12. and in his due time will relieve the oppressed and afflicted If we make diligent and exact Scrutiny into other Relations of human and civil dependencies our Judgments may be assisted for the more clear apprehending of truths of Government wherein we shall find some obligations between them so strictly enjoyned that they cannot be violated without the brand of Impiety as between Parents and Children Husband and Wife Master and Servant Col. 3. 18 19. 20 21 22. Job 31. 13. between whom although by the Laws of God and Man there be many reciprocal Duties yet are they nothing if weighed in a just Ballance in comparison to what Kings themselves owe to God and the Governed who are also the Church of Christ for what ever injury is done to a Christian Commonwealth is at the same time done against the Church of God whereof Christ is Head and King and those whom we call Kings thereof are but his Substitutes and Vicegerents and ought to govern as he hath commanded and as he will do when he shall come again in Glory to reign on Earth Besides they are constituted and ordained by the Governed under Conditions Covenants and Agreement not that themselves may live at ease only and command and rule at Pleasure but as Gods Vicegerents and as Trustees and Administrators of the Governed to rule and govern according to his and their own Laws quas vulgus eligerit for what a madness should we esteem it in human Affairs if Deputies Viceroyes and Lieutenants of Earthly Kings should for their own private ends and interest prefer them before the Honour Glory and Service of their Kings They who so administer Affairs take not right measures of their Masters Glory and the Peoples good but comply with the flatteries of their own Lusts their particular Advantages sinful Ends and interests or hatred furiously transporting them to the publick ruin privati Commodi vel odii pertinacia in publicum exitium stimulante Tacit. lib. 1. hist Private Interest and concerns saith Livy always have and always will hinder publick good Councils privatae res semper officere officientque publicis consiliis Livy lib 22. The Heathen taught only by the light of Nature could discern the truth of these things and have left Monuments thereof on their Tombs and Coins They doubted not saith Valerius that Empires were made to serve holy Purposes and that all things even such where the Lustre of Supreme Majesty was to appear were to be placed after Religion Kings Princes and Governours being partakers of the same human Nature in common with their Subjects are equally obliged by the same Laws of God and Nature to keep Faith and Covenant the common Law of Nature with them and therefore the Obligation of keeping Faith and Covenant is equally obligatory both to Prince and People As by the Law of Nature so by the Law of God Covenants are inviolably to be kept and not broken by either Prince or People And as Covenants between God and the King and between God and the People so between Kings and the People which as they are most solemnly made so they are as sacredly to be kâ—pt and that under great Menaces Pains and Penalties God hath given his â—ord that â—e will never break his Covenant Jud. 2. 1. and Psal 89. 34. My Covenant I will not break nor alter the thing that is gone out of my Mouth and requires and expects the like punctual performance from his Vicegerents and bitterly curses those that do infringe and break plighted Faith and Agreements Cursed be the Man that obeyeth not the words of this Covenant Jâ—r 11. 31. and God for the breach of Covenant gave the Princes of Judah and the Princes of Jerusalem the Eunuchs and the Priests and all the People of the land into the hands of the Enemies and into the hands of them that sought their lives and their Bodies for meat unto the Fowls of Heaven and to the Beasts of the Earth Jer. 34. 19 20. Besides God is no respecter of Persons Kings and Peasants are all alike to him all the Works of his own Hands all made of the same Mould all redeemed with the same previous Blood all his own Images and Temples and shall stand in an equal distance before his Tribunal who will judge all breakers of Covenant whether Kings or Peasants according to his own Righteous Judgment Neither Kings nor People have any Priviledge or Prerogative to break Covenant and they that do be they Kings or be they People are justly esteemed Rebels to the Laws and Covenants and the injured Persons have just Cause to right and defend themselves if oppressed by such Violation Kings accounting themselves as Gods Ministers and Vicegerents and Fathers of their Countries ought so to govern in good earnest and they being placed on their Thrones as such by the People ought to keep Laws and Covenants punctually with them and which they cannot break or sham without being perjured and becoming guilty of Tyranny and Oppression No Kings nor Princes can be so indulgent nor so really fond and ambitious of their Peoples Love and Welfare as God is of the Love of Mankind like as a Father pittieth his Children so the Lord pittieth them that fear him Psal 103. 13. testified by his making them a little lower than the Angels and crowning them with Glory and Honour and giving them Dominion over the works of his Hands and by putting all things under their Feet all Sheep and Oxen c. Psal 8. And indeed the whole Creation for his own Glory and the good and Solace of Mankind Did he not command Moses to carry his people in his Bosom as a Nursing Father beareth his sucking Child Num. 11. 12. Can a Woman forget her sucking Child that â—he should not have compassion on the Son of her Womb yea they may forget yet will not I forget them Isa 49. 15. If God hear but Ephraim bemoaning himself how passionately doth he expostulate with himself Is Ephraim my dear Son is he a pleasant Child For since I spake against him I do earnestly remember him still therefore my Bowels are troubled for him I will surely have mercy upon him saith the Lord Jer. 31. 20. Doth God who is Lord alone of all the Kingdoms of the Earth make known his excessive fondness of his People by such Bowels of Compassion How then dare his Vicegerents requite evil for good contrary to Gods own Commands and Practice and not seek the Good and Welfare of their People without having Hearts harder than the nether Millstone Again How shall I give thee up O Ephraim How shall I deliver thee O Israel my Heart is turned within me my Repentings are kindled together Hos 11. 9. Tho you will neither turn nor repent yet how shall I give thee up So desirous is he of his Peoples Repentance that he beseecheth them till he is weary of repenting Jer. 15. 6. even passionately with Oaths doth he expostulate with
set a stranger over thee which is not thy brother 2. By the constant practice of the jews under the Prophets and since And not without this moral reason That one from among themselves being by their consent and suffrages set King over them that what Authority soever they grant unto Kings they may acknowledge to have had it from the People and therefore obliged more readily to imploy all their times studies strengths and endeavours for the good of them who set them over themselves to take the burden of the Government upon their Shoulders and therefore they consent to pay them all Honour allow them great Priviledges and Prerogatives and give them Munificent Tributes and Maintainance for the Support of them and the Governm nt and swearing Allegiance unto their Kings and the Kings swearing unto the People to keep Faith with them in the due performance and execution of the Laws already made and to be made The reason formerly set down doth warrant this viz. No Man hath or can have any lawful Power to Govern Kingdoms and States but he must have it either immediately from God himself which no Man now can possibly pretend unto or by consent of the Paâ—tâ—â—s The Elders of Israel being the representative 1 Sam. 10. 19. of the whole Kingdom for by that name are generally meant Centurions Captains Judges Princes of all the Tribes â—f Israel c. came to Samuel in Ramah desiring a King to 〈◊〉 in and out before 〈◊〉 like the Nations at whose instance Samuel did anoint Saul to be their King neverless Samuel that Saul might know that he was chosen by the People called all the Peâ—â—â— together in Mizpeh by their Tribes and by their Thousands where as if the farmer Election and Anointing had been insignificant they cast lots which â—ell upon the Tribe of Benjamin and Saul the Son of Kish was taken and all the People shouted and said God save the King 1 Sam. 10. 17 c. All which was done at the Peoples instanceâ— And lest the Election of the King should be attributed wholly to the chance of Lots all the People by the advice of Samuel some few grumbling Dissenters excepted having said Shall Saul reign over us 1 Sam. 11. 13. went to Gilgal and renewed the Kingdom there and made Saul King before the Lord in Gilgal ver 14. 15. Which manifests that though Saul was chosen by God himself and also by Lot yet was constituted confirmed and approved by the suffrages of the People God indeed before ever there was a King in Israel knowing that they would reject him and foolishly desire a King like all the Nations round about them prescribed Rules and Laws whereby they ought to Govern Deut. 17. So David Samuel Saul being rejected by God from Reigning over Israel by God's command anointed David at â—ethlâ—m whom God had chosen King over Israel Did David therefore Reign though so chosen by God himself and anointed by his own command No sure he was so far from it that he avoided the presence of Saul hiding himself from him and arming himself with the Sword of Goliah and armed Men against the evil designs which Saul had against him and fled from him wandring up and down and became as it were an exiled and Out lawed Person and was not King till Saul was dead nor then neither until all the People of Judah first chose him King of Judah by their suffrages And seven years after all the Tribes of Israel and all the Elders of Israel came â—o Hebron and made a Covenant with him before the Lord and then they anointed David King over Israel 1 Sam. 16. 13. 1 Chron. 11. 3. 2 Sam. 5. 3. Besides if Samuel's first anointing of David King had formerly made him King then either Saul was thereby deposed or else there were two Kings of Israel at one time which is monâ—â—ous to conceive for according to their Doctrine Kings have no Royal Power from the People but it is manifest David was not King for that after his being so anointed he oâ—ten called Saul the Lord 's anointed and that by the Inspiration of God's Spirit Moreover he neither challenged nor executed any Royal Authority till he was crowned King by all Israel at Hebron but was persecuted and hunted as a Partridge on the Mountains and that as a Rebel to Saul of which he acquitted himself when he had the Life of Saul in his power and yet would not take it which he justly might have done had he been really King and it had been a crime in him being King not to have executed his Royal Authority in doing Justice and Judgment by cutting off Saul a murtherâ—r who killed the Priests of the Lord especially seeing Saul according to such doctrine must be but a private murtherâ—r and David the only lawful King. Whereby it is apparent that not Samuâ—â— s Oil but the consent and suffrages of the People that made both Saul and David Kings Whereby it is apparent that though God appointed David to be their King yet not so Absolute but that he should be under and subject to agreements with his People and make a Covenant with them on tearms to which he should be obliged to perform with them as they with him and this before the Lord by which Covenant he was obliged to keep within the Boundaries which God and the People had set So David was twice anointed 1. By the Prophets by God's command in token of his Election 2. By the instance and suffrages of the People in Confirmation of his being constituted King by them 2 Sam. 4. 11. 5. 13. So it is true that by God Kings Reign yet so as not without the Peoples Consent Approbation and Covenants first had that he may Reign over them for their good Besides Kings receive not their Kingship immediately from God nor the Sword because the People were first girt with the Sword. Moreover will any Christian say that the Kings of Nations who lived without God in the World did Rule and Reign by Gods immediate appointment I trow not The like is observable in Constituting Solomon King who though David 's Son and God chose him to sit upon his Fathers Throne and to be a Father unto him as he had promised David 2. Sam. 7. 13 14 15. And though David had promised his People that Solomon should succeed him and sit upon his Throne yet this was not sufficient and therefore David assembled all the Princes of Israel and the princes of the Tribes and the captains of the companies and captains over the thousands and the stewards over all the substance of the possession of the King and of his Sons with the officers and with the mighty men and with all the valiant men which bear any publick office and as it were the representative of all Israel and consequently had a share in the Government and in the Election unto Jerusalem This great congregation made Solomon the Son of David King
