King comes to be in the exercise of another Kings power he is subject to that King so long as he continues in the exercise or dominion of that King By more reason therefore ought the Subjects of any Prince to be in subjection to Supreme powers so long as they continue in the exercise of their power whether it were by Conquest or not Besides God hath ordained Supreme powers for mens preservation not their destruction And there must be some visible power upon earth which may put a period to and decide differences or they will be endless But there is no power under heaven but their sword that can put a period to the differences of Princes what therfore in such case the sword decides ought to be obeyed and the conquered Subjects nay Princes who come into the dominion or exercise of anothers power ought to be subject to it so long as they continue therein God therefore pronounceth Zedekiah a Rebel against Nebuchadnezzer But this reason cannot 1 Chro. 36. 13. hold for Subjects against their Soveraign where the Law may decide their Regal power cannot be transferred nor communicated by any humane or voluntary act differences and where by no Law of God or Man they are permitted to take the sword 26. Cujus est velle ejus est nolle No power less then that which made any thing can alter it But Regal power is Gods ordinance therefore nothing less then the power of God can alter transfer or communicate it Yet is the exercise of it subject to violence As Gravia sursum levia deorsum feruntur yet may a man by violence throw a stone upward and depress smoke from ascending without altering the nature of either So though Regal power cannot be transferred nor communicated by Man yet is the exercise of it not only subject to violence and usurpation but also being voluntary may be suspended by Supreme powers themselves without any diminution of the power or right of exercise of it When therefore Subjects or Enemies do unjustly invade and possess the Dominion of another this possession does not divest the right or jus ad rem of that other but only suspend the exercise of the others power or right during such usurpation So may a King by a league or peace with others by his act suspend the exercise of his power in any place unjustly usurped from him by others yet without diminution of his power or right to that place But this act cannot oblige his Successor nor himself after such term but they have a just cause of war if it be noâ— restored Having thus far treated of the efficient or final cause of Regal power it is time to descend to the Attributes of it CHAP. III. Of the Attributes of Regal power and incidently of the Power of Magistrates 1. WHo hath the Supreme power hath the sword of Justice to punish The sword of Justice is his who hath the Supreme power them who transgress Laws and endeavour to cause sedition He is the Minister of God to thee for good but if thou do that which is evil be afraid for he beareth not the sword in vain for he is the Minister of God a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doth evil Rom. 13. 4. And Gods rod in his hand Exod. 17. 9. 2. The end of all Government is either to preserve the governed inwardly The power of making War and Peace belongs to the Supreme power in peace or to defend them from the outward violence and opposition of others In vain therefore should Government be if he who hath the Supreme power may not as well defend Subjects from the violence of others outwardly as to preserve them from factions and feditions within And this power God gave to Moses Joshuah David and all the Kings of Judah nor can any King be a Supreme Prince without it nor the governed in a probable condition of hoping for preservation from it 3. Judgment is the determining of a good or bad action which cannot All Judgment is with him be in any who is subject to another What therefore could be a more subtile temptation of the Devil to our first Parents then to tell them Gen. 3. 5. that by eating the forbidden fruit they should be like to God knowing good and evil Solomon as the most requisite thing prays to God that he would give him an understanding heart that he might be able to judge between good and bad 1 King 3. 9. And The King by judgment establisheth the land Pro. 29. 4. And Give the King thy judgments O God and thy righteousness to the Kings Son that he may judge the people according to right and defend the poor Psal 72. 1 2. 4. The right of making Laws is with him The Scepter shall not depart Jus legislativum penes eum from Judah nor a Lawgiver from between his feet until Shilo come Gen. 49. 10. Submit your selves therefore to every ordinance of man for the Lords sake whether it be to the King as Supreme 1 Pet. 2. 