bush So Joshua Num. 27.16 to 19. God himself by his own Voice appointed Joshua to his Office This Call is easily known by some signs or tokens whereby the Lord makes known his mind to the People as Moses to satisfie the people that he was called of God gave them signs by God's appointment Exod. 4.1 to 9. So Joshua had some of Moses's honour put upon him that all the Congregation of Israel might be obedient unto him Numb 27.20 that is as I conceive an extrrordinary portion of Moses's Spirit was given to him to qualifie him for that great Trust which he was to undertake Numb 11.17 to 26. We read the Lord took of the Spirit that was upon Moses and gave it to the Seventy which were to assist him in the Government No doubt the same but in a greater measure was bestowed upon Joshua as one who was not only to assist but succeed Moses in the place of chief Magistrate that the people seeing the excellency of his Spirit might be content to hearken to him which is evident by Deut. 34.9 Joshua the son of Nun was fall of the Spirit of Wisdom for Moses had laid his hands on him and the Children of Israel hearkened unto him A Call very near to this though not in the strickest sence Immediate was that of Gideon Judg. 6.14 who was called by an Angel sent from Heaven and perhaps many other of the Judges were called in the same manner but whoever hath this Call hath something or other either in the manner of his Call or in the excellency of his Spirit or both which is sufficient to convince the People that he is one appointed by God to be their Governour and that it is their duty to hearken to and obey him as the People did Joshua 2. There is a mediate Call when God calls a man to the Government by and with the consent and concurrence of the people And thus the Kings of Israel were called by the consent of the people who constituted them and it was the Peoples right by the Law of God to set the King over them Deut. 17.14 15. 't was the Peoples act that constituted the King Therefore we read all the People went to Gilgal to make Saul King 1 Sam. 11.15 The people made David King of Judah 2 Sam. 2.4 and afterwards all the Tribes of Israel came to Hebron to make him King of Israel 1 Chron. 12.38 Solomom was made King by all the Congregation 1 Chron. 29.20 All the People came to Shechem to make Rehoboam King 2 Chron. 10.1 and when he refused to ease them of their burdens and oppressions rejected him and made Jeroboam King 1 Kings 12.20 All the people of Judah took Uzziah and made him King 2 Chron. 26.1 The people of the Land made Josiah King 2 Chron. 33.25 The people of the Land took Jehoahaz and made him King 2 Chron. 36.1 The people made Abimeleck King Judg. 9.6 By all which it plainly appears that the right of making Kings was in the People The same we find concerning all other Magistrates and Officers that the people were to make them by the Law of God Deut. 16.18 Judges and Officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates which the Lord thy God giveth thee throughout thy Tribes and they shall judge the people with just judgement And indeed it is a piece of greatest folly and imprudence for the people to part with their right of making Magistrates either Supream or Subordinate to commit the making of Judges and other Officers to the King is by interpretation a neglect of our own duty which the Law of God requires an undervaluing of our birth-right and a resignation of our Laws Lives Liberties and Estates to his will which King James knew well enough to be an eminent expedient of King-craft when he used to say Let me make what Judges and Bishops I will and I will have nothing to be Law or Gospel but what I please No wonder that the people of this Nation are so grievously oppressed by Judges and Lawyers that the Law is so wrested Justice perverted and Violence committed when they neglect their duty of making Judges Sheriffs Justices of the Peace and other Officers and commit it to the King who will be sure to chuse such as shall advance his Prerogative and debase the Peoples Liberty as much as lies in them and dare do no other for fear of his displeasure how easie a thing is it to take away any mans Life Liberty or Estate which the King hath a desire to take away and that under a pretence of Law when the Judge Sheriff Justices and Jury are all his Creatures and Vassals and the Judge must say that is Law which the King would have so or else be turned out of his place which usually he hath bought at the price of some Thousands of pounds The Sheriff must pick a Jury that he knowes before-hand will give what verdict the Judge bids them or else be judged an enemy to the King And the Justices upon the Bench dare as well go upon hot coals as oppose the Kings Pleasure And never will it be otherwise unless the people grow so wise as to challenge their right by the Law of God to make Judges and Officers themselves who may execute just Judgement If a People will be so base as like Esau to contemn their birth-right and neglect their duty cowardly or carelesly to resign their Priviledges into the hands of a King 't is no wonder if they smart for it as England at this day if