declared at the least four times in the year That the King's Majesties Power Authority and Preheminence within his Realms and Dominions is the highest Power under God Here the Injunction plainly distinguishes the claim of the Pope from other claims implying that our Church always believed that her Prince's Power was derived immediately from God and that they were superior to all their Subjects either singly or collectively and so were not accountable to them but only to God and among Bishop Ridley's Articles of Visitation An. 1550. one is Whether any do preach or defend that private persons may make Insurrection stir Sedition or compel Men to give them their Goods Anno 1564. being the seventh Year of Queen Elizabeth in the ‖ Sparr Collect. p. 123. Articles for Preaching it is injoyn'd That the Minister move all People to Obedience as well in observation of the Orders appointed in the Book of Common Service as in the Queen's Majesty's Injunctions as also of all other civil Duties due for Subjects to do and that all Preachers Preaching Matters tending to Dissention c. shall be complained At last the Injunctions were called Canons and the first Canon An. 1603. in the first Year of King James is the same in substance with the Injunction of Henry the Eighth Edward the Sixth and Queen Elizabeth and for this reason Can. 55. it is ordained That every Minister should before his Sermon acknowledge the King to be in all Causes and over all Persons supreme Head and Governor in more express terms than were formerly used But particularly I look upon the Canons of the Year 1640. to be a full Explanation of the belief of our Church in this point Now Can. 1. injoyns all former Laws Ordinances and Constitutions formerly made for the acknowledgment and profession of the most lawful and independent Authority of our dread Sovereign Lord the King 's most excellent Majesty to be carefully observed and then descends to give an Explanation of the Royal Power and Authority That the most sacred Order of Kings is of divine Right being the Ordinance of God himself founded in the prime Laws of Nature and clearly establish'd by express Texts both of the Old and New Testament and for any Person or Persons to set up maintain or allow in any their said Realms or Territories respectively under any pretence whatsoever any independent coactive Power either Papal or Popular whether directly or indirectly is to undermine their great Royal Office and cunningly to overthrow that most Sacred Offfice which God himself hath establish'd and so is treasonable against God as well as against the King. For Subjects to bear Arms against their Kings See the Doctrine of these Canons vindicated in Dr. Puller's Moderat of the Ch. of Engl. c. 12. §. 6. p. 34. offensive or defensive upon any Pretence whatsoever is at least to resist the Powers which are ordained of God and though they do not invade but only resist St. Paul tells them plainly They shall receive to themselves Damnation while in the next Paragraph they shew that this Doctrine does not intitle the King to every Man's Estate But against the Synod that made these Canons lies a great Objection tho I should have thought that the hard Censures of it might have been spar'd because no Synod of our Church and perhaps none of any other Protestant Church hath so expresly condemn'd Popery and Socinianism the great Enemies of true Reformed Christianity as this Synod hath done ‖ V. Art. 3.4 that it was not a Lawful Synod because it was continued and sat after the Parliament was Dissolved and was by another Parliament Condemn'd not to answer that that very Parliament that first Condemn'd this Synod ruin'd even the Monarchy it self nor that the Synods of old Provincial or General were not dependent on the meeting of the States at the same time I answer First that these Canons were made and confirm'd in full Convocation of both Provinces of Canterbury and York and the making of Canons being a work properly Ecclesiastical these Canons were made by the Representatives of the whole Clergy of this Kingdom 2. The Canons were confirm'd by the King which was all that was of old required in such Cases and tho the Convocation sat after the Dissolution of the Parliament yet 1. This is not without President even in the happy Days of Queen Elizabeth not to look back into Henry VIII or the primitive Times And 2. the Persons who condemn'd this Synod are well known to have done it to justifie their own Proceedings being resolved to ruine Episcopacy and with it the Monarchy and afterward by their own power they called an Assembly of Divines and What a Confession of Faith what Discipline Rites and Methods did they Establish a Directory among other things out of which they left the Lord's Prayer perhaps because it 't was a Form the Apostles Creed because themselves thought they could make a better and the Ten Commandments because the fifth plainly accused them of Rebellion against their Lawful Prince And it is worth the observing that Sr. Edward Deering's Speeches that were spoken with so much Virulence against this Synod and afterwards Printed were by the Order of the same House who first applauded them decreed to be Burnt by the hand of the Common Hang-man And if it