12. And this is the onely visible means by which Subjects may become safe rich and happy 5. In punishment Equals cannot judge Equals much less can Inferiors That he does all things without punishment judge Superiors But a Supreme Prince cannot have an Equal much less a Superior therefore a Supreme Prince cannot be punished If a Supreme Prince might be punished for any thing he doth then cannot he do any thing but he will be liable to punishment for so doing For what property can he give to one which will not offend some other Nor did the veriest Thief or Murderer ever suffer punishment but some of his Comrades would seek revenge and if they might would punish the Lawgiver Besides who shall judge his Prince If any one then every one may Let no man therefore be hasty to go out of his sight nor stand in an evil thing for he doth whatsoever pleaseth him Where the word of a King is there is power and who shall say unto him what doest thou Eccles 8. 3 4. The Lord forbid that I should do this thing unto my Master the Lords Anointed to stretch forth my hand against him seeing he is the Lords Anointed 1 Sam. 24. 6. It may seem to some that this unlimited power of doing any thing Annot. with impunity will only beget a confidence in Kings of doing what they list without ever taking care of their duty in preserving their Subjects from intestine broils and factions and from the outward force and violence of their Enemies whereas more narrowly looked into no men are so subject to care and have their wills less then they For private men if they do any thing in their passion their fame and fortunes are alike neither much removed from their persons few take notice of it But they who are set in high place all men take notice of their actions In the greatest Fortune therefore is the
therefore in the beginning were created by God and are his Creatures 14. It is true that the Scriptures do not observe an exact method in relating Man was created in his perfection and an intelligible and rational creature actually all actions according as they were done in time but it is very probable that Adam at his first Creation gave names to all Creatures Gen. 2. 20. But whether it were at Adams first Creation or not yet could not Adams speech and defining all Gods Creatures be from any acquired habit because there was no Creature with whom he might converse and beget this habit Eve not being then made nor did Adam only give names to Creatures but did discourse Rationally and give the Etymology of Woman when he first saw her Gen. 2. 23. 24. Man therefore was created an intelligible and Rational Creature actually 15. Although Man were created a most perfect Rational and Intelligible Man of all creatures is born the most impotent Creature yet we see that he is not only born actually void of understanding and reason but also the most impotent of all Creatures For all viviparal Creatures although born blind privitively yet in their very first production find a way to their dams papps from whence they suck and receive nourishment whereas Man of a long time after his birth so long time that many other Creatures in less time attain to their perfection is unable to receive any nourishment but as he is directed by others And all oviparal Creatures without any help receive that food which their Parents bring them and all Creatures which are generated per metamorphosin are at their first being as perfect as ever after 16. I understand by Animalia perfectiora or more perfect Creatures Wherein Man and other more perfect creatures do resemble one another those who are generated and produced from univocal generation or production that is from the coition of male and female of the same species Man and all more perfect creatures are born with all the five senses of Hearing Seeing Smelling Tasting and Feeling and also with Will Memory and Phantasie And though by reason of Creatures natural impotency at their first production these three latter are not so perspicuous as to be perceived by them who do not carefully mind them yet it is evident enough to those who more narrowly observe them For there is no Creature at their very first production which either of themselves or apted and disposed to receive food but do receive it if it hath no natural defect or sickness which it could not do without Will And all Creatures know and can distinguish the lowing bleating barking and voice c. of their Dams or those that feed them from others of the same kind which could not be without Memory And not only Children in their cradles will excited by others laugh and be pleasant but also of themselves will many times express much pleasure in their faces but also Lambs Colts Calves c. will be playing with one another all which no doubt proceeds from some pleasure which they fancie They have moreover at their first being the passions of Love Fear Hate c. which is so evidently seen in all Creatures that there needs no example And truly I think it very probable that it is from Fear that every Child cries upon his being born apprehending danger from those various new things it never