the people were so wise as to make Judges all other Officers themselves according to the Law of God they could not be so abused as they are Object But doth not the Law say that the people were to make him King whom the Lord should chuse Deut. 17.15 It should seem by this that the people have not liberty to make such as they please but are to accept of such as God hath appointed for the Government Answ This argued that God did intend often out of his especial favour to Israel to make the choice himself of the person that should reign over them but this did not at all infringe the peoples rights or liberties for the Lord to shew how tender he was of the peoples liberty at the same time when he chose for them appointed them to constitute him God chose him but they made him King I shall not deny but if God be pleased at any time in an extraordinary manner to choose a Governour for us and send a Prophet to make known his mind to us as he did Samuel to appoint Saul and after him David Ahijah to appoint Jeroboam Elisha to appoint Jehu it is our duty to make him King But God doth not do so with other Nations as he did with Israel He hath not sent any Prophet to tell us whom he appoints but hath left all Nations to their undubitable birth-right to constitute such
provided for you that is for others Isa 30.33 Tophet is prepared of old yea for the King it is prepared Your Flatterers tell you you may do what you please for you are gods but if you break the Law of God you shall dy like men and fall like one of the Princes Psal 82.6 7. He shall cut off the spirit of Princes He is terrible to the Kings of the Earth Psal 76.12 4. Magistrates are to execute Judgment and Justice in the Land 1 Kings 10.9 Because the Lord loved Israel for ever therefore made he thee King to do Judgment and Justice Not to do what he list as the Court-Parasits pretend that the King can do no evil Which they gather from that place 1 Sam. 8.9 to 19. where the Lord bids Samuel tell the People the manner of the King what he would do how he would enslave them and oppress them make them his Servants take away their goods and possessions from them and make them cry out by reason of their oppression now hence do those wicked Advocates of Tyranny plead that it is lawful for a King to do these things O filthy and degenerate wretches Apostates from the Light of Nature men given up to a reprobate mind professed enemies to mankind how dare you thus to prevaricate with God and the world to father your most damned Notions hatched in the lowest Hell upon God himself as if the Judge of the whole Earth should do as unrighteously as your selves As if the Lord should make a Law for Kings to tyrannize and oppress the People without controul when as the Lord hath particularly enjoyned the King to keep all the words of his Law and all his Statutes to do them Deut. 17.19 the Lord foreseeing that folly which the People would commit in asking a King many hundred years before it came to pass made a Law that if at any time the People should say I will set a King over me like the Nations round about Deut. 17.14 the King should keep all his Statutes as well as the meanest person And if you ask why then doth he tell the People when they asked a King that this would be the manner of him I answer Not ye Blasphemers as if the Lord allowed of such Tyranny but to deter the People from that folly which at present did possess them in asking a King For the Lord was highly displeased with them for it as you may reade at large in the story He did give them their own desire of a King but in wrath Hos 13.11 The King was made to do Judgment and Justice if Tyranny and Oppression be Judgment and Justice it is lawful for the King to do that otherwise not So likewise Judges and Officers are appointed to judge the People with just Judgment Deut. 16.18 and the Lord complains of the Magistrates Psal 82. How long will ye judge unjustly and accept the persons of the wicked Defend the poor and fatherless do Justice to the afflicted and needy Deliver the poor and needy rid them out of the hand of the wicked Here here is the Duty of Magistrates but alas what should one say unto them they know not neither will they understand they walk on in darkness all the foundations of the Earth are out of course Arise O God and judge the Earth for thou shalt inherit all Nations Thus the Apostle instructs us what is the Duty of the Magistrate Rom. 13.3 and 4. To give praise to them that do well and to execute wrath upon them that do evil And the same doth the Apostle Peter affirm 1 Pet. 2.14 But how little are the Scriptures regarded now a-dayes O what cause have we to take up that Lamentation Isa 59.1 to 16 and especially that vers 14 and 15. Judgement is turned away backward and Justice standeth a-far off for Truth is fallen in the street and Equity cannot enter yea Truth faileth and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey 5. A fifth general Duty of Magistrates is to Protect and Defend the People Therefore they are called Shepherds Numb 27.17 When the Lord told Moses that he should go up to Mount Abarim and see the Land and be gathered to his