be still objected that the Canons were Reprobated since the Restitution of Charles II. I say that I quote them not as a Law that obliges the Church but as the known Sense of the Church of England at that time CHAP. III. The Doctrine of the Homilies THough the name of Homily hath been look'd upon and censured by unthinking People as ridiculous yet those admirable Sermons made by our first Reformers as a body of practical Divinity and a Confutation of the Errors and Idolatries of the Church of Rome are as Bishop Ridley said of the first Tome of them * Apud Fox To. 3. p. 506. Holy and wholsome Homilies Recommendations of the principal Virtues which are commended in Scripture and against the most pernicious and capital Vices that so alas do reign in this Realm of England These we subscribe to as containing wholsome Doctrine †Dr. Stanley's Faith and Pract. c. 7. p. 192. and every Man hereby sees what Opinions the Clergy are of for they subscribe and assent to the Book of Articles and Homilies and to the Book of Common Prayer Many also have some regard to the Articles of An 1640. They take the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy and the Test c. and Johnson says That the Book of Homilies is the best Book in the World next the Bible And since a ‖ D. Welw Letter to M. March p. 10. late Author is so bold to say that Passive Obedience in the narrow sense we take it in was not so much as thought on at the time of the publishing the Homilies I must first ask him How he came to be so
us of this duty an Obedience we must pay either Active or Passive the active in the Case of all lawful Commands But when the Prince commands any thing contrary to what God hath commanded we are not then to pay him this active Obedience we may nay we must refuse thus to act but even this is a Season for the Passive Obedience we must patiently suffer what he inflicts on us for such refusal and not to secure our selves rise up against him St. Paul's Sentence in this Case is most heavy Rom. xiii 2. They that resist shall receive to themselves damnation Here is very small encouragement to any to rise against the lawful Magistrate for tho they should so far prosper here as to secure themselves from him by this means yet there is a King of Kings from whom no Power can shelter them and this Damnation in the close will prove a sad prize for their Victories Whatsoever the Duty of the Prince is ☜ or howsoever perform'd he is accountable to none but God and no failing of his part can warrant his Subjects to fail of theirs CHAP. VIII TO these eminent Divines of our own Church I shall add a few of the most eminent of the Reformed Divines beyond Sea to shew herein the Harmony of the Confessions as in other things between us and them against the Papists * In Rom. xiii 1. Erasmus I look upon to be one of the first Reformers and he plainly asserts That Christians ought to obey a Tyrant if he says Go to a Goal they ought to go if Lay their Head on a Block they ought to obey c. And to him I will joyn the other Writers whom Pool in †In loc his Synopsis hath quoted viz. Grotius Beza c. Every man ought to be subject i. e. to obey in things which are not against the Law of God. But if Princes shall punish those that so obey the Law of God they ought not to resist but to suffer patiently As to the Opinion of Luther I refer the Reader to what Dr. Patrick hath cited out of him p. 92 93. And whereas it is objected against this that Luther wrote a Book contra duo mandata Caesaris and approved of the League at Smalcald we must consider that the Empire was Elective and the Government upon condition as appears from the Bulla aurea ‖ Apud Goldast to 3. p. 429. where it is said Quod si nos ipsi quod absit c. But if we our selves which God forbid or any of our Successors which we hope will not happen should in process of time contradict this Ordinance retract it or presume to violate it we ordain That it may be lawful for all the Electors Princes Ecclesiastical and Secular Prelates Earls Barons Gentry and Commons of our sacred Empire without imputation of Rebellion or Infidelity to resist or contradict us and our Successors c. And till the German Lawyers convinc'd Luther * Sleid. lib. 8. an 1531. of this he refused to enter into the League and taught That Magistrates ought not to be resisted and wrote a Book on that Subject Nay the Elector of Saxony himself who was the Head of the League against Charles V. did openly declare that if Charles V. were a proper Sovereign in their Principalities then that it was unlawful to make a War against him But whatever was done by the German Princes in that Conjuncture I am sure it no way concerns us whose Government is hereditary and who have no such Authority to take Arms. Calvin himself tho so much censured for the Passage in the end of his Institutes yet elsewhere ‖ Ep. ded ad Fran. I. Reg. Fran. ante Instit answers the Objection made against the Reformation That it was the cause of many Tumults and Seditions by shewing that the best of Men had been so accused and that the Accusation was an ungrounded Calumny c. If any under the pretence of Religion do raise Tumults if any Man make the free Grace of God a Pretext for their Licentiousness let the Laws compel