saw before 17. Although other Creatures have in their first being as well as Wherein Man is different from other creatures and more excellent Man all those Senses that Man hath and have moreover Will Phantasie and Memory yet are their actions determined by their objects when they are not overruled by fear nor in process of time do they ever attain to be intelligible or rational Creatures It is worth the observation that while Man does in some sort attain to speech understanding and reason he can either not go or else goes upon his hands and feet with his face prone to the earth as if there were no difference between him and other Creatures whereas when he but begins to speak and can in any sort observe the commands of his Parents he then begins to look up to Heaven as a more excellent Creature and that from thence he expects beatitude and is to be thankful therefore And though other Creatures have Phantasie as well as Men yet cannot they phancie any object from their Senses so intelligibly as to define it to be such a thing in all the parts of it excluding every thing else Nor can they by the help of their Memory and Phantasie ever draw one Conclusion from any thing they ever saw and phancied 18. Estius in Distinct 17. of the 3. Book of his Comment of the Sentences What is the Will according to the Schools p. 49. sect 2. acknowledgeth a twofold will in Christ according to humane nature one rational which is proper to man conformable to the Understanding the other sensual and is called Sensuality and common to all living creatures conforming to the Sense And although only the rational appetite be properly called the Will yet sometime the name of Will is attributed to the sensual appetite As Joh. 1. Ephes 2. Voluntas carnis dominatur And Prosper in the first book de voc Gent. cap. 2. besides the rational will acknowledgeth a sensual will So writing Sensualis voluntas quam carnalem possumus dicere non erigitur supra eum motum qui de corporis sensibus nascitur qualis est in animis parvulorum qui licet nullo judicio utantur ostendunt tamen aliquid se velli cum sentiendo ea quibus delectantur amant ea quibus offenduntur oderunt And afterwards from the places of Scripture which testifie our Saviours grief sorrow and fear these passions being sensitive do sufficiently convince that there was a sensual will in Christ In lib. 2. distinct 6. pag. 51. a. he from Scotus distinguisheth a twofold will absolute and conditional or voluntas efficax complacentiae Voluntas complacentiae is that will by which men desire what they cannot attain to as when who is sick desireth health when it is not possible to attain to it Voluntas efficax is that which by such means attains the end And lib. 2. dist 24. pag. 261. he says truly Voluntas cogi non potest If Appetitus sensualis be the Will then is the Will compulsible for Rejected not only the Appetite but all the outward Senses are patient and therefore compellible which is contrary to what he affirms that Voluntas cogi non potest If Appetitus rationalis be the Will then are those actions for which no reason can be given of Anger Desire and of all Children unwilling actions which Aristotle Eth. l. 3. c. 3. justly derides as most ridiculous and absurd Besides Appetitus rationalis are terms incompatible for neither Man nor any creature does appetere
Conclusions such as those in Philosophy and Physick As I would know the reason why Summer is hotter then Winter for so I find it to be why thus I reason It cannot be from the propinquity of the Sun to the Earth in Summer more then in Winter for the Earth is but a Point in proportion to the Universe besides the Sun is nearer to the Earth in Winter then in Summer for the Orbis magnus is not Spherical or Circular but Eccentrical and Elliptical which is plain because the revolution of the Earth or the Suns motion is finished in less time from the Autumnal Equinox to the Vernal then from the Vernal to the Autumnal and therefore nearer to the Earth in Winter then in Summer It is not then from the Suns nearness to the Earth which makes the Summer hotter then the Winter I find that the higher the Sun rises in our Horizon that is the nearer it comes to our Zenith when at the Meridian the hotter it is I therefore probably conclude that the heat in Summer is caused from the reflexion of the Sun and the nearer the radii are reflected to right angles the hotter it is and the more obliquely they are reflected the colder it is Or as when a Physitian from the symptoms of his indisposed Patient endeavors to find out the causes of his distemper c. this is reasoning à posteriori from the effect to find out the cause And men may reason from uncertain and false Principles as well as true but then always the Conclusions are so And therefore all Clavius his Demonstrations in his Practical Geometry and at the end of the sixth Book of Euclid of the Quadrature of a Circle