People he entreats the Lord to appoint another to succeed him that the People might not be as Sheep without a Shepherd So David was chosen by God to feed his People Israel 2 Sam. 5.2 That is to be their Shepherd and Leader to watch over them for their safety which he did according to the integrity of his heart Psal 78.72 The Title of Shepherd is not appropriated to Ministers but belongs to Magistrates also Now a good Shepherd layes down his Life to Protect and Defend the Sheep John 10.11 Magistrates are called Shields Psal 47.9 and Hos 4.18 Her Rulers the word in the Hebrew is her Shields now the use of a Shield is to Defend Thus Tola defended Israel Judg. 10.9 and Gideon hazarded his life for the defence of his Country Judg. 9.17 not to make himself Lord over them for that he refused afterwards He did not fight for Honour or Greatness but for the Good of his Country Thus Nehemiah adventured himself in person for the Peoples good and would not flee to save his life and leave the work unfinished Nehem. 6.11 though there were many and potent enemies round about He was a Shepherd that loved the Flock a true Shield to defend them from Tobiah Sanballat and the rest of God's and their enemies a Repairer of the Breaches both in the People and the Wall But alas poor England thy Shepherds are become Robbers thy Princes within thee are roaring Lions thy Judges are evening Wolves instead of defending the Flock they devour it Thy Shields are become Swords which pierce thine own bowels Thy Rulers instead of repairing thy Breaches throw down thy Walls and widen the Breaches among thy Inhabitants more and more But hear I pray you O ye Heads of England and Princes of these Nations Is it not for you to know Judgement who hate the good and love the evil who pluck their skin from off them and their flesh from off their bones who break the bones of the Lords People and chop them in pieces for the pot and boil them in the cauldron The day is coming when you shall cry unto the Lord but he will not hear you he will even hide his face from you as you have behaved your selves ill in your doings Mich. 3.1 to 5. You are the Shepherds of this People therefore thus saith the Lord Wo be to the Shepherds of England that do feed themselves should you not feed the Flock Ye eat the fat ye cloath you with the wool ye kill them that are fed but ye feed not the Flock with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them Behold I am against the Shepherds and I will require my flock at their hand and cause them to cease from feeding the flock neither shall they feed themselves any
more for I will deliver my flock from their mouth that they may not be meat for them Ezek. 34.1 to 11. I shall insist no longer on the Magistrates Duty at present but come to his Due which is contained in those four Particulars mentioned in the Description of Magistracy Power Tribute Honour And Obedience with two Restrictions applicable to them all First The Proportion what is due Secondly The Reason Therefore I shall begin in the next Chapter with the Power of the Magistrate CHAP. VII Treating of the Power which the Magistrate is to be entrusted withall shewing that he is to have so much Power as is adequate to the end of Government relation of a publick Servant and duties of his place and that he hath no right to any Power contrary to that I Am now come to the Magistrates due or to treat of what is due to him from the People which is principally comprehended in four particulars I shall begin with the first Power By the word Power I mean not Authority but strength sufficient for the performance of that trust God and the People have reposed in him which by the Greeks is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and by the Latines Vis and differs from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Authority which is mentioned Rom. 13.1 Because Power is a means of carrying on or executing Authority And therefore that word translated Power had been better rendred Authority For the Power or Strength which the Magistrate hath put into his hand is mentioned afterward in the 4th Verse under the name of a Sword And the Magistrate is said to bear the Sword because it is delivered into his hand for the performance of his duty But to be more plain in this particular I shall shew you what Power is the Magistrates due and what not 1. Then Positively The Magistrate is to have so much Power or Strength as may conduce to the Glory of God and Good of the People as is adequate to the End of Government For otherwise the Office were a vain thing if it were not invested with Power sufficient to answer the End of its Institution 2. So much Power as is adequate to the relation he is in That is a publick and painful Servant Of God and To the People For to make a Servant and give him too little Power for the relation you set him in were to set up a man of straw or the Picture of a Magistrate 3. So much Power as may enable him to perform the duties of his place to execute Justice to Punish those that do Evil and Reward those that do Well Rom. 13.4 And to defend the Nation in general and every one in particular under his