of Germany confirmed in the Regency by the States following the example of the Bastards is Crowned King and afterwards was degraded from the Empire and the Crown Charles the Simple after Twenty two years was forced to renounce his Crown though a lawful King. Lewis the Fourth his Son carried into England by his Mother c. And Ralf or Raoul Duke of Burgundy called to the Crown though an Usurper after whose death the said Lewis the Fourth called Doutremer is restored to the Crown Lewis the Pious though the Son of Charles the Great yet was elected anno 812. in whose Will extant in Naucler Charles the Great besought the People that they would chuse one of his Nephews which they pleased by the publick Council of the Kingdom and commanded his Uncles by the publick decree of his People to acquiesce Hence Carolus Calvus Charles the Bald a Nephew by Lodovicus Pius and Juditha confesseth himself chosen King. Aymoinus Historiogr 85. From the Merovingiens being Twenty two Kings of the Merovees to the Garlovingiens by Charles Martel Major of the Palace in name but King in effect of which Race there have been Thirteen Kings then the Crown came to the Capets In the choice of Pharamond first King of France after many Harangues pro and con about all kinds of Government at last they resolved on Kingly Government as the best sort of Government then the Lords Peers Magistrates and chief Captains as Representatives of all the People chose him King and was Inaugurated or Crowned by setting him on a great Shield or Target and carrying him into the Field where also both the common Soldiers in Arms and the People were assembled who confirmed and approved the choice by their Acclamations about the Year 419 or 420. And then they did Swear to the King to keep Faith and Allegiance to Honour Serve Maintain and Defend him against his Enemies but on condition that he be Religious Valiant Just Merciful Impartial Diligent understanding in management of Affairs skilful to resist their Enemies to punish Evil doers and to preserve the Good and to defend the Christian Faith likewise This Mutual and Reciprocal Swearing and Covenanting equally obligatory on both sides was the Custom from Pharamond to Pepin and afterwards in the Race of the Carliens descended of Pepin the French of their own free will chusing their Kings the Crown in those Days not descending Hereditarily If at any time the Crown came to the Son or Brother did succeed the Father or Brother it was not by any right of Inheritance or Succession to which they could not possibly have any right or pretence by any Law of God or Nature that wholly depending on consent of Parties to be governed but only through the affection which the French did bear to the memory of the good King deceased After Pharamond they chose one Daniel a Monk whom they sirnamed Chilperick whom for his Debauchery they banished and chose one Gillon or Gilles a Roman Senator or Master of the Roman Militia for their King who Governing as ill as Chilperick they sent and intreated Sigibert King of Metz to take the Crown of France and Crowned him Les Burguignons and les Austrasiens having made Peace with the other French chose Clotaire for their King in all the Three Kingdoms and afterwards chose Childerick King of Austrasie who delaying to come they chose one Odon After the decease of Dagobert his Son Clovis being young they chose him after his decease they chose his Son Clotaire King who dying Four years after they chose Thyerre his Brother whom they afterwards deposed and chose Childerick in his room Histories are full of the like examples in other Kingdoms Afterwards in the Posterity of Pepin who having been Ten years Master of the Palace to Childerick a weak Prince set up for himself and by his Power and Artifices by the help of Pope Zachary his ghostly Father dispensing with the Oath of Allegiance which the People had Sworn to Childerick the last King of the Race of Clovis whom the People caused to be put into a Monastery And after the death of Pepin the French by common consent chose Charles and Carloman his Son for their King with a charge that they did equally part and share the Kingdom between them At the end of the Race of Pepin Lewis King of the Francs being dead they being willing to transfer the Kingdom to Charles King of Austrasie or according to others Duke of Lorrain but whilst he deferred his coming Hugh Capit took possession of the Crown It is also evident in Story that one Kings Son hath been rejected and another inthroned For the French not being pleased with the Infancy and Weakness of Charles Son of Loys de Begue about Nine or Ten years old chose for their King Odon Son of Robert Saxon which was killed by the Normans in Battel and that Two years after they being displeased with the Government of Odon they discharged him of the Government and set up Charles again who misbehaving himself was imprisoned and they put in his place Raoul King of Bourgongue by which examples it is apparent the Kings of France were Elective not Hereditary But after they obtained Hereditary Possession of the Crown the Custom of the Election by the People which had lasted long being laid aside the Kings were Crowned and Chosen at Rhemes by the Peers of France in the name of the Church of the Nobles and of the People Bernard de Gerard. Sieur Mezeray Jean de Serres In summ All Kings were at first Elected and Chosen by the People and though now many succeed by Inheritance as by much the better way yet that way also is Constituted Approved and Confirmed by the People or their Representatives No Kings drop out of the Clouds neither do they start out of the Earth though the People chuse the Root yet do they not so absolutely chuse the Stems or Branch but if they do degenerate they in Prudence and Justice may make a better choice The Heirs of such Roots are not so much born Kings as adopted so not so much Kings as fair Candidates for Crowns Presumptive Kings only where Succession is not settled by Laws made by publick consent CHAP. V. Some Opinions of Hobs's Machiavil Pulpits and others examined The Peoples Power asserted in chusing refusing and rejecting Kings according as they did or did not observe Laws and Covenants Covenants equally oblige If broken by one the other is thereby set free Vsages and Customs of other Nations Sad examples of Perjury IT is true that Machiavil Hobs the Pulpits and others do inculcate That Kingly Power is so founded by God immediately that there remaineth nothing human in it and that publick consent is nothing at all requisite and that Kings are responsible to God only which is the ground of all Tyrannical Arbitrary and Unbounden Sway. For if Kingdoms by common consent can neither set Bounds nor Conditions nor judg of
Disputes as it is now most necessary Tho God appointed David King yet he was to be chosen by the People 2 Sam. 5. 1. So Solomon 1 Chron. 29. 22. and tho the Crown of right did belong to David's Family yet the People did choose which of the Family best pleased them and that by a double Obligation as may appear by the History of Joas 2 King. 11. 4. and 17. For the King and the People by a Solemn Oath did promise to God that they would keep his Laws both Ecclesiastical and Civil Afterwards there was another Oath between King and People at which time there was a Right in the People i. e. Ordinibus Populi to call him to Account whom they had ordained King if he performed not his Duty Which is made out by Examples If it were lawful for David to defend himself from the Tyranny of Saul and for the City of Libnah the City of the Priests and inferiour Magistrates only to withdraw themselves from the Obedience of Joram the sixth Successor from David because he had forsaken the Lord God of his Fathers which City belonging to the Priests it is very apparent that their case was far different from that of the Idumaeans which hapned at the same time under the same King for it is not likely that the Edomites withdrew themselves from the Subjection of the Israelites that they might serve God whom they never served but hated him and the Israelites but desired to free themselves from thier Subjection But the Priests and Inhabitants of Libnah not being able to serve two Masters God and the Tyrant threw of his Yoak that they might the better serve God will it not naturally follow that the States of a Kingdom may lawfully defend and free themselves from Tyranny The Fact also of the Rulers over Hundreds with the Captains by the Advice of Joida against Athalia and of the Israelites against Amasia 2 King. 14. 19. whom they slew which was not seditiously but lawfully done for it is no where said that Amasius was slain by his Servants as it hapned to his Father Joas and to Ammon the Son of Manasses but by the common consent of Jerusalem and that not treacherously the end of most Tyrants but by publick force and publick Authority not tumultuously but after he had fled to the City Lachish from whence his Body was carried to the Sepulchers of his Fathers which is confirmed for that after his death we do not read of any Inquisition made how he came to be slain or that any Body was punished or called in question for it either by the People or his Children as there was for Ammon and Joas 2 King. 12. 10. 14. 5. 21. 