though the Demonstrations be truly deduced are uncertain because it does not certainly appear That from the imaginary motion of the two right lines he there speaks of the Quadratrix line does cut the Base so that the side of the Quadratrix is a mean proportional between the Base and the Arch of the Quadrant And the Inferences and Conclusions which have caused so much confusion and distraction in these times are drawn from feigned and false Principles But in all true Propositions whatsoever no reason can be given for the first grounds and principles of them but only the will of the great Creator of all things who therefore so made them because it so seemed good unto him Of all the creatures upon earth Man only is reasonable for Man only contemplates God and looks up to heaven as thence expecting his beatitude Ovid. Metam Pronaque cum spectant anamalia caetera terram Os homini sublime dedit coelumque tueri Jussit erectos ad sydera tollere vultus And a little after Sanctius his animal mentisque capacius altae Deerat adhuc quod dominari in caetera possit Natus homo est Only Man from universal causes can by Reasoning the faculty of his understanding and memory rightly infer and conclude from them only Man has freedom in his will of doing or not doing and may if it be not his own fault in all his actions let his Will be informed by his Understanding and Reason whereas other Creatures do all things spontaneously that is by an impulse of Nature as they are moved by their objects or fears Therefore only Man does well and only Man does ill and only Man is happy and only Man is miserable Author But our Author goes on and tells you of a Tailor and a Mariner and I know not what indeed and concludes That now not the nature of two men but their words and what follows out of them ground their being active and passive This power of activity is in Latine called Jus or Justum in English Right or Due Our Author says before He that makes a promise to another man puts himself and his Promissary into a rank of agencie and patiencie upon a new score to wit that of Fidelity and Negotiating Observ Did ever man huddle up so much insignificant bumbast as here is or who in this world did from hence ever claim any Right or Property in any thing Well let us see then what we understand by Right or Due Right or Due is what any Man or company of Men claim to be his or theirs excluding all their fellow-Subjects And this Right Due or Property we no where find to be given by God immediately to any Man or Men but only the Land of Promise to the Children of Israel the Portion of whose Inheritance fell to them by Lot And by nature no Man has any property in any thing more then another if it be true as Cicero saies Privata nulla natura And Horace Non propriae telluris herum natura nec illum Nec me nec quenquam statuit What then gives it but the Law or Supreme Power of the Nation for Martial Hoc lege quod possis dicere jure meum est The Seventh GROUND Why Men desire to live in Community and of the necessity of Government Author HEre our Author tells us First It is fit to understand why Men desire to live in Flocks and Multitudes Observ Now would I know of our Author what these Men are and where to be found who desire to live so Or when did Men ever in the World in any place either live or desire to live so Indeed it is a received opinion that Man is born a living Creature apt and fit for society the Greeks called him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but indeed no Man does naturally desire the society company or conversation of another Man because he is a Man and therefore Men do not nor ever did live promiscuously in flocks and multitudes as our Author saies without subordination one under another but in any the meanest and most contemptible Family that ever was the company are not all alike to one another as those are which live in flocks and herds c. But because no Infant can live nor any Man live well without the help of another naturally there is in every Man a solitude how to live and so to live that his living be not a burden or troublesom to him Man does not therefore desire the company or society of others as men for then he would desire the company and society of all men alike of Good of Bad of Vertuous of Vicious of Servants and Vile as well as Noble and Generous but accidentally as expecting Profit Honor Knowledge c. from him or them with whom he consorts or associates himself And therefore on the Exchange in Faires Markets c. Men do not Meet so as only to see one another and to make up such a Herd for then they would meet in other places as well as there but that from their buying and selling and their exchanging of Merchandise they may derive from thence profit to themselves It is an admirable thing to see what a strange Ingenuity there is in those men in acquiring those things from other places which