charge Thus all both Superiour and Subordinate Magistrates must have Power sufficient to perform the Duties of their several stations and the Trust which the People repose in them This I think none will deny but the question will principally be what Power the Magistrate ought not to have For the greatest inconveniences of Governmently in the excess of the Magistrates Power I shall therefore spend most time about that 1. Then Negatively The Magistrate is not to have any Power which is for the Peoples hurt he was made for their good and no reason he should have any power for their hurt power enough to make the People slaves when ever he pleaseth to persecute them for doing well to take away their Estates Liberties or Lives unjustly this Power is not his due because it is contrary to the End for which he was made The Peoples good Rom. 13.4 It is a madness in any People to suffer their Magistrates to take so much Power into their hands as doth enable them when they please to hurt and oppress the People it were not safe to trust the best man alive wiâ—h so much Power as to be able to injure us if he would for it is a common thing for Governours to play the Hypocrites begin to govern well till they have cunningly established themselves and got power enough into their hands to oppress the People and then begin to Tyrannize Thus did Nero himself his first five years he reigned well And Tyberius did the same but when they had established themselves in the Throne and were possessed of as much Power as they thought sufficient murdered the Senators oppressed the People and committed all manner of outrages 2. The Magistrate is not to have so much power as is unsutable to his Relation of the Peoples Servant to have so much Power as to make himself their Lord If a People will be so unwise as to give the Magistrate Lordly Power they may well be sure he will use it to their thraldom and do we not find it by woful experience this day what are we better than slaves when upon any pretence of the Court they fetch Men out of their Houses where they are peaceably following their Callings and though they have nothing to charge them withall yet send them away to Prisons where they keep them to the utter undoing of them and their Families how many hundreds have been thus dealt withal since these men have had this exorbitant Power in their hands Is not this the very highest slavery when Men dare not pray or preach or meet together to worship God but they are haled to Dungeons Oh England this could not have been if thou hadst been so wise as to have kept thy Power in thine own hands and given no more to thy Servants than is sufficient to perform thy service 3. Magistrates should not have Power to pervert Justice and destroy a Land their duty is to execute Justice and defend us and are they not bereft of Reason who would give them Power to destroy and undoe us For a People to give the Power of the Militia into the hands of the King is by interpretation a giving away of their Birthright and exposing their Lives Liberties and Estates to his will For if the King may command the Militia as he pleaseth what Tyranny is too hard for him I deny not but the King is to bear the Sword for execution of Justice and defending the People but to have the Militia wholly at his disposal is not that Sword due to him for that is to have power to make the People slaves when he pleaseth And do not we find the sad effects of this at present when the Walls of our Cities are thrown down in a time of Peace after an Act of Indemnity which are the strength and defence of our Land in case of a Forreign Invasion Object We see this now but it is too late the Parliament have given the Power of the Militia to the King and since all Authority is against us what can we do Answ The Parliament are our Servants as well as the King we chuse a King to govern us for our good to preserve our Lives Liberties and Estates we chuse a Parliament send them up to consult our Safety to
the antient Laws of England this man that rules at present is no rightful King of England but by oppressing the Nation and persecuting the Lords People hath lost the Title of a King and that the Name of a King doth not agree to him but Tyrant is the Name due to him Object But doth not Elihu say Job 34.18 Is it fit to say to a King thou art wicked and to Princes ye are ungodly Sol. That is to a King in Truth not in shew not one that is a Tyrant under the Name of a King 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 properly signifies Consul a wise and discreet Governour who is a true King Tyrants are not here meant A King is one thing and a Tyrant another So the word translated Princes is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 liberal or ingenuous persons To call wise or ingenuous Governours wicked were a slander but doth it follow hence that we may not call irrationel covetous dis-ingenuous oppressing Rulers Wicked the scope of the place plainly intimates this to be the meaning of the words for the verse foregoing he sayes Wilt thou condemn him that is Most Just meaning God and then argues A minore ad majus from the lesser to the