24. but on the contrary in respect to Kingly Dignity and his Fathers Family they chose Azariah his Son King. Hence we may conclude that the chief States or Ordines of Jerusalem had a rightful Power to choose a King out of the Family of David whom they pleased and when elected him either to eject or punish according as he did or did not observe the Laws So the Danes dethroned and imprisoned Christiern their Tyrant King till he dyed and chose his Uncle in his room It is not unknown how Gustavus Erickson freed himself and his Subjects from their Subjection to the Danes and also how they kept their King Captive for Male-Government which they translated to his Brother To say nothing of England and Scotland Poland keeps its ancient Right of choosing their Kings on certain Terms and Conditions with this Salvo That it may be lawful to be quit of their Oath if the King keep not his as it may appear by their Election of Henry Brother to the King of France which agrees with Bishop Valentine Procurator for the King in that Election who in his Oration to the People publickly made and printed commended them for that they did limit and circumscribe the Power of the King by wise Laws So the Venetians whose General Council hath Authority of choosing their Duke reserving Power to themselves of deposing or punishing them if he endeavour or do any thing Tyrannically So the Venetians constitute their Duke not as an Idol but as a Prince and Monarch from whom without any danger of Tyranny all the Lawful Priviledges and Prerogatives of Kings do issue and flow Now as their General Council have all the Authority of choosing him observing their ancient Rites and Customs used therein so the same Council retain to themselves the Right of deposing or punishing him if he govern Tyrannically without which Power all the rest would signifie little So consider that Wise and Prudent Nation of Spain In the Fourth Council of Toledo cap. 74. held 1144. according to Sigibert's Computation and consisted both of Ecclesiasticks and of the States of that Kingdom it is thus recorded viz. Nullus apud nos sub presumptione regnum arripiat c. Let no Man presume to take upon him the Government of this Kingdom no Man move or stir up Sedition among the Citizens no Man design the Destruction of the King but when the King dies let the Princes and Peers of the Nation with the Priests constitute the Successor in Common Council that whilst Unity and Concord are preserved amongst us no Discord may arise But if this Admonition do not quiet our Minds and move our Hearts to endeavour the common Good then hear our Sentence Whoever of us or of all the People of this Nation shall by any Conjuration or Study violate the Sacrament of his Faith or Allegiance which for the State of his Country and of the Gothick Nation or for the Preservation of the Welfare of the King he had promised or plighted or shall compass the Kings death or divest him of his Power or by any Tyrannical Presumption shall attempt or usurp the Crown Let him be Anathema Accursed in the sight of God the Father and his Angels and from the Catholick Church which by Perjury he hath profaned and from all the Company of Christians with all his Associates in iniquity be for ever debarred because it must needs be that the same Punishment is due to all the Complices and Companions in the same Crimes which we again the second time repeat Quod iterum secundo replicamus dicentes quicunque à modo c. And therefore may it please all here present by your consent to confirm this Sentence the third time by the Universal Clergy or People it is pronounced that whoever shall presume against this our definitive Sentence Let him be Anathema Maranatha i. e. Accursed at the coming of the Lord and that he and his Fellows may have their Portion with Judas Iscariot Amen Wherefore we admonish the whole Church of God and the People that no Man presume to condemn this dreadful Sentence but that they keep their plighted Faith towards our glorious King Sisenand c. And we humbly require thee our present King and all future Princes that
and therefore they ought to be as Faithful as was Moses in not deviating from Gods Commandments Christ in the Scriptures is not against Superiority Kingship Government or Governours but against the haughty and insolent deportment and tyrannical abuse of the power committed to their charge as the Heathen Princes did which he rebukes here intimating that so to govern is to rule over others to their own hurt and that to such a Wo is denounced Wo to them that decree unrighteous Decrees and that write grievousness which they have prescribed to turn aside the Needy from Judgment and to take away the right from the Poor that Widdows may be their Prey and that they may rob the Fatherless But be not ye like unto the Heathen who govern after such a rate but the greater you are in Honour and Power be ye more humble and as him that serveth and being as Gods Vicegerents in which appellation you all glory and boast be ye all Imitators of him and follow his example doing good to all executing judgment and Righteousness and delivering the spoiled out of the hand of the Oppressor and do no wrong no violence to the Stranger the Fatherless nor to the Widdows neither shed innocent blood least his fury go out like Fire and burn that none can quench it because of the evil of such doings The greater you are the more humble ye ought to be and then ye shall find favour with the Lord. In lowliness of mind let each esteem others better then themselves As were his Precepts so was his example who though he was chief Priest King and Lord yet was he in the midst of his Disciples as he that serveth It is not Regality but Piety that ennobles and makes Princes in good earnest Gods Vicegerents Carry them in thy bosom as a Nursing Father carryeth the sucking Child into the Land which thou swearest unto their Fathers a prescription and document for all Emperors Kings and Princes so God to Moses whom he made Prince and Lawgiver over the Jews his peculiar People i. e. lovingly tenderly carefully which sheweth the great love mildness gentleness that should be in Governours So Christ He shall feed his Flock like a Shepherd he shall gather his Lambs in his Arms and bear them in his bosom and he shall gently lead those that are young Isaiah 40. 11. So Paul We were gentle among you even as a Nurse cherisheth her children we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you as a Father doth his Children 1 Thes 2. 7. 11. Accordingly the Hebrews have this Rule for all Governors It is unlawful for a man to govern with Stateliness over the Congregation and with Haughtiness of Spirit but with Meekness and Fear And every Pastour that bringeth more terror upon the Congregation than is for the name of God he shall be punished and so it is not lawful for him to govern them with contemptuous carriage although they be the Common People of the Land neither may he tread upon the heads of the holy People although they be unlearned and base they be the sons of Abraham c. But he must bear the toyl of the Congregation and their burden as Moses our Master of whom it is said as a Nursing Father beareth his Child c. Maimon in Misn tom 4. in Sanhedrim ch 25. Sect. 1. 2. When the burden of the Government grew too heavy for Moses God commanded him saying Gather unto me Seventy men of the Elders of Israel whom thou knowest to be Elders of the People and Officers over them and bring them unto the Tabernacle of the Congregation that they may stand there with thee and I will come down and talk with them and I will take of the Spirit which is on thee and will put it upon them and they shall bear the burden of the People with thee that thou bear it not thy self alone Num 11. 16 17. By so doing Moses spirit was not at all diminished for as Sol Jarchi saith Moses in that hour was like unto the Lamp that was left burning in the Candlestick in the Sanctuary from which all the other Lamps were lighted yet the light thereof was not lessened but God shewed hereby that none without gifts of his Spirit are fit for Office and Government So Jethro to Moses Choose able Men such as fear God Men of Truth hating covetousness and place such over them Exod. 18. 21. Deut. 1. 13. Acts 6. 3. The Hebrews have this rule viz. Any Synedrion King or Governor that shall set up a Judge for Israel that is not fit and is not wise in the wisdom of the Law and meet to be a Judge although he be wholly amiable and have in him other good things yet he that setteth him up transgresseth c. Maim in Sanhedrim Chap. 3. Sect. 8. to Kings and Queens not Governing as they ought Jeremy is sent Chap. 13. 18. Say unto the King and to the Queen Humble your selves sit down for your Principalities shall come down even the Crown of your Glory Obj. Submit your selves to every ordinance of men for the Lord's sake whether it be to the King as a Supreme or unto Governors as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evil doers and for the praise of them that do well for so is the Will of God thâ— with well doing yee may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men Peter writ his Epistle to private Persons strangers scattered through Pontus Galatia Gappadâ—â—ia Asia Bythinia to a People scattered through the lesser Asia being there as Sojourners and consequently not under any set Form of Government by their own consent nor indeed capable of it But what doth this concern whole Kingdoms of free-born People who are governed by their own Laws of their own making to which their Kings are as subject as themselves and that by their own consent and solemn Oaths Make ye no difference between a few dispersed People and Kingdoms of Nobles Senators Dyets Parliaments Peers of Kings that have a co-ordinate Power in the Legislative Authority and without which Kings cannot be for its the governed that make Kings not Kings the governed a King and no King. But be it that it was written to a Senate what are you the better when no Precept to which reason is adjoyned doth bind beyond or besides that reason Lex est ordo Be subject therefore for the Lord's sake What is that because Kingly Government hath a Divine stamp What to do To punish evil doers and to praise and reward them that do well for this is the Will of God. When Kings so govern there will be no complaining in our Streets no calling coram nobis Of our obligation to obey such Kings as are here described there 's no question so to obey others who govern contrarily here 's no mention no obligation the reason of this Precept appears Ver. 16. As free therefore not as slaves Turn the Tables What