subjection to them which are created by Gods will so revealed are not created by the Law of nature 11. All offices which are created by Divine Law whether by the Law All offices of commanding and obeying are not Gods ordinance immediately of Nature or by divine positive institution being from higher then humane causes are indelible and cannot be aliened transferred or communicated by any humane act for ejus est nolle cujus est velle and therefore cannot the power and obedience of Parents and Children of Husband and Wife of King and Subjects be aliened dissolved communicated or transferred but the offices of Masters and Servants of Magistrates and those subject to them are alienable communicable and transferrable and sometime are and sometime are not they are not therefore from any immediate ordinance of God either positive or natural But the offices of commanding and obeying as Masters and Servants and Magistrates and those subject to them are but temporary and determinable by the laws of him that made them therefore not Gods ordinance 12. Humane laws create Magistrates power two ways Immediately How many ways power and subjection happens by humane laws to Magistrates and those subject to them as when Supreme powers which are the fountain from whence all Temporal laws are derived constitute any Magistrate giving him jurisdiction over the inhabitants of any place or when the Laws or Higher powers enable such men to nominate their Magistrate there the Nominators are the instruments by which the Law does transfer this Magisterial power 13. The mutual offices of power and subjection between Masters and How many ways humane laws create the power and subjection of Masters and Servants Servants happen two ways either created by the contract or pact of the Master and Servant and we have before shewed that all pacts and contracts receive their obligation from Humane laws as the means by which Humane laws do create these offices or else without any pact or contract of the parties commanding and obeying as in the cases of Slavery where prisoners are taken in war or men condemned thereunto for some offence or of Apprentiship where children are bound for such a term by the Laws of their Country or Parents And I do grant Mr. Hobbs Grotius and White that this power and subjection Humana voluntas introduxit but not the parties obeying as they most senslesly feign but the Supreme powers or the parties commanding And where they are not so created all men are originally free I do much wonder at those men who make all Supreme or Regal power to have Annot. its origination from the consent and aggregation of many families For they not only confound the Masters power with the Fathers which in the nature and cause we have already shewed and shall more fully hereafter in their proper Chapters shew but also make the Masters power to be from the Law of God and Regal power to be a Humane institution whereas the contrary is true in both And what it is should move men to imagine that after Adam's and Noah's posterity dilated themselves into many families that they should give Adam and Noah more power then God gave them I am sure no such thing or the least probability thereof appears in Scripture or that after Adam's and Noah's deaths their Posterities became free and independent from all Government which was no body can tell when brought in by the Pacts of Men or by consent and submission of Families to it 14. That power or right of command which God jure divino hath as All power and subjection from what causes solely and absolutely over all his creatures as the Creator first and efficient Cause of them and therefore by highest right all obedience is chiefly due to them before any creature in all things Or else power and subjection are caused from the Laws of Nature or from the Law of God revealed in the Scriptures or from Humane positive Laws All Society which is not contained in these causes is Tyranny in the party commanding nor is any obligation in Conscience to such Commands from the party commanded Having thus far treated of the Causes of Power and Subjection conjunctly we shall hereafter in their several Chapters treat of them severally and more at large And we insist more largely hereon in regard these Powers and Subjections are either so confounded in their Causes by other men or such wild things begged for Principles that so far as I understand no ingenuous man should grant CHAP. II. Of Regal and Magistrates power 1. THere is no question but one of Mans chiefest happinesses in this Introduction life consists in the contemplation of God in his works to contemplate the Heavens and the Earth the workmanship of his hands and the admirable order and motion of them all being by him so made and created Nor is God less seen in the generation and birth of Man and other creatures then in the creation of the Universe And as admirable is the preservation of every Man as his