such Men to be quiet let not the Truth be evil spoken of for the †Id. l. 17. an 1546. Wickedness of some profligate Men. And if at last the Whispers of ill-minded Men shall fill your ears so that we still must be inured to Bonds and Whips and Tortures and Manglings and Burnings that like Sheep appointed to the Slaughter we must be reduced to the utmost extremity we will with patience possess our Souls and wait till the Lord will deliver us And in that very Chapter of his Institutes wherein he seems to make Kings accountable to their Subjects as the Lacedaemonian Princes were yet there he avers ‖ Inst l. 4. c. 20. § 25.29 That we ought to obey not only good Princes but those who do not their Duty and that as to the point of Obedience of Subjects there is no difference between the just King and the unjust That if we are severely tormented by a cruel Prince if we are robb'd by a covetous or a luxurious Prince if we are slighted and neglected to be protected by a slothful one nay if we are vex'd by an impious and sacrilegious Prince for the sake of Piety and Religion let us remember that our Sins have deserved such Scourges from God then let humility check our Impatience and let us afterward consider that we cannot help all this Evil that there is nothing left but to implore the help of God in whose hands are the Hearts of Kings c. When Princes do command any thing against God's Law we are to obey God and must in such Cases comfort our selves that we have obeyed God as we ought while we suffer every thing rather than desert our Religion Camero * In Rom. xiii 1. Vot pro pace p. 662 says Grotius is of the same mind and was much harrass'd for owning the Opinion for when he asketh the Question What shall we do with a Tyrant when he swerves from this rule of being a Minister for good He answers That it is our duty to submit Is Casaubon * Epist ad Front. Ducaeum p. 732. Ed. ult P. 749. Though no profest Divine yet to be reckoned here May God never permit the God by whom Kings Reign may he never permit that those Men who are not well inclined toward their Prince may light upon the Book of Mariana or take Counsel from him or any other such Writer There are many at this day acted by a preposterous Zeal who under the pretence of Religion and Piety dare ingage in Rebellions Treasons most cruel Murthers of the Innocent subversion of lawful Governments and the blackest Parricides of their Princes St. Paul the Apostle whom no Man will deny to have been acted by a most holy and fervent Zeal for Faith in the Son of God being admonish'd that there were some who boasted that they approved of that
pray for the High Powers think that cross to be laid upon thee for thy Deserts amend thy life humbly lament thy cause to God who will not leave thee succorless and defend thy self against Satan and all his crafty suggestions with these Scriptures following f. 264. after which he cites very many places of the Holy Writ to confirm what he had said both Precepts and Examples out of the Old and New Testament * Catech. p. 343. Did not Christ teach Obedience toward the Higher Powers did he not pay Tribute c Did not the Apostles of Christ in like manner both teach and do neither lack we in the Holy Scriptures Histories which do manifestly declare what a great Sin Disobedience is and how grievously God hath punish'd it the Histories of Dathan and Abiron Zimri and Baasa c. confirm this it is good to follow the example of David ☜ which shewed such honour and reverence unto King Saul being both a Wicked Ruler and also his mortal Enemy that he would not once hurt him nor yet suffer any other to do it although he had sufficient opportunity and occasion at divers times to have slain him if he had been minded The Lord forbid said he that I should lay my hand on him again kill him not for who saith he shall lay hands on the Lord 's Anointed 2. Reg. 1. and not be guilty as the Lord liveth he dieth not except the Lord smite him c. and this Doctrine he confirms by many other examples both under the Law and the Gospel Id. Tom. and closes all with the example of the Thebaean Legion so vigorously did our Forefathers thunder with it Is the Magistrate appointed of God an Officer 1. f. 437. Obj. or is he rather a Tyrant Usurping Power and Authority over other Persons against all Right and Law Ans He is ordained of God to be a Ruler over his People and no Man hath justly Rule and Authority in any Common-wealth which is not ordained of God. Obj. But what if the Magistrates be evil wicked ungodly tyrants haters of the truth oppressors of the poor c. are they also appointed of God Ans In Job it is thus written for the sins of the People doth God make an Hypocrite to Reign over them and God himself says by the Prophet I shall give them Children to be their Princes and Babes shall have Rule over them the People also shall be pilled and polled c. Our Saviour Christ confest that the Authority which Pilate had although a wicked and ungodly Person was from God ☞ and he willingly suffer'd death under that Tyrant neither do we read that the Apostles at any time did reject and cast away the Regiment of the Heathen Rulers as a thing unlawful but they rather exhorted the Subjects to obey them so far as they