Power it self still virtually remaining in themselves of which they cannot so totally devest themselves but the Spring and Fountain thereof will still remain in them which is demonstrable for that in making Laws their consent is still required as absolutely necessary The nearer we approach and imitate Natures Laws the more demonstrable is the Power of the People above the Power of Kings their Power being only derived from the same People as a Stream from the Fountain It is as evident that the People if free do not simply but hypothetically transfer their Power unto Kings neither undeed can they by the Law of Nature but only conditionally and for the sake of Order of common Justice Peace and Liberty from which if Kings do deviate it is always to be understood that the People have transferred no such Power and indeed transferred nothing because they transferred it only for certain good ends and purposes Nature so guiding which ends if frustrated or perverted the very Pacts and Delegations themselves are ipso facto voidable nay void at the pleasure of the Senate or People and therefore the People must consequently be superior to Kings who though singulis Majores yet in true construction of Law and Equity are universis Minores In a popular State it is generally acknowledged that Magistrates placed by the People may be censured by the People and in an Aristocracy by the Optimacy and yet it 's held monstrous that Kings should be called to account in some Countries which if true concludes thus much certainly true That they are more than brutishly foolish ever to admit of any such Government which most certainly renders them slaves at the will of Kings How comes it to pass that Kings only of all other Governors must Reign unquestionable uncensured uncontrolable Do Men born under such a Regiment naturally become so desperately sottish and bruitish as to love slavery better than freedom Why do they then prescribe them Laws and conditions of Governing and Oaths for the more certain performance of them at their first admittance That they might with the better grace jeer and scorn and enslave them Or that they only of all the Sons and Daughters of Men might have liberty to break Laws and perjure themselves impuné Or be left only to the Judgment of the great day Where 's the great difference and distance between Kings and popular Magistrates Title only excepted Which Title the very People gave them for the better Grace Adornment and Majesty of their own Government The same Power and Authority is transferred unto Kings and unto popular Magistrates by the People both one and the other sworn alike to observance of the Laws and the obliged to obey not one nor the other any longer than quamdiu id bene gesserit Who makes the difference If any God hath already decided it on behalf of the popular Magistracy by his own example who of his own infinite Wisdom Authority and Goodness towards Mankind instituted Judges as the best Form of Government but appointed Kings in Wrath and Anger and Indignation and at the foolish instance of a froward and rebellious People and as a punishment on them who had rejected him and his Government and rebelled against him whereby it is manifest that Kingship was first ordained as a punishment not as the best Government To assert absolute Dominion to be in Kings from the example of Fathers and of Masters of Families hath no ground in Nature Scripture Reason Aristotle in the beginning of his Politicks condemns that Opinion of there being but little difference in the similitude between a Kingdom and a Family Regnum à familia non numero solum sed specie differt For Fathers beget their Children And the People beget or create their Kings and not Kings the People And Fathers provide for their Children but the People provide for Kings not only for their Necessaries but for Superfluities for their Magnificence and for their Grandeur And according to Diodorus 11 o. Kingdoms of old were wont to be given not necessarily to the Sons of Kings but to them in whom did appear most apparent signs and tokens of Love and Kindness towards the People and of common good So Justin Principio rerum gentium nationumque imperium penes reges erat quos ad fastigium hujus majestatis non ambitio Popularis sed spectata inter bonos moderatio provehebat Whereby it plainly appears that Paternal and Hereditary Impery subscribes and is subservient to Virtue and to the Right of Nations Which Original of Kingly Dominion both Reason and Cause are most especially natural for which very cause and reason Men did first assemble and agree on a Government not that one should insult and domineer over all the rest but whosoever did injure another there should be a Law and a Judg amongst them for the defence and recompencing the injured Primus Rex Agis ab Ephoris est morte mulctatus 192. Ob. Rex non est nisi unus sit unicus If so then many that were Kings of England were not To let pass many of the Saxons who had many Peers in their Government either Sons or Brothers It 's manifest that Hen. II. of the Norman Race reigned with his Son. Consentire vultis de habendo ipsum regem 193. Quod opus non foret si regnum jure esset haereditarium apud Reges usurpatio pro Jure saepissime obtinet In the Creation of our Kings the Archbishop asks the People four times Consentire vultis de habendo ipsum regem After the Roman Custom vultis jubetis hunc regnare Of which there was no need if the King had an absolute independent Right of Inheritance Therefore as William the Conqueror took an Oath of Allegiance from the People after the Battel of Hastings so the People took his Oath that he would keep Faith with them c. After which when he broke his Faith with the People they took Arms again then he most solemnly swore again That he would observe and keep the Ancient Laws of England if he tyrannized over them it was not jure belli but jure perjurii And when he died he declared Neminem Anglici regni eonstituo haeredem lib. Cadomens inde jus belli jus haereditarium cum ipso mortuo Gulielmo sepultum est Rex non potest facere injuriam quod scelerate interpretantur Non est injuria quod facit Rex quia in eo non punitur If it be demanded by what Authority Kings may be indicted and censured It 's answered by the same Authority by the same Men and the same Laws that delegated their Power to create them King and that by the self-same reason Kings have no Power but what they have received from the People and therefore they must have Power over Kings and by the Law of St. Edward Kings not governing righteously lose the very name of King and it denies him to be a King. It is never to be forgotten
is so natural an obligation that it cannot be dispensed with And for Governors to procure the good of Commonweals is but to do their duty he that is above all should be best of all for Example prevails more than Law and there can be no reason for sin violence or oppression Princes Councils Love and Hate Must do homage to the Law of State The Peoples Safety hath no Mate So King James of happy Memory in his Speech to the Parliament 1603. When I have done all that I can for you I do nothing but that which I am bound to do and am accountable to God upon the contrary For I do acknowledge that the special and greatest point of difference that is between a Rightful King and an Usurping Tyrant is in this That whereas the proud and ambitious Tyrant doth think his Kingdom and People are only ordained for satisfaction of his Desires and unreasonable Appetites the righteous and just King doth by the contrary acknowledge himself to be ordained for the procuring of the Wealth and Prosperity of his People and that his greatest and principle Worldly Felicity must consist in their Prosperity If you be rich I cannot be poor if you be happy I cannot but be fortunate and I protest that your Welfare shall ever be my greatest care and contentment and that I am a Servant it is most true that as I am Head and Governor of all the People in my Dominions who are my natural Vassals and Subjects considering them in numbers and distinct ranks so if we will take the whole People as one Body and Mass then as the Head is ordained for the Body and not the Body for the Head so must a righteous King know himself to be ordained for his People and not his People for him For though a King and People be relata yet there can be no King if he want People and Subjects but there be many People in the World that lack a Head wherefore I will never be ashamed to confess it my principal honour to be the great Servant of the Commonwealth and ever think the Prosperity thereof to be my greatest Felicity 494 495. The reason is demonstrable viz. God not the King made the People and those all equally of one and the self-same Mould but the People make Kings Nature was Father to the People but the People make some of themselves Kings and are the rightful Patrons of all their Power Honours Priviledges and Prerogatives and therefore as God ordained the Sabbath for man and not man for the Sabbath Mark 2. 27 so 〈◊〉 ordained Kings and all other Governors and Governments for 〈◊〉 and not Men for Kings The prospect and foresight of the wise That to be governed by one Mans Will might become the cause of all Mens misery prevailed with them 〈…〉 and 〈…〉 Laws 〈◊〉 all might see their Duties and 〈…〉 There are that 〈◊〉 with great 〈…〉 truth that Kings receive their 〈…〉 according to Prov. 8. 15. and not from the 〈…〉 are set and that they are accountable to nonâ— bu◠〈…〉 on the just Right of all Polâ—â—â—â—k Power 〈…〉 and of Nature and of Reason is originally in the 〈…〉 use thereof from them may be transferred and deligated unto whom 〈…〉 devesting 〈…〉 their Administrator◠〈…〉 them who deligated it and to 〈…〉 countable If such Assâ—â—tor◠〈…〉 old when God by 〈…〉 the People had 〈…〉 Prophets for Rules 〈…〉 much more might have 〈…〉 yet even in those days the 〈…〉 far complied with common consent 〈…〉 change of that Government his own Wisdom 〈…〉 him and his Government 〈…〉 his peculiar People only because they 〈…〉 King over us maugre all that Samuel could 〈…〉 as Solomon was dead all Israel come 〈…〉 King who refusing to be a Servant to the◠〈…〉 for ever threatning that his little finger should be 〈…〉 would whip them with Scorpions c. they soon 〈…〉 have we in David neither have we inheritance in the 〈…〉 and see to thine house David 1 King 12. and then chose 〈…〉 Rehoboam the Son of Solomon But such choice being now quite out of doors and 〈…〉 the least pretence of Title from such Nomination and therefore 〈…〉 can only be meant the institution of the Office and not the designation 〈…〉 and cannot possibly be understood any other ways 〈…〉 instituted hath together with other Governmentâ— th◠〈…〉 And it standeth sure that all Royal Power 〈…〉 in the People as in the first Subject which they may confer on this or that Man with â—â—at â—â—mitations they please and on condition that if conditions be not performed they 〈…〉 Power they intrusted him withal And therefore no King can have 〈…〉 so just Powers as from the suffrages of the People all other Governments 〈…〉 Tyrannies and continued Injuries of which the People may ease themselves when they have just reason and a neat opportunity so to do because their just and natural Right is wrongfully invaded for that naturally no sort of Men have full and lawful Power to command whole politick multitudes of Men and therefore utterly without the Peoples consent they ought not to be at any Man's commandment living This is plain and natural reason and ought to have the stamp of a publick Law. Laws positive are mutable natural not so and therefore these Laws ought to stand unrepealed because they always bind The Kings of Israel and Judâ—â— were not so immediately and absolutely from God as that the People were 〈…〉 excluded from their Right and Power of Electing and Approving and 〈…〉 of them that had been to deprive them of that Power that God and the 〈…〉 Nature had given them to Covenant and Agree with them before they would admit of them that had been to wrong the People and to bind them up from the use of their reason by Covenanting for their own Happiness and against Tyranny in ease they should break Laws and Covenants solemnly made with them by Oath which cannot be broke without Perjury By me Kings reign was only an Index and Declaration of God's Will and Pleasure which doth not take away or destroy the Peoples Right or Liberty Saul was not King so absolutely and so immediately from God that it excluded all Election of the People but was afterwards chosen by Lot by all the People at Mizpeh And all the People shouted and said God save the King 1 Sam. 10. 17 24. and afterwards Behold the King whom ye have chosen Chap. 12. 23. Did not all the Elders of Israel Capitulate and Covenant with David before the Lord in Hebron and then and not till then anointed him King over Israel 1 Chron. 11 13. All the Men of War came with a perfect Heart to Hebron to make David King over all Israel and all the rest also of Israel were of one Heart to make David King chap. 12. 38. Did not all the People of Judah take Azariah who was Sixteen years old and made him King instead of his Father Amaziah 2