greater If it be unlawful to say to a wise or liberal Governour thou art wicked How much more unlawful is it to condemn God who is the Most Just Wise and Liberal And by the verse following it is evident that he doth not intend to assert the Priviledge of Princes or great men above others for he tells us that God accepts not the persons of Princes or Rich men more than the Poor and it is observable that when he speaks of such Princes whose Persons are not accepted by God he doth not use that expression which is translated Princes ver 18. and hath a virtuous signification but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a word which hath no virtuous signification but signifies barely Princes or great Men and he tells us That God regards no man for his greatness and if this place should be understood as the Royalists would have it to forbid us to speak disgracefully of wicked Rulers then the holy Prophets and Apostles are to be blamed for they did so as you have seen before but that is the true interpretation of the place which I have given the other is only a gloss which the Prelates give to support Tyrants under the shadow of whose wings they shelter themselves Object But is it not said who may say to a King what dost thou Eccles 8.4 Sol. This argues the danger of opposing a King not the unlawfulness In the word of a King is Power he hath so much Power at his command that no private person under his Government is able to oppose him without his own ruine But the meaning of the place is this The King for the execution of Justice and punishing Evil-doers hath so much power both from God and the People that none may oppose him in the execution of Justice and that this is the meaning of the wise Man appears by the verse foregoing Stand not before him in an evil thing sayes he and then gives this as a reason for he doth whatsoever he pleaseth and who may say to him what dost thou that is in punishing such as will stand before him in an evil thing But it is clear enough that the faithful Servants of God in Scripture have said more to wicked Kings than what dost thou Samuel said to Saul Thou hast done foolishly 1 Sam. 13.13 Elijah to Ahab Thou art he that troubleth Israel yea the People of God were bound to restrain and punish wicked Kings and frequently did so as I shall shew hereafter Object Doth not Paul confess his Error in speaking reproachfully of the High Priest though a wicked Ruler and thereby teach us That it is unlawful to speak reproachfully of wicked Rulers Acts 23.4 5. Sol. No such thing the words do rather prove the direct contrary for it is clear that Paul calls a wicked Ruler Whited-wall gives him a disgraceful Title 2. Paul knew him to be a Ruler when he called him so for sayes he Sittest thou to judge me after the Law and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the Law vers 3. he knew him to be Judge and yet calls him Whited-wall and without doubt he knew him to be the man they called High Priest by the High Priests Robes and the Place where he sate for Paul full-well understood the Customes of the Jews 3. Whereas it is alledged That Paul corrects himself or recants afterwards there is no ground for it I wist not sayes Paul that he was High Priest that is truly and really so as indeed he could not be because the High-Priesthood was abrogated by the Death of Christ who was the true High Priest And besides he was a Tyrant and caused him to be smitten contrary to the Law and therefore no lawful Ruler and the Apostle answers not only the Objection which they made against him for reviling the High Priest by saying he did not know him to be High Priest or own him for High Priest but prevents another Objection which they might more plausibly make from Exod. 22.28 Thou shalt not revile the gods or blaspheme the Ruler of thy People As if he should have said I know you will say I have broken that Law by speaking evil of a Ruler but you are mistaken the Law doth not forbid us to speak evil of Tyrants or Oppressors but of lawful Rulers who govern in Righteousness I do not own him for High Priest or a lawful Ruler though I know he sits as Judge that will thus wickedly pervert Justice If he had been a good and lawful Ruler I would not have spoken so reproachfully of him as to have called him Whited-wall but have honoured him but this man under the Title of High Priest and Judge is a real Tyrant◠and therefore I have not broken that Law So that Pauls Answer to their Objection is a vindication of himself and the Conformity of his practice to the Law of God 4. And that place which Paul cites out of the Law Exod. 22.28 by the Title given to the Magistrate shews that it means only just and righteous Magistrates which rule according to God's Law Thou shalt not revile the gods Why are they called gods but because they represent the Wisdom Justice and Truth of God and are in his stead to execute Justice according to his Word This Christ gives for the reason why they were called gods John 10.35 Because the Word of God came to them that is his Word of Commission to execute the Word of his Judgements but if they do the quite contrary as this Wicked Ruler they represent the Devil and not God and as I hinted before are more fitly termed Devils than gods 5. This Text which Paul mentions doth not forbid any just and plain reprehension of wicked Rulers To speak the Truth to or of them