commanded nothing contrary to God's word to honour them to pray for them to give them tribute c. Thus we see that not only Godly but also ungodly Princes not only righteous but also unrighteous and wicked Rulers are given us of God the one I mean the good for the favour which God beareth towards us the other I mean the evil for the anger and displeasure that he hath towards us when he sees us disobedient to his Laws and Ordinances †f. 504. Subjects from the very heart must love and reverence the civil Magistrates as the Ministers and Vicars of God. and if it be their duty to love and reverence and honour the Higher Powers with a true and inward affection of the heart then may they not hate them and unworthily speak of them 2. * f. 505. Their next duty is to pray for them that God may be with them assist them and defend them c. 3. They must humbly obey them and that not for fear of punishment but for conscience sake for as God hath commanded the Magistrate to rule so he hath commanded to obey this commandment of God may by no means be disobey'd for to disobey the Magistrate is none other thing than to disobey God whose Minister the Magistrate is and whose Office he executeth And having proved this by several places of Holy Scripture he subjoins If this Obedience were throughly grafted in the hearts of Subjects all murmurings tumults commotions seditions insurrections c. should soon cease in the Common-wealth they should soon cease for they should never be attempted but whosoever through the motion of the Devil enterprise such things against the Magistrates ☜ they always come to a miserable end so far is it off that they have good success in their wicked and damnable attempts as Histories of all Ages do evidently declare c. 4. The Office of Subjects is willingly and without grudging to bear such burdens and pay such charges as the Magistrates shall reasonably require of them c. but Qu. f. 506. But may the Magistrate take away the Subject's goods at his pleasure Answ Nothing less for there is a propriety of goods and possessions as well in the Subject as in the Magistrate so that if the Magistrate do unjustly take away his Subjects goods he is a Tyrant and shall not escape the terrible indignation and fierce Plagues of God as we may see in the History of King Ahab and Naboth the Jesreelite c. 5. and finally it 's requir'd of Subjects that they do not blaze nor publish abroad but rather conceal and hide the faults oversights and negligences of the Magistrates c. This was the Doctrine which the Catechists of those days taught the People And as Men were taught to believe in those days ‖ Id. tom 2. op f. 211. in the pomander of Prayer so were they also taught to pray As it is thy Godly appointment O Lord God that some should bear rule in this World to see thy Glory set forth and the common peace kept so it is thy pleasure again that some should be Subjects and inferiors to others in their vocation altho before thee there is no respect of Persons and forasmuch as it is thy good will to appoint me in the number of Subjects I beseech thee to give me a faithful and an obedient heart unto the High Powers that there may be found in me no disobedience no unfaithfulness no treason no falshood no dissimulation ☜ no insurrection no commotion no conspiracy nor any kind of Rebellion in word or in deed against the Civil Magistrates but all faithfulness obedience quietness subjection humility and whatsoever else becomes a Subject that I living here in all lowliness of mind may at the last day through thy favour be lifted up unto everlasting Glory where thou with the Father and the Holy Ghost livest and reignest very God for ever Amen The same Author in his Treatise Tom. 3. f. 499 500. called the Glorious Triumph of God's most Blessed Word introduceth the Holy Scriptures thus vindicating themselves
Emperor while the good Bishop in his Embasly to Maximus carried himself as the Father or Guardian of his Prince ☞ tho he had been provok'd in the most tender part by his Prince's endeavors for the introducing of Arianism others perhaps if they had been in his condition would have look'd upon this Tyrant's Maximus declaring for the truth as such an opportunity that Providence had offer'd for the Preservation of the Faith and since the Empress was of a false Religion and the Emperor was govern'd by her why should they not set up this Maximus as the Protector of the true Faith But Ambrose and the Bishops were of another mind they knew what it was to dye for their Religion p. 346. but did not understand what it was to brigue or to resist and I pray how did the Bishops comply with the Usurper Maximus were any of them instrumental to his advancement did they Preach up his cause and the lawfulness of his revolt did they ever press the People to bring in their Plate and contributions or after his successes and the Murther of Gratian did any of the Bishops justifie the Usurper's Proceedings and Preach and Print in defence of that barbarous Regicide did they flatter him as the preserver of Religion the David the Champion of Israel with much more to the same purpose Dr. Williams Printed his Sermon Preach'd July 26. 1685. Seâ—â—ful 26. 