you be moderate and mild towards your Subjects and that you govern them with Justice and Piety and that none of you in your own Person give Judgment on any Captive or guilty Person but that it be done by the publick Judgment of the Judges appointed thereunto using both Severity and Indulgence with great Wisdom and Moderation that whilst a pious Temper is used by us all the King may rejoyce in his People and the People in their King and God both in King and People And concerning our future Kings we pronounce this Sentence That if any of them contrary to the Reverence of our Laws by Regal Haughtiness and proud Domination shall treat us Tyrannically Anathema sit Let him be accursed from Christ and be separate from God for that he presumed to bring the Kingdom into trouble and distress De Smithilane vero c. As for King Smithilane who being guilty and sensible of his own hainous Enormities and Wickednesses deprived himself of the Kingdom and laid down his Royal Ensigns and we decreed with the consent of the Nation that neither he nor his Wife nor his Children for his Tyrannical Government should never be joined to our Society neither would we at any time promote them to Honour or Dignities This is a singular and excellent Example to which we may add a another Decree of the sixth Synod Toledo cap. 3. In which after the Statute of banishing the Jews it is said That in vain they did ordain good Laws except they did also provide that they should be kept Therefore afterwards if the King having the Reins of Government do violate the Observation of his Faith promised Let him be Anathema Maranatha in the sight of God and made Fuel of Eternal Fire and whoever else Priest or Christian shall comply with him in so doing By which it is plain what Power the States of that Kingdom have over their Kings if they violate their Oath when by the Feudary Right which comprehends the Kingdom a Vassal or Slave owes no Service to his Master if excommunicated but is free from his Oath of Fidelity lib. 2. Feud tit 28. § 1. v. de Jure Magstr p. 67 68 69. Take here also the ancient Form whereby the Kingdom of Arragon did oblige their King not only at his Inauguration but iterated it also in their Triennial Conventions in which the King was present that he might receive his Power from them and they theirs from him where after many Ceremonies performed and past between that which is called the Justice of Arragon which represents the Person of the Supream Power and to which the King by Oath is obliged to submit and the King himself either to be created or already created Formula qua Hispaniarum reges inaugurantur Nos qui volemos tanto comme vos y podemos Mas que vos Elegimos Rey con est as y est as conditiones intra vos y nos un que manda mas que vos i. e. We that are as great as you and can do more than you choose you King on these and these Conditions between you and us and one can command more than you By which you may see that that wise and Prudent People do honour their Kings as they ought Ibid 71 72. If we consult the Empire of Germany what Power the Princes Electors have there it is manifest to all the World both in choosing the Emperor and deposing of him as it hapned to Adolphus Anno 1296. and to Wenceslaâ—s Anno 1400. Emperors for there was such an Oath whereby their Caesars were bound and obliged as is described in a Treatise entituled Speculum Saxonicum lib. 3. § 54. For when the King is chosen he is obliged by Oath to perform Faith and Homage to the Empire and promise that with all his might he will promote the Administration of Justice and punish all Injuries and by all endeavours maintain the Rights of the Empire Now that they that had power to chuse them Kings had power also to curb and punish them is manifest by undisputable reason and matter of Fact. Ejus est tollere cujus est ponere Childerick was expulsed Anno 361. and Gilo substituted who was not of the Family of the Meroves and Chilperick Anno 578. and Theodorick Anno 667. Moreover Anno 890. the States neglecting Charles the Son of Lewis Balbus chose Euden alias Oden to be King. We read also that Hugh Capet cheated Charles the Brother of Lâ—thariâ—s whilst he neglected the Government In short if the Kingdom of Fraâ—cegalli had no Power to choose then neither Pepin nor Capet had any right to the Crown there being no want of Heir Males of Merovey when Pepin usurped the Crown nor were wanting Sons of Charles the Great when Capet challenged the Crown How great the Power of the States ordines regni of that Kingdom in the first Constitution thereof was and how long it continued so and how the Face of that Government is now altered and degenerated into Tyranny Histories are full which no Prescription of what date soever by any Law of God Man Nature or Reason can justifie it being contrary to the Solemn Oaths they take at their Inauguration which justifies all the rest It was but about Anno 1380. that the States of that Kingdom cancelled and made void the Will of Charles the Fifth surnamed the Wise and but Anno 1467. when Lewis the XI endeavouring to turn that Monarchy into Tyranny was deservedly impeached for Male-Government and therefore the States being assembled at Turin they appointed Thirty Curators alias 20. 16. by whom he should be governed but he soon got quit of them because under pretence of the Idol Claronensis which he worshipped with great Superstition he slighted and ridiculed all his Oaths and Promises but with so much unsuccessfulness horrour and unquietness even to his death that he sadly experienced which was the better and more happy Condition to be loved or feared of his Subjects Take the sad Example following of Perjury Charles VII whilst yet the Dauphin most wickedly caused John the last Duke of Burgundy of the Stock of the Gallick Kings to be miserably slain in his presence contrary to all Faith Peace and Friendship plighted unto him a little before near Melo dunum i. e. Melun This Perjury was afterwards expiated by the death of many Millions of Souls almost to the subversion of the Kingdom and Charles himself the King reduced to that misery that he was disinherited of his Father and saw his Capital Enemy Inaugurated by the Kingdom at Paris and from thence was rather Rex Biturigum i. e. King of a People of Aquitane inhabiting Bourge then King of France at last was forced to redeem his Peace on shameful and dishonourable Terms as may appear in a treatise Apud Atrabates with the People of the Province of Artois in which the King himself treated with Duke Phillip Son of the said murdered John his Subject this Clause was
and most properly it is only in his high Court of Parliament wherein and wherewith his Majesty hath absolutely the Supreme Power and consequently is absolutely Supreme Head and Governor from whence their is no Appeal And without doubt the Parliament may take an account of what is done by his Majesty in his Inferior Courts and therefore much more of what is done by him without the Authority of any Court. What more usual than for Parliaments to call to an account all other Courts of Justice and all Officers and Ministers under his Majesty even for such things as they shall do against the Law though by his Majesty's express command And what is this but to take an account of the discharge of his Majesty's Trust The Law exempts his Majesty from account in no other sense than it exempts him from fault because he is to do publick Affairs of the Kingdom by his Officers and Ministers of State and not by himself and they are to give an account of that which the Kings doth by them In which respect Sir William Thorp Chief Justice in Edward the Third's time was charged for breaking the Kings Oath as much as in him lay The King's Authority is above his Person and his Personal Commands ought not to controul those that proceed from his Authority which resideth in his Courts and his Laws and in his Person acting by the one and according to the other We are really such admirers and so fond of Kingship and so willing to excuse all his Peccadilloes that we retain it as a Maxime That the King can do no wrong i. e. he can do nothing but by Law which can do no wrong And if he do against the Law his personal Acts Commands or Writings oblige no more than if they were a Childs and the Books call him an Infant in Law though his publick capacity be not in non-age as the Parliament declared in Edward VI. which is not to exempt him from Errors or excuse his Crimes but to shew that he ought to be guided by his Council and that his own personal Grants or Commands cannot hurt any more than an Infant which may be reclaimed or recalled not to say corrected by the Courts of Justice or the Council of the Kingdom King James of happy memory in his Speech to the Parliament at White-Hall March 21. 1009. told them That a King Governing in a settled Kingdom leaves to be a King and degenerates into a Tyrant as soon as he leaves off to Rule according to his Laws In which case the King's Conscience may speak unto him as the poor Widow said to Philip of Macedon either Govern according to your Law Aut ne Rex â—is Therefore all Kings that arenâ—t Tyrants or Perjured will be glad to bound themselves within the limits of their Laws and they that perswade them the contrary are Vipers and Pests both against them and the Commonwealth Ibid. 531. I will ever prefer the Weal of the whole Commonwealth in making of good Laws and Constitutions to any particular or private ends of mine thinking ever the Wealth and Weal of the Commonwealth to be my greatest Weal and Worldly Felicity p. 493. The Arguments brought for Kings being appointed by God only and their Power derived from him only are grounded on some few wrested and misunderstood places of Scripture viz. By me Kings reign and Princes decree justice By me Princes rule and Nobles even all the Judges of the earth Prov. 8. 15 16. which are applicable to all other Governments as well as Regal and make only for the institution of the Kingly Office and nothing at all for the designation or application of the Person to the Office or Gods immediate nomination or appointment of Kings but for approbation of Kingly Government among other Governments by Judges or others whereby it manifestly appears that Kingly Authority hath no more of Divine Right than any other form of Government And it is manifest to all the World That God did not of his own free choice primarily erect and establish Regal Government but that of the Judges as the best Form of Government but waved his own Prerogative and Wisdom and to gratifie the publick desire of a froward ungrateful and rebellious People who were used accordingly by such their choice and felt the smart thereof accordingly as Samuel foretold so indulgent was God himself to National desires which should be a Document to Kings to comply very readily with the desires of their People in Government of their Kingdom as God here did Besides I must repeat again That no Man can have Lawful Authority to be King over any Nation but he must have it either immediately from God Almighty unto which there can be no possibility of pretence or from the publick consent of the Nation therefore Kings must have their just Authority from the People Let Scripture it self be judge all Israel made Omri captain of the host King over Israel not Zimri and his Son Achab rather than Tibni the Son of Ginath 1 Kings 16. 16 21 22. And the People made Solomon King not Adoniah though he were the elder Brother 1 Kings 1. God by the Peoples free suffrages createth such a Man King because by the Authoratative choice of the People the person is made of a private Man and no King a publick Person and a crowned King 2 Sam. 16. 18. The men of Israel said to Gideon Rule thou over us both thou and thy Son and thy Sons Son also And all the men of Sechem made Abimelech King Judg. 9. 6. So the elders of Giliad made Jepthah head over them Judg. 11. 8 9 10 11. So all the people of Judah made Azariah King instead of his father Amaziah 2 Kings 14. So in the change of Government when Israel not pleased with their Government by Judges whom God himself had appointed over them but would have a King like other Nations Wherein God so far waved his Prerogative that he complied with their publick desire and gratified them therein though contrary to his own Infinite Wisdom And Samuel said unto all Israel Behold I have hearkned unto your voice and in all that yee said unto me and have made a King over you And all the Congregation made a Covenant with the King Behold the Kings Son shall reign 2 Chron 23. 3. God himself by Moses gave the People power to chuse themselves a King and withal directions and qualifications whom and how qualified they should chuse when thou shalt say I will set a King over me like all the Nations round about me thou shalt in any wise set him King over thee whom the Lord thy God shall chuse i. e. according to his Rules and Prescriptions and Dictates viz. one from among thy Brethren shalt thou set King over thee thou maist not set a stranger over thee which is not thy Brother Deut. 17. 15. Consider also those Kings whom God most immediately caused to be anointed Kings and it will
