manner as we have declared is done in a Civil State. But of this I
Levites Deut. chap. 21. v. 15. who had no administration or part in the Government with the rest but all their Honour and Fortune depended upon their truly and rightly interpreting the Law. Moreover all the people were commanded once in every seven years to assemble together in one place where the High Priest read and expounded to them the Laws and likewise every particular person was obliged constantly with great care to read over the Book of the Law See Deut. chap. 21. v 9. and chap. 6. v. 7. The Princes and Rulers therefore for their own sakes were to take good heed that they did all things according to the known Prescription and Rules of the Law if they expected any Honour from the People who would then reverence them as God's Ministers and Vicegerents otherwise they must expect the Universal Hatred of the People which was a sort of Divine Vengeance Another thing which very much bridled the Exorbitant Power and Lust of their Princes was their Militia's being formed out of their own People none from Twenty to Sixty excepted it not being in the Prince's Power to levy or keep in Pay any Forreign Forces This I say was a thing of great Consequence for Princes cannot possibly oppress their Subjects without Forces in continual Pay and Princes fear nothing so much as the Power of their own armed Subjects by whose Valour Labour and Expence of Blood the Glory and Liberty of a Kingdom is purchast and secured Therefore Alexander when he was to fight a second Battel against Darius hearing Parmenio give Advice which did not please him Quintus Curtius in his Fourth Book says Alexander would not check Parmenio again though he had upbraided Alexander more bitterly than was expedient but fell upon Polyperchon who was of Parmenio's Opinion Nor could Alexander oppress the Liberty of the Macedonians which he most feared till after he had out of the Prisoners he took formed Troops that out-numbred his own People that being done he did what he pleas'd being before restrain'd by the Liberty which the best of his own Subjects enjoy'd And if this Liberty of Armed Subjects in other Governments be a Bridle to Princes who ascribe to themselves the Glory of all Victories it was certainly a much greater Curb to the Princes of the Iewish Tribes whose Soldiers fought not for the Glory of their Prince but the Glory of God and ventur'd no Battles till they received an Answer from God. What is more to be observed is That all the Princes of the Iews were associated and linked together by a Religious Covenant so that if any one forsook the publick Religion and offer'd to violate every man's Divine Right they might justly account him a publick Enemy and destroy him Thirdly Another thing which kept the Iewish Princes within bounds was the fear of a New Prophet For if any man of an unblameable Life and Conversation could by some certain signs prove himself a Prophet that Prophet had presently Right to the supreme Power in the same manner that Moses himself had by Revelation and not as the Princes who were to consult God by the High Priest and without doubt such Prophets could easily make the Oppressed People of their Party and by some little signs perswade them to what they pleas'd But when Justice was duely administred the Prince could make such timely provision that the Prophet should so far submit to his Judgment as to be strictly examined whether his Life and Conversation were good Whether the signs of his Mission were true And lastly Whether that which he prophesied in the Name of the Lord were agreeable to the Religion and Laws of the Country If the Signs he gave failed or if his Doctrine were new he might by the Authority of the Prince be justly condemn'd or else approved and received Fourthly The Prince could not claim the Power of governing upon the account of being more Nobly descended than others but had Right to it only by Seniority of Age and Merit Lastly The Princes and all the Army had as much Reason to desire Peace as War for the Militia being composed only of Iewish Subjects the same persons that were Soldiers managed Affairs in times of Peace he that was a Commander in the Field was in the Tribunal a Judge and he that was a General in the Camp was a Prince in the City Therefore none could desire War for Wars sake but only to enjoy Peace and to defend their Subjects Liberties Perhaps the Prince abstain'd as much as was possible from Innovations that he might not attend and wait on the High Priest which he might think beneath his Dignity So much for the Reasons which kept the Princes within bounds Let us now see what kept the People to their Duty The Principles of the Government will make this clear for whosoever considers them will find they begot so much Affection in the Hearts of the People that it was impossible any man should think of betraying or deserting his Countrey but must be so much affected with it that he would suffer any Extremities rather than be subject to any other Forreign Government For after they transferr'd their Power upon God acknowledging their Kingdom to be the Kingdom of God and believed they only were the Children of God and all other Nations God's Enemies believing their mortal Hatred against them to be Piety See Psal. 139. v. 21 22. They could abhor nothing more than swearing Fidelity and promising Obedience to Strangers nor could any thing be thought so execrable and abominable as betraying their Countrey that is the Kingdom of that God they worship'd It was counted an horrible Offence to go out of their Countrey to live because they would not celebrate the Worship of God to which they were strictly obliged any where but in their own Land which was therefore called the Holy Land and every part of the Earth beside esteemed by them profane and unclean Therefore David being forced by Saul to fly his Country complains in these words 1 Sam. chap. 26. v. 19. If they be the children of men that have stirred thee up against me cursed be they before the Lord for they have driven me out this day from abiding in the inheritance of the Lord saying go serve other Gods. This was the Reason which is very worthy Observation that no Iewish Subject was ever condemn'd to Banishment He that sins deserves to be punish't but his punishment oughr not to be a sin The Affection which the Iews had for their Countrey was not simply Love but Piety which with their Hatred to other Nations was so augmented by their daily Worship that it became natural to them for their daily Worship was not only different from but absolutely contrary to that of all other Nations and was the Reason they did not only live unmixt but separate from them Continual Reproach must necessarily beget perpetual Hatred and there is no Hatred so great and lasting as that which is grounded upon