Pardon Some call it a Lease of Life because it is too gross a thing to say a Pardon for Murder in plain terms O how frequently have I seen that saying of the Philosopher exemplified in this Nation The great Thieves lead the lesser thieves to hanging Publick Thieves who cheat the whole Nation of their Liberties Estates Birth-rights and Gospel-priviledges under the titles of Judges and Justices condemn and sentence to death small thieves for such faults as are not the hundredth part so heinous as their own And yet the poor people believe the great Thieves are God's Ordinance and worthy of all honour but the lesser thieves justly put to death Whereas indeed if Justice had its course there were more reason why the little thieves should condemn and execute the great Thieves For it is the Tyranny and Oppression of the Magistrates which is the principal cause why there are so many Thieves in the Land They lay intolerable Taxations on the People and by their Tyranny destroy Trade so that thousands are constrained to lay down their Callings for want of work they make such intricate tedious and chargeable Laws that are more like Instruments to pick the Peoples Pockets than Rules of Righteousness invented by the subtil Lawyers for Gins to catch the People in where they keep men so long as their money lasts and then let them go so that for the most part it fares with those that seek to the Lawyers and Witches for remedy alike they never thrive after By these and many other Artifices or Mysteries of State the Magistrates rob spoil and impoverish the People and reduce them to such necessity that while the Governours spend their money in pride luxury and all manner of voluptuousness they are forced to beg or steal and many being ashamed to beg fall to stealing for the necessity of their souls but stealing without authority are brought before the company of Rulers who have a Charter to steal by Authority and condemn all others who steal without license from them and sentenced to death by those who much more deserve it than themselves But alas it were endless to recite the particular cases wherein these wicked Rulers violate the Law of God for whereas the Law hath appointed punishment for evil-doers and praise for them that do well what do these but the very contrary turning the Sword against such as fear God and obey his Law So that we have just cause to plead with the Lord as David did Psal 110.126 It is time for thee O Lord to work for they have made void thy Law Brethren you cannot but acknowledge that the Law of God should be put in execution that it is great cause of lamentation yea and holy indignation to see the Law of God thus violated and what wise man could expect any better from such Rulers as these it is impossible the Law of God should be executed where wicked men are exalted Magistrates are entrusted with the execution of God's Law and if they do not understand or affect it they will never execute it Artaxerxes though a Heathen shewed more wisdom and prudence than many eminent Professors among us have lately done for he would have Ezra to make such men as knew the Law of God that is knew it affectionately as understood and loved the Law of God Magistrates and Judges over all the People beyond the River Ezra 7.25 He knew that it was in vain to think of having the Law of God executed by ungodly Rulers If we had the best Laws that ever any Nation under Heaven had and wicked Magistrates to execute them we should have little advantage by them they will find one way or other to wrest and pervert the Law of God in despite of the People I thought to have urged other Arguments for the confirmation of this great and weighty Truth That onely such men as are endowed with the Spirit of Government should be entrusted with it and to have shewn you how the setting up of men void of those qualifications which the Light of Reason and Law of God requires in Magistrates is the way to extirpate Virtue out of the Land and to introduce all manner of Vice and to bring down the Judgments of God upon us but in regard we find it by sad experience that this wicked Generation are no other than a mighty flood of Superstition and Prophaness a sweeping rain of Oppression an Army of Locusts eating up every green thing I shall forbear to enlarge any more upon this Particular but close this Chapter with a word of Exhortation and so proceed to the next You see what Power the Lord hath entrusted the People withal that the Right of making their Governours belongs to them yea that it is not onely their Priviledge but Duty by the Law of God to set Magistrates over them both Supream and Subordinate you see also what Qualifications the Law of God requires the People to look after in such as they entrust with Government they must be Wise Prudent Faithful Persons that have given Proof of their Integrity Men of Truth that understand the Law of God Fearing God and Hating