obliged to the People for the just performance of the same Omnis promittens facit alteri cui promissio facta est jus in promittentem Whoever maketh a Promise to another giveth to that other a right or jurisdiction to challenge the performance of the same Promise But if Rehoboam will make his little finger thicker than his Fathers loins and chastise Israel not with whips only but with Scorpions And will send Adoram to gather tribute without the common and free consent of Israel Israel will stone such Ministers to death and will rebel as in the Text or fall away as in the Margin recesset saith St. Jerom defecerunt say Junius and Tremelius from the house of David and will make Jeroboam King over all Israel as they justly might and without the just imputation of Rebellion And though Rehoboam did raise 180000 Men intending by Force of Arms to bring the Kingdom again to Rehoboam the Son of Solomon yet God would countenance no such act and therefore forbade them by Shemaiah the man of God 1 Kings 12. 19. 2 Chron. 11. 12. Which demonstrates that if Kings keep not Covenants with their People they may withdraw their Tribute and Obedience and chuse another King or another Government and be no Rebels This is not to assert or justifie that for every act of Male government or a few acts of Tyranny or Oppression Kings may be dethroned and devested of their Royal Power but upon supposition that the Violencies Oppressions and Tyrannies are of such a Nature as that thereby the whole intention and ends of the Covenants and Agreements made with the People for the Government of themselves viz. the safety of the People the Laws of God and of the Commonwealth are thereby endangered to be frustrated and that on presumption of such usages and outrages the People would never have conferred their Crowns upon them David held Saul for his Prince and acknowledges him to be the Lord 's anointed so long as the People had not recalled their grant of Royal Dignity so that no single Person though Six hundred Men with him may lawfully Assassinate any King. All Governments are likened to the History of the Gordian Knot which if not so hard tied but that the People may have some ease some relaxation they ordinarily are willing to endure some reasonable bonds but if excessive they ever have and I doubt ever will endeavour to free themselves though by means indirect If the People as God's Instruments Crown Kings on Conditions that he will rule them according to God's Word then are Kings made Kings by the People conditionally and are but adopted Fathers Tutors Politick Servants or Royal Watch men of the Commonwealth and the Royal Honour and Royal Tributes given to them are Rewards of their Labours and Kingly Hire and so expressed by Paul Rom. 13. 6. For this cause pay you Tribute also there is their Wages for they are God's Ministers attending continually upon this very thing Qui non implet conditionem a se promissam cadit beneficio The People setting of Kings over themselves is an act warranted by God himself Deut. 17. 15. Rom. 13. 1 2. Which act though done without written Conditions or Oaths and only by a Vive le Roy or God save the King yet even such choice can never be understood or interpreted an Investiture of them with an Absolute but with a Conditional Power for that such a Power is against the Law of God and Nature a preposterous and absurd Power to do good and yet to work wickedness impune Besides the Common Law of Mankind allows all Donors to Interpret and Expound their own meaning why they Crowned Kings over them and why they give such large Tributes so great Priviledges and Prerogatives and certainly they will never Interpret that they conferred Royal Power on them to Oppress Persecute and Destroy themselves without controul and leave themselves without a remedy The Covenant made by Asa and all Judah and Benjamin 2 Chron. 15. 13. that whosoever would not seek the Lord God of their Fathers should be put to death whether small or great man or woman Which did equally oblige the King as also the Princes and People to performance And therefore Asa as in duty bound removed Maacha his Mother from being Queen because she had made an Idol in a grove which Asa also cut down stampt it and burnt it at the brook Kidron verse 14. Diodorus Siculus lib. 17. saith that the Kings of Persia were under an Oath and that they might not change the Laws and so were the Kings of Egypt and Aethiopia The Kings of Sparta which Aristotle calleth just Kings renew their Oaths every Month. Romulus so covenanted with the Senate and People Carolus V. Austriachus sweareth he shall not change the Laws without the consent of the Electors nor make new Laws nor dispose of any thing of great concern belonging to the Empire without the publick consent 1 Sam. 8. 11. This will be the manner of the King who shall reign over you which place is brought to prove the absolute Power of Kings and the unlawfulness of Resistance Which words being rightly interpreted can have no such meaning It only declares what the Manner and Custom was what they would do not what of right they might do For God had long before in Deuteronomy prescribed them what Laws they should Govern by and in this place is only described the Tyranny of Kings what they would do not what they might justly do And to aver that God hath given Power to Kings to Tyrannize Worry Oppress and Destroy Subjects is Blasphemy for God hath not given nor can give any Moral Power to do wickedly which is License to sin against his own Law which is inconsistent with his Holiness and therefore no such Power can be from God. And all best Expositors declare the Law of Kings to be described in Deut. 17. And in 1 Sam. 8. is described the usurpation and tyranny of Kings So it only demonstrates their wicked Usages or Customs not a Law prescribed by God. And it is obvious to common sense that God by his Prophet in this place was not instructing Kings in their Duty but by fore-telling the Israelites the evil of Punishment that they should suffer under tyrannous Kings thereby terrifying them if possible from their wicked purpose of seeking a King and thereby reject not Samuel only but God himself and farther menacing and declaring That in the day when they should cry out because of their King that the Lord would not hear them verse 18. And therefore God did protest against their unlawful course yet nothing at all would prevail nay but we will have a King over us verse 19. If Samuel in this place did not dehort them from Kingly Government how could they be said to refuse to hear the Voice of Samuel In summ All God's Covenants are Yea and Amen and so ought his Vice-gerents to be And for Priests to
of the Lord renewed the Covenant viz. If yee will fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the Commandment of the Lord then shall both yee and also the King that reigneth over you continue following the Lord your God. But if yee shall still do wickedly yee shall be consumed both you and your King 1 Sam. 12. 14 15 25. By wickedness in this place is most especially meant in that they had rejected the Government which God himself had appointed as best for them and chose a King to be set over them and we rebelled against God. The reason assigned is because they were God's own peculiar People hereby it 's manifest that both King and People were both equally joined in the Stipulation So Asa King of Judah by the Prophecy of Azariah the Prophet congregated all the People viz. Judah and Benjamin where were also many of Ephraim Manasseh and Simeon and made a solemn Covenant to seek the Lord God of their Fathers with all their heart and with all their soul that whoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel should be put to death whether small or great man or woman 2 Chron. 15. 12 13. Deut. 13. 9. 17. 7. Here you see the King himself is not exempted These Examples with those before and those that follow will justifie this Kingdom in all that they have done to free us from unreasonable and cruel Men and Popish Tyranny and also the Auxiliary Expedition of the Prince of Orange to be the most glorious and most righteous Action that ever Prince undertook because he came to help the Lord against the mighty who both at home and abroad had in their imaginations and endeavours designed the Inslaving of all the Protestants of Europe which Action God hath hitherto signalized by prospering his Arms with very little Blood. Whoso is wise and will observe these things shall understand the loving kindness of the Lord Psalm 107. CHAP. X. Whole Kingdoms and Nations have Power to reform Faith equally plighted between King and People ought equally to be kept Care of Religion Peace Justice Safety Liberty c. are incumbent on all the People especially on the Ordines Populi The common and true Cause of Rebellion is abuse of Power not Disobedience to the lawful Commands of Kings Obedience to unjust Commands of Cesars is sin and to assist in such is to make themselves Participes Criminis Opposition to Popes or Kings tyrannizing is not Rebellion against Christ's Vicars or Vicegerents but opposition to wicked Men acting wickedly Defensive Arms justified by Authorities NOW who should have Power to reform things done amiss by Kings but all the People to whom he hath sworn as solemnly as they to him and both to God Almighty who is witness between them So Josiah the King with the Priests Prophets and all the People both small and great went up into the house of the Lord and made a Covenant before the Lord to walk after the Lord c. and all the People stood to the Covenant 2. King. 23. 