generation For abstracting from the internal cause Spiritus intus alit totamque infusa per artus Virg. Aen. 6. prop. fin Mens agitat molem How God does renew and preserve every Man and every part of Man by a perpetual motion viz. the Systole and Diastole of the Blood If a Man considers his outward preservation not only from the violence of other creatures who are of much more force then himself but also from the force and violence of his own kind for were he not restrained Homo homini lupus And what are the People in general but a sudden rash and furious Beast carried hither and thither upon every wild fancy raging to have this thing done and presently lamenting because it is done He must needs As the Athenians did in their sentence on Socrates and the Captains at the Fight at Arginusae confess there is no power under heaven which can restrain the raging of the sea and the madness of the people The Psalmist therefore Psal 77. when he calls to mind the works of God and his wonders of old Thou thundrest from heaven thou shakest the earth thou dividest the sea and at last as the greatest wonder of all he says Thou leadest thy people like sheep by the hands of Moses and Aaron It is not therefore from any pacts and inventions of Man that he may hope for any security but by submitting himself to what God hath ordained for his preservation 2. Upon a survey taken in Scripture how often Christi Domini are Regal power cannot be created by the People used they are found to be thirty three two of which are spoken of the Patriarchs one of our Saviour and all the rest of Kings only Once of our Saviour Luk. 2. 26. twice of the Patriarchs Psal 105. 15. and 1 Chro. 16. 22. all the rest to Kings only and expresly And though others were anointed yet none
or atheism 3. It being impossible that any act of mans will can please How God will be served God be it what it will for Saul intended well in sparing Agag and the best of the cattle of the Amalekites for a sacrifice to God and Uzzah in staying the Ark God therefore by the light of humane nature being to be served and yet not according to the will or fancy of any creature what then is left but that he will be served accordingly as he hath revealed himself to mankind For without faith it is impossible to please God and faith is the believing in God as he hath revealed himself to mankind conjoined with the love of it 4. In the beginning of the world God revealed himself to Adam Gods revelation to Adam that he would be served and obeyed by him in abstaining from eating of the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil Gen. 2. 17. It is worth the observance that the Knowledge of good and evil is in it self a thing to be desired and endeavored so as it be done in obedience not disobedience to Gods command God therefore in punishing Adam learns all men this lesson that in all his commands he will be simply and absolutely obeyed without any disputing whether it be good or bad to obey him But Gods covenant with Adam Adam soon made void by eating the forbidden fruit God sent him forth therefore from the garden of Eden to dress the ground from whence he was taken 5. God is said to reign by covenant where he reveals himself how he God did reign by covenant with our fathers before the flood will be worshiped and served The Scriptures are silent how God did reign with our fathers before the Flood but that God did is evident for it was not Abels sacrificing to God which pleased God for Cain sacrificed as well as Abel but by faith Abel offered unto God a more acceptable sacrifice Heb. 11. 4. and the doing of any thing by faith is the doing it in conformity to Gods command as he hath supernaturally revealed himself God therefore must first command or reveal himself before Abel can do any thing by faith And Enoch walked with God and Noah was a just man and perfect in his Gen. 5. 22. Gen. 6. 9. generation and Noah walked with God Enoch's and Noah's walking with God was nothing else but walking with and doing what God had commanded And where there is no Law there can neither be Justice nor transgression Therefore could neither Noah be just nor the sons of men so malitious against God that all the imaginations of the thoughts of their hearts were only every day evil if God for Adams sin had only withheld his Gen 6. 6. grace from Mankind and not revealed himself unto them for then men had sinned of infirmity but here they sinned malitiously 6. God did establish a covenant with Noah and his sons after the flood God did reign by covenant with Noah and his posterity after the flood in this form Gen. 9. 