1685. on Rom. 3â—7 8. p. 11. being on the day of publick thanksgiving for the late victory over the Rebels to vindicate the City Clergy and particularly himself who was censured as if the Sermon was not to the purpose of the day and occasion as he says in his Epistle Dedicatory to the Bishop of London Grant this that evil becomes lawful by a good end and when we think our selves secure we make all compacts broken Oaths dissolved all difference betwixt Superiors and Inferiors confounded it exposes the Church and State to every pretender and any one that hath a mind P. 20 21. will never want a reason for Insurrection and Rebellion as no Religion hath more discountenanc'd such Principles and Proceedings than the Christian so no Nations nor Persons have more discountenanc'd the thing than those who have profess'd it it is too notorious to be dissembled for that there have been Rebellions against and depositions of Princes dissolutions of Governments taking and breaking of Oaths and other things apparently evil of that and the like kind done to serve a Cause a Party or a Church is no Mystery now a days Christian Religion teaches the wholsom Doctrin of being subject to the Higher Powers and that they that resist p. 22. shall receive to themselves damnation from the confessions of Faith in all the â—rotestant and Reformed Churches nothing can be drawn p. 23. that will justifie Opposition or Rebellion against Civil Authority but they expresly declare against it when Queen Mary was a known Member of the Roman Church yet the Protestants first joyned with her against the Lady Jane Grey who was invested with the title of Queen and was a Protestant And this particularly is the avowed Doctrin of the Church of England in all its Articles and Homilies at large three of which are against Rebellion Do they find in the Sermons of the Ministers of the Church of England Id. Apol. for the Pulpits p. 3 4. the Doctrines of the Peoples Power over Princes of the lawfulness of resisting their Sovereigns or rather where have the Rights of Princes and the Subjection and Obedience of the People in all lawful Cases and the Non-resistance in any Case ☜ been so much asserted That Loyalty which concerns all of all Perswasions is taught in the Pulpits of the Church of England which obliges them to be as loyal when the Prince is of a different Religion as when he is of the same with them The same Author also in his Difference between the Church of England and the Church of Rome having cited our Articles Homilies c. to prove the chief Power of the King and that he ought not to be resisted and shewn how contrary to this Doctrin the Decrees of the Church of Rome are he subjoins pag. â—1 The Church of England teacheth the King in all his Realms hath Supream Power in all Causes whether Ecclesiastical or Civil For God alloweth neither the Dignity of any Person ☜ nor the Multitude of any People nor the Weight of any Cause as sufficient for the which Subjects may rebel So Dr. Grove in his Examination of Bell. 15th Note viz. Temporal Felicity pag. 393. Since the Power of Deposing Princes hath been openly assumed and frequently practised and never yet condemned by any either Pope or Council since the Doctrin of Equivoeation and many other absurd and Impious Opinions are taught by their Casuists and made use of by their Confessors in directing the Consciences of their Penitents and since these and many more very dangerous Errors do not only escape without a Censure but are approved of and encouraged by their Governors I cannot see how they and their Church can possibly be excused from the Guilt of them Mr. Thomas Stainoe B. D. and Archdeacon of Brecknock preach'd Sept. 6. Ann. 1686. Seem on Rom. 13.5 Epist Ded. before the Lord Mayor and says that he publish'd it That it might be instrumental to convince the People of their Duty to their King because it was for that very reason that he preach'd it That there is no Man so much a ravening Wolf inwardly pag. 3. but he will put on Sheeps Cloathing and tho his Resolutions are bent upon Rebellion yet his Discretion and Prudence will prompt him to pretend Religion The least that can be inferr'd from the words will be a Subjection to lawful Authority and by consequence also to our own Prince For the truth of all which I shall urge no more at present than the tacit Confession of his most avowed and professed Enemies who after all their contrivance of Wit Anger and Malice could at length pitch upon no better expedient to prevent his Right of Accession than a Bill of Exclusion Now such a Bill either presupposes an antecedent Right or it does not if it does not then it must be confess'd that they did most elaborately trifle whilst they took a great deal of pains to bring that about that was already done to their hands If it does then we have what we look for and that is that the Injustice of their Actions does make good the Justice of his Title and affords us a tacit Confession that there was no other way to overthrow that Title but by overturning the very Foundations of the Government it self pag. 7. We are therefore obliged in Conscience to be in subjection to the Superior Powers because God himself commands us so to be God hath given the lawful Magistrate a Title to that Authority pag. 12. to which we