2 3 4. Why should the Common consent of all the People be so solemnly required Why should Israel and Judah be so strictly obliged to the observation of Gods Holy Laws and Commandments Why should they so sacredly promise to be the Lords People unless Power and Authority were given to them also to free themselves from Covenant breaking and from Perjury and to defend Holy Church Wherefore was a Covenant made with the People that they should be the People of God zealous of good Works if they must obey the unjust Commands of Kings it may be to worship strange Gods or to permit monstrous sins to reign among them if it be not lawful to put to their assistance and endeavour to hinder and reform And why should they be blamed or Judgments poured upon them if they have no Power from on High to perform what was so solemnly required and so solemnly promised that God should so solemnly require their Vow and Promise and yet not give them Power and Authority to perform is monstrous to conceive God never requires more than he gives Brick without Straw that is the Property of Pharaoh and his hard Task-masters It s much more agreeable to truth that all Covenants of like nature and purport are equally obliging both to King and People and the care and Authority of each over the other for adjusting of performances is reciprocal and equal it being a Gospel Principle That Gods peculiar People which are his true Church ought to be sollicitous not only to abstain from evil themselves but also to prevent it in otheers A notable Example whereof is before mentioned in the People of Israel Josh 22. who out of abundant Caution minding the Concerns of their Brethren as their own when they heard that the Reubenites Gadites and half the Tribe of Manasseh had erected an Altar not for worshipping as they truly protested but for memorial and witness So fearful they were of Gods Wrath falling on them that they soon dispatched an Embassy to their Brethren to prevent their sin as before Hence it is that the Prophets of old standing in the Gate of the Children of the People whereby their Kings came in and by which they went out did so often put them in mind of their Duty and of keeping Covenant and not only that they should not sacrifice to Baal but that they should destroy both Baal and his Priests and root them out of the Land whether the King will or no for when Ahab had killed the Prophets of God Eliah the Prophet congregated all Israel not tumultuously but by publick Authority and common consent unto Mount Carmel and the Prophets of Baal Four hundred and fifty and the Prophets of the Grove Four hundred which did eat at Jezabels Table and had convinced them of their Idolatry and to be false Prophets the People at his command killed them all at the Brook Kishon 1 King. 18. whereby it appears that the King neglecting his Duty all Israel as obliged ought to discharge theirs On the contrary as often as Kings violated their Covenants or profaned the Worship of God and the People of Israel as we said before of Covenants where the breach of one party manifestly prejudiced the other Covenanters threatning Ruin and Destruction to the Innocent through Negligence sinful Connivance or any other sinister By-end or Respect did not restrain him their Judgments came also upon the People as well for their non-performance as on Kings for theirs which mostly hapned for that the People are more apt to follow the Examples of their Kings than to repent and amend or mind him of the Errors of his ways Wherefore did the Hoast of Israel with Saul and his two Sons fall down slain in Mount Gilboa by the Philistines 1 Sam. 31. Would God think you revenge the Sins of the King upon the People if innocent Far be it from the Judge of all
was Art. 42. Expl. f. 84. So God by Jeremy threatned to destroy the men of Judah and Jerusalem for that they suffered their King Manasseh to be unpunished King. 4. 21. Jer. 15. And yet the People of Israel had no declared Sovereignty over their Kings but only a tacite and implied Sovereignty by the Laws of God and Nature So when Saul would have put Jonathan his Son to death the People would not suffer him so to do but delivered Jonathan that he died not 1 Sam. 14. When David purposed the reducing of the Ark his Speech to the People was If it please you we will send to the rest of our Brethren that they may assemble themselves unto us and all the Congregation said that they would do so for the thing was right in the Eyes of all the People 1 Chron. 18. After Solomon's death all the Congregation of Israel said to Rehoboam 1 Kings 12. make thy Fathers yoak which he put upon us lighter and we will serve thee because it lay in their choice to subject or free from the Kings Power The People likewise took Jeremy when he had prophesied against them and said Thou shalt die the death Jer. 26. And afterwards reversed their Sentence upon Jeremy's declaring That the words he spoke were commanded from God. Bilson 514 517. The Duke of Saxony and the Lantzgrave answered the Emperor Forasmuch as Cesar intendeth to destroy the True Religion and our Ancient Liberties he giveth us cause enough why we may with good Conscience resist him as both by Profane and Sacred Histories may be proved The Ministers of Magdeburgh delcare how the Inferior may defend themselves against the Superior compelling him to do against the Truth and Rule of Christ's Laws The German Lawyers made evident demonstration That the free States by the Laws of the Empire might defend their Liberties against Cesar to whom they were subject with that condition so may any other Nation if their Magistrates infringe their Laws and Liberties In the Troubles of Germany Anno Dom. 1546. when the Duke of Saxony and the Lantzgrave were Prescribed or Out-lawed they remonstrated That if the Emperor had kept his Covenants they would have done their Duties but because he began first to make the breach the fault is his For since he attempts to root out Religion and subvert our Liberties he giveth us cause enough to resist him with good Conscience matters standing as they do we may resist as may be shewed both by Sacred and Prophane Stories Unjust violence is not God's Ordinance neither are we bound to him by any other reason than if he keep the Conditions on which he was created Emperor Sleid. 18. p. 212 213. So the Magistrates and Ministers of Magdeburgh declared That if our Religion and Liberties left us by our Fore-fathers be preserved we refuse no kind of Duty that ought to be yielded unto Cesar or the Empire Now by the Laws themselves it is provided that the Inferior Magistrates shall not infringe the right of the Superior and so likewise if the Magistrate exceed the limits of his Power and command that which is wicked we need not only not obey him but if he offer force we may resist him Lib. 22. p. 266. Anno 1550. If a Prince should go about to subject his Kingdom to a Foreign Realm or change the form of a Commonwealth from Impery to Tyranny or neglect the Laws established by common consent of Prince and People to execute his own pleasure In these and other cases which might be named if the Nobles and Commons join together to defend their Ancient and Accustomed Liberties Regiment and Laws they may not well be accounted Rebels modestly expressed Bils 520. The People may preserve the Foundation Freedom and Form of their Common-wealth which they fore prized when they first consented to have a King the Law of God giveth no Man leave to resist his Prince But Kingdoms and Commonwealths may proportion their States as they think best by their publick Laws which afterwards the Princes themselves may not violate By Superior Powers ordained by God we understand not only Princes but all Politick States and Regiments some where the People some where the Nobles having the same Interest to the Sword that Princes have in their Kingdoms and in Kingdoms where Princes beat Rule By the Sword we do not mean the Prince's private will against his Laws but his Precepts derived from his Laws and agreeing with his Laws which though it be wicked yet may it not be resisted of any Subject with armed violence Many when Princes offer their Subjects not Justice but Force and despise all Laws to practice their Lusts not every nor any private Man may take the Sword to redress the Prince but if the Laws of the Land appoint the Nobles as next to the King to assist him in doing right and withhold him from doing wrong then be they licensed by Man's Law and so not prohibited by God to interpose themselves for the safeguard of Equity and Innocency and by all lawful and needful means to procure the Prince to be reformed 520 521. Bishop Bedel a Reverend worthy Divine in his Answer to Mr. Wadâ—sworth to satisfie him quo Jure the Protestant Wars in France and Holland are justified saith That the Law of Nature doth not only allow but inforce every living thing to defend it self from violence Then the Law of Nations permitteth those that are in the protection of others to whom they owe no more than an honourable Acknowledgment in case they go about to make themselves absolute Sovereigns and usurp their Liberty to stand for the same And if a lawful Prince which is not yet Lord of his Subjects Lives and Goods shall attempt to despoil them of the same under colour of reducing them to his own Religion after all humble Remonstrances they may stand upon their own Guard and being assailed may repel Force with Force as did the Maccabees under Antiochus In which case notwithstanding the Person of the Prince himself ought always to be Sacred and Inviolable as was Saul to David And lastly if the inraged Minister of a Lawful Prince will abuse his Authority against the Fundamental Laws of the Country it is no Rebellion to defend themselves reserving still their Obedience to their Sovereign inviolate I mention these Two Bishops only as being above all exceptions against whom no just objection can be made either for Learning Piety Loyalty or right Church of England Men. Which considerations I presume kept them from being burnt in July 1683. Which Act surprized not a few sober Loyal Men because if the learned Men of all the Reformed Church of Europe be consulted they will be found Asserters of the like Principles Alas to sacrifice so many Worthy Learned Pious Mens Judgments to Fire and Fagot unheard unrefuted as it is not for their honour so it is no more convincing nor confuting than that Doctors Argument who would confute Bellarmine in