9 10 c. Behold I even I establish my covenant with you and with your seed after you and with every living creature that is with you in fowl in cattel in every beast of the earth which is with you of all that go out of the ark whatsoever living thing of the earth it be And my eovenant I make with you that from henceforth all flesh shall not be rooted out by the waters of a flood neither shall there be a flood to destroy the earth any more And God said This is the token of my covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you for ever I do set my bowe in the cloud and it shall be for a token between me and the earth c. Yet Mankind did distrust God and said Go to let us build a city and a tower whose top may Gen. 11. 4. reach unto heaven and let us make us a name lest peradventure we be scattered abroad upon the whole earth So that Wisdom says Moreover the nations in Sap. Solom 10. 5. their wicked conspiracie being confounded she found out the righteous and prescrved him blameless with God 7. Yet God was so merciful unto Mankind as not utterly to forsake Gods covenant with Abraham them but established his covenant with Abraham and his seed I will make my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations by an everlasting covenant that I may be a God unto thee thy seed after thee c. Gen. 17. 7 c. This is my covenant which you shall keep between me and you and thy seed after thee Every man-child among you shall be circumcised c. God did not make any new covenant with Isaac and Israel but renewed that which he had made with Abraham and by this covenant the Israelites were not to serve God as God simply but as the God which had appeared and made a covenant with Abraham Isaac and Israel Under this covenant God by Moses gave the children of Israel the Moral the Judicial and Ceremonial law and under this covenant was the Messias promised and prophesied of by all the Prophets Mr. Hobbs cap. 16. art 13. says The supreme power and also the interpretation Annot. of Scripture was in Moses while he lived and not in Aaron Nor do I gainsay it for Moses was of the Tribe of Levi as well as Aaron Besides what should hinder but that God when he pleased might give that to Moses which ever after should be inseparable from the High Priest But where he says from Num. 27 18 19 20 21. that Eleazer was not only High Priest but also had the supreme power because that when Eleazer had enquired of God Joshua and all the people should go in and out at his word It does not follow for then had neither David nor Saul c. the Soveraignty who asked counsel of God by the High Priest It is true that was Magisterial in Eleazer which was Ministerial in Aaron It is true which he says that Joshua had but part of the power which Moses had But if it Note this for Mr. Hobbs does be true which he says that both powers were in Eleazer then had Joshua none of the power which Moses had But that Joshua had all temporal power and not from Eleazer both in command of war and governing the people is manifest every where in all the book of Joshua neither had Eleazer any thing to do with the division which fell to the Israelites by lot Behold Joshua said I have divided unto you by lot those nations that remain c. which thing does belong only to the supreme Temporal power And whereas he says After the death of Joshua in the time of the Judges unto King Aâ—t 15. Saul it is manifest that the Regal right instituted by God remained with the High-Priest sure
to instance the Acts of Parliament which give one Jointenant a power to compell the others to sue a Writ of Partition which was denied at Common-Law and right of Entry where they were put to their Cui in vita c. It may suffice that in no Kings reign there have not been Acts of Parliament which have been so far from making declarations of the Common-Law that they have made manifest alterations in it And as the Common-Law hath no force nor reason against an Act of Parliament so hath no particular Custom any force or reason against it for no man can prescribe against an Act of Parliament and all Lands in Gavel-kind were particular Customs but taken away by Act of Parliament And many Acts of Parliament have not declared the Succession of the English Diadem according to the usual custom thereof but made manifest alteration thereof as in the Succession of Hen. 4. 5. 6. Rich. 3. Hen. 7. 8. which being unjust and the cause not depending upon Humane laws ought not to be obeyed Nor secondly is that a less error that Judicial Records are equivalent to Acts of Parliament for they are so far from being equal to Acts of Parliament that in truth they are no Laws but Inferences and Conclusions which are deduced from Laws For there is not any Judicial Record which is not unjust if it cannot truly and ultimately be resolved in some general or particular Custom Act of the Parliament or grant of the King So that Acts of Parliament the Common Law Particular Customs and Prescriptions and Royal Grants are as Axioms Postulata or Principles in Arts or Sciences and Judicial Records Reported Cases and Yearsbooks are Inferences Conclusions or Sciences deduced from Acts of Parliament the Common Law and particular Customs of this Land or