afterwards were that after Samuel from the mouth of God himself had solemnly protested unto them read their destiny shewed them what would betide them and that when it did happen though they should cry out in that day because of their King which they had chosen the Lord would not hear them ver 18. that yet notwithstanding all these forewarnings would yet reject God's Righteous and easy Government for a Heathenish they were but justly served and their usage afterwards was but a just recompence and reward of their rejection and folly for Saul had never been King if they had not chosen him and it was in wrath and displeasure that God gratified them therein as a punishment of their Folly and Rebellion which is no Justification but a Condemnation rather of that kind of Arbitrary Government and therefore the same Prophet told them also That if still ye shall do wickedly ye shall be consumed ye and your King and so it proved Those our Teachers are but false Prophets that teach that the Right of Kings is set down by Samuel chap. 8. and ought to be punished for neither did the People of Israel ever allow or the Kings avow any such power to be their just Right as appears by the Story of Ahab and Naboth Some indeed did exercise it but that is no more a proof of the right thereof than their practice of Adultery Idolatry or of any other sin was of the lawfulness of such sins When Cambyses designed to marry his Sister his Magi told him that no Law did allow it yet there was a Law which did allow the King of Persia to do what he would Just such Magi are our Priests that teach that there is no Law for Kings to Tyrannize or Oppress yet if he do he is unaccountable If this had been the right of the Kings of Israel that lex Regia commanded Deut. 17. and the strict injoyment of the perpetual reading perusing and observing the Book of the Law was in vain and to no purpose What if the Rebellious Stubborn and Stiff necked Jews a foolish People and unwise had a mind to be so governed what doth it concern Christians those that know better things have more wit and more grace and willing to enjoy the liberty and freedom that God hath given them in a Government where their Kings are solemnly obliged by Laws and Oaths as well as themselves whereby their duties become reciprocal and obedience due and expected accordingly Besides is it rational to believe any People except Jews that to day will have a King like other Nations and to morrow will not have this man rule over them and that with cursed Imprications Let his Blood be on us and our Children which is still executing even to this very day to be so sottish to give Kings such vast Revenues and such absolute unquestionable Powers as to whip them with Scorpions and tear their Flesh with Briars and Thorns impune and none to say unto them Why do you thus O but the Prophet tells you Ye shall be his servants 1 Sam. 8. 17. True and the Prophet tells you their Kings shall minister unto thee i. e. to the Church Isa 60. 10. And thus saith the Lord I will lift up my hand to the Gentiles i. e. The Church which shall be gathered by the Preaching of the Gospel which Church we are and they shall bring thy Sons in their Arms and thy Daughters shall be carried on their Shoulders And Kings shall be thy Nursing fathers to carry them in their Bosoms as Nursing-fathers beareth the sucking Child Numb 11. 12. and Queens shall be thy Nursing-mothers they shall bow down to thee with their Face towards the Earth and lick up the dust of thy Feet Isa 49. 22. 23. in which Church Christ her Head is always included and always to be understood As for the place in Samuel ye shall be his Servants it is but a foretelling and premonition that he would make them so be it right or wrong not that they had any just right to make them so but be it so what then even then also there is a reciprocal duty between Masters and Servants Servants are to obey their Masters in singleness of Heart as unto Christ with good will doing service as unto the Lord Eph. 6. 5 6 7 8. So the Masters are to do the like things unto them forbearing Threatning knowing also that your Master is in Heaven neither is there respect of Persons with him ver 9. Such Service all Subjects owe to their Princes and other Services no Prince ought to command Job who was the greatest man of the East solemnly protested to God his Integrity towards his very Servants If I did despise the cause of my Man-servant or of my Maid-servant when they contended with me what then shall I do when God ariseth up and when he visiteth what shall I answer him Did not he that made me in the Womb make him And did not one fashion us in the Womb ch 31. 13 14 15. By which it is apparent that there are reciprocal duties between King and Subject between Master and Servant So the Gibeonites who were sent from the Elders and all the Inhabitants of their Country became Servants unto Israel with whom all the Elders of the Congregation made a League with them and did swear unto them which though the Gibeonites got surreptitiously yet they solemnly kept it and would not smite them when they came before their Cities because the Princes of the Congregation had sworn unto them Josh 9. 11 12 13 14 15. As there were Laws for Children Strangers Men-servants and Maid-servants so there were Laws for Kings Parents and Masters by Gods own prescription and to be reciprocally observed If a Stranger sojourn with thee in your Land ye shall not vex nor oppress him but he shall be unto you as one born amongst you and thou shalt love him as thy self for ye were Strangers in the Land of Egypt I am the Lord your God Exod. 22. 21. 19. Lev. 34. Shall these have their remedy against their Lords and Parents And shall a free People whole Nations be left to merciless Tyrants without Remedy Laws for the King Deut. 17. 17 18 19 20. So Jerem. 22. 3 4. Call to mind the bondage and cruel usage of Gods own People the Jews in Egypt who because they were under no reciprocal Covenants nor had power to relieve themselves therefore God himself stood up in quarrel of his own Covenant and pleaded their cause and brought them out of that Iron Furnace with a high hand and stretched out Arm in despight of the Lawless Hectoring Pharaoh whom neither the Plague of Frogs nor Lice nor Flies nor Murrain of Cattel nor Boyls nor Blains nor Hail nor Locusts nor loss of Cattel of Fruits of Water and of the First-born of all the Land could prevail with him to let go his sin nor the Israelites but will once more rush into the midst of
the manner of the Kingdom he wrote it in a Book which Book say the Hebrew Doctors the Kings either tore or burnt that they might more freely tyrannize Though the Pulpits do not march quatuor pedibus along with Leviathan in his Dogma's of Arbitrary Power in Kings and Princes of quod libet licet in the Twentieth Chapter of his Second Part and elsewhere sparsim yet they go hand in hand with him thus far That if Kings do act contrary to the Laws of God and Nature and of Man yet they are responsible and accountable to none but to God himself Whereas there is not one plain Text or Syllable in the whole Bible maugre all false glosses that concludes any thing for Kings being unaccountable unto human Judgments or that they have an absolute Power or Divine Prerogative So that in summ The Pulpits and Leviathan are so far agreed as to dogmatize Lyes and false Doctrines for to justifie that Kings maugre all mutual and reciprocal Laws Pacts and Covenants may act and govern how they please And to justifie and assert that they ought not so to Govern but to observe the Laws of God of Nature and of Men but yet if they do not they are notwithstanding responsible and accountable to none on Earth but to God only for their so doing which in truth differ in their consequences no more than Herring-men do from Fisher-men and both stink in the Nostrils both of God and of all good Men as destructive to the well being and good Government of all human Societies and have no sound Foundation in the Law of God of Nature or of Reason but are contrary to them all for sans doubt they that have Authority to give and apply Power to this or that Person have Authority also to consure his Actions against the Law of Nature 1. Self-preservation than which nothing is more dear and which Nature seeks by all means and endeavours to preserve as inviolable is common to a Man with all other Animals if you tread but upon a Worm it will turn and if it have a Sting or a Fangue or a Poison have at you 2. Then whatsoever may conduce to its other Happiness of its well-being it labours to obtain them and to avoid the contrary and to hate and revenge the Opposers so that vim vi repellere is as natural to Man as to all other Animals Other Laws of Natural consequence implanted and grafted in him in his first Creation for the better Reglement of Communities throughout the whole World as to do good to all to hurt no Innocents to keep Covenants Promises and Contracts faithfully to contribute their utmost to procure the Happiness of the whole of that Kingdom that Commonwealth or that Society or Community whereof they are Members All which are utterly confounded and destroyed by such Leviathan Pulpit Doctrines 3. It 's against the Law of Men and Nations for where ever there are Laws between Kings and People wherein Salus Populi is ever to be presumed to be the Supreme Law for that God made the whole Creation not only for the Necessities but for the Delights also of the whole Race of Mankind in general and equally without respect of Persons solemnly made and sworn unto by mutual consent there they do mutually reciprocally and solemnly bind each other And the Sword placed in the Magistrates hand is not as the material Sword in the hand of Alexander not to untie but to cut the Traces of that fatal Gordian Chariot but the establisht Laws are the true Sword to which both King and People must submit and be responsible if otherwise making of Laws were but Leonis Catulum alere vid. Eras Adag p. 1. 709. For as the Sword of the Spirit is the Word of God so the Sword of Magistrates are the Laws of God and of Man All which Rights and Priviledges of Mankind are utterly destroyed if this Doctrine be good Doctrine Oaths between King and People being of the same nature with that between Rahab and the Spies which if not performed by her they were to be quit of the Oath which She had made them to swear For Kings though in Title in the execution of Laws and in many Prerogatives they are singulis majores yet in the main they are universis minores the reason is irrefrigable for that the People make Kings and not Kings the People And the like reason Christ is the everlasting Head of the Church because Christ made and ordained the Church to be his peculiar People and not the Church Him the Head of them In Paternal Government which is indisputable there the Fathers beget the Children and not the Children the Father and they owe him Obedience though morose and bitter to them yet if he prove a Tyrant over them their Obligation to him is cancelled and if he Murder any of them he himself shall suffer Death Nature gives Fathers to the People but the People make Kings to themselves and therefore Kings are constituted for the People and not the People for Kings Some places of Scripture are urged though of very little force when brought to the Test and well examined As first let my Sentence come forth from thy presence let thine Eyes behold the things that are equal Psalm 17. 2. What hath this Text to do more particularly with the Government between Kings and their People than with all other troubles and afflictions that Mankind in general is subject unto c. being as applicable to every particular Person persecuted and in troubles as to King David here in confidence of his Integrity craveth defence of God against his Enemies and so may any Body else but it proves nothing that Kings if they oppress their Subjects shall be accountable to none but to God Almighty It doth prove that any oppressed King or not King may appeal unto God to plead their Cause and Protect and Defend them And if it be lawful so to Pray it is lawful to put to their own helping Hands to relieve themselves by any lawful means and endeavours and pray to God to bless their endeavours and so by their prayers and endeavours to co-operate together 't is an Appeal to God to judg between him and his Enemies And is it not lawful nay the duty of all States and Kingdoms to make the like Appeals and Supplications to God Almighty It 's probable that David wrote this Psalm when he was troubled and persecuted by Saul even after he was anointed of God and because he did then make Supplications and Appeal to Jonathan for his life if there be iniquity in me slay me thy self for why shouldst thou bring me to thy Father Will it follow therefore that court was to be made to Jonathan only I doubt not This is a great Example and Encouragement to those that are falsly accused to appeal to God by Prayers and Supplications for help and the reasons that follow are great viz. thine Eyes behold the things that are