Concessions of the King Touching Royal Government Royal Government being the ordinance of God and from the Law of Nature is paramount to all Humane laws and the prime and efficient cause of them they cannot therefore declare the cause so as to create any obligation of what they are but the effects and from whence derived We have thus far treated of the means by which the Kings of this Nation have until 1640. governed and preserved their Subjects internally But because it is the office of Kings to preserve their Subjects as well from foreign force as internal broil there is yet something wanting of which we have not treated viz. The power of making War and Peace and maintaining Alliance and Traffique Of these in regard they refer to Foreign powers and jurisdictions and are not subject to the Laws of the Nation we shall forbear to treat only affirming that it is necessary that at all times this power must be so vested in the King that at all times he may have the aids and assistance of his Subjects in prosecution of the Ends aforesaid The end of the Third Book The Contents of the Fourth Book HAving thus far treated of all created Rights and the causes of all Laws and created Powers and Vertues and these being previous and necessary to all Justice and Obedience We in this Book descend to treat of Justice in the first Chap. as the most eminent and noble of all Humane vertues it being that which not only conserves private Families but all Nations and Kingdoms in unity peace and society and demonstrate it neither to be in Geometrical proportion as Plato would nor Arithmetical proportion as Zenophon held nor in Harmonical proportion as Bodin taught Nor is that corrective and distributive Justice which Aristotle affirmed to be in Arithmetical and in Geometrical proportion The Second Chap. treats of Obedience and shews how that it necessarily proceeds and yet is different from Justice The Third Chap. treats of Judgment and shews how it differs from Law and Justice The Fourth Chap. treats of Equity and shews how it differs from Judgment and how necessary Courts of Equity as well as Judicature are THE FOURTH BOOK CHAP. I. Of Justice 1. JUstitia est habitus animi communi utilitate Cicero's definition of Justice servata suum cuique tribuens Societatem conjunctionis Humanae munifice atque aequè tuens Justice is a habit of the Minde common utility being conserved giving to every one their right and bountifully and equally Cicero lib. 1. de legibus defending the Society of Mankinde Et Justitia est quae suum cuique distribuit Justice is that which does distribute to every man what is his right Where he says That Justitia est obtemperatio scriptis legibus we will shew that is not properly Justice but Obedience onely 2. Justice is the upright doing of an act conserving Society in that Quid sit Justitia formality as it is commanded or permitted by him who by right may command or permit it Justice is the doing of a just action the doing of a just action is the upright doing of any act as it is commanded or permitted by him who by right may command or permit it preserving Peace and Society I say Justice must have these two properties viz. upright doing that is abstraction from all affections of love hate or self-interest and the Law or Command of him who by right may command or permit such an act Other actions proceeding from Wisdom Reason Experiment or Discourse c. are prudent profitable c. but none are just or honest actions which cannot be truly and ultimately resolved into the Law or Command of him who by right may command or permit such an act So Quotuplex that Justice is twofold either commanded or permitted 3. Injustice is the abuse or falsifying the Law or Command of him What is Injustice who by right commands to the hurt or prejudice of another As a Law preceding and Integrity are inseparable incidents to Justice so Hypocracy seeming just and yet abusing or falsifying a Law and the damage of another or more are incidents inseparable to injustice 4. Let us see who may by right command and who are obliged to do God commands by highest right in conformity to their Laws and Commands I say God by highest right ought to command all the created things in Heaven and Earth and all Creatures are chiefly and absolutely obliged to do whatsoever he commands without any reasoning or disputing why he so commands For the earth is Psal 24. 1. Job 41. 11. Psal 50. 12. the Lords and all that therein is the compass of the World and all that dwell therein And whatsoever is under the whole Heaven is Gods and the World is mine and the fulness thereof All Gods commands therefore have a like and equal influence upon all his Creatures all Creatures as compared to him are alike vile and between him and them is no proportion To abuse then or falsifie any Law of God or Nature to the hurt or prejudice of another is a sin of injustice in all Gods Creatures and