Covetousness O that I might prevail with every one that reads this to resolve that if ever they have an opportunity to give their Suffrage for the Election of Magistrates again they will lay aside all by-respects and carnal interests whatsoever and give their Voice for none but such as are endued with the Spirit of Government and with those due Qualifications which the Law of God requires How frequent is it for men to give their Voice for those of their own Judgement or Party though altogether destitute of that Excellent Spirit which makes men meet for the Trust they are chosen to How common to adhere to their Kindred Landlords or Benefactors and improve all their Interest for such a one who hath neither Wisdom Faithfulness Fear of God nor Love to his Country Alas How rare a thing is it to hear of one chosen for his Virtues The sound of a great Name and glittering shew of phantastical Apparel is that which qualifies a man for Government in the judgement of the multitude 'T is not what Virtues but what Titles a man hath When a hundred men better qualified for Magistracy are passed by a Knight or a Lord shall be chosen for his Airy Titles sake which is just as if a man should refuse a Shield of Brass because it were not finely painted and choose a Paper Escutcheon bearing some noble Armes for his shield to defend him for Magistrates are the Shields of the Earth Psal 47.9 O England be not still so froward as to put away prosperity from thy self by choosing such for thy Governours as are void of those Qualifications which the Law of Nature and Scripture doth require Never wilt thou enjoy a solid lasting Peace until thou embrace Righteousness Isa 32.16 to 19. Never will Righteousness be executed unless righteous men be made
is one and the same they are both Servants to the People though in a different kind of Service Object But are not Magistrates called Gods How then can they be the Peoples Servants Sol. That is a Metaphorical Expression spoken not by way of Property but Resemblance we know Magistrates are not properly gods it were blasphemy to say so the names or attributes of God cannot without blasphemy be given to them it were blasphemy to call a King Jehovah or Lord God or the like or to give him any of God's Properties Omnipotent All-wise All-sufficient Eternal or the like they are called Gods because true Magistrates do in some higher Measure than private persons resemble the Wisdom Power and Justice of God which is the utmost can be proved from that Title this doth no way contradict their proper Title of Servants to the People For when a Magistrate is a terror to evil works and a praise to good Rom. 13.3 he is a Servant to the People for good ver 4. and in this service of his he represents the justice of God who rewards every man according to his works We must beware of straining Metaphors the proper title of the Magistrate which describes his relation is a Servant Of God To the People The Metaphorical Title of God describes his Virtues and Duties the Wisdom Faithfulness and Justice which a true Magistrate is indued with and rules in and the proper and metaphorical Titles are not repugnant to each other but this observe by the way that he that is destitute of those Virtues or neglecteth those Duties wherein a true Magistrate resembleth God may be more justly called a Devil than a God because he resembleth the Devil more than God If it be said that an unrighteous Magistrate by reason of his great power and external glory resembleth God I answer It is false for God hath no unrighteous or oppressive power neither hath given any such to Magistrates and therefore there is no resemblance between the power of a Tyrant or Oppressor and the Power of the Most Just and Righteous Jehovah The same I say of his external Glory for the Glory of God is in his Wisdom Justice Faithfulness and other attributes and the Works of Goodness Mercy and Righteousness which he doth which the outward powers and splendor of an unrighteous Magistrate doth no way resemble but it doth most aptly resemble the power and glory of the Devil whose Servant he is and whose works he doth Object But if the King be the Peoples Servant why is it that we read so often in Scripture that the People were used to salute the King with this Title My Lord the King and say they were his Servants Sol. Those are expressions of courtesie and respect commonly used not only to the King but private persons yea sometimes our inferiors Rebecka calls Abrahams Servant My Lord Gen. 24.18 Jacob calls his Brother Esau My Lord eight times in two Chapters Gen. 32. and 33. Obadiah calls Elijah My Lord 1 Kings 18.7 13. The very same Title that is usually given to the King and the same word in the Hebrew in all these places 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So the Levite in a way of courtesie sayes to the old man that came from his work out of the field Thy Servant Judg. 19.19 It is used so Gen. 42.10 2 Kings 1.13 and Chap. 2.6 And so it is to be understood when we read the People call the King My Lord and say they are his Servants it is an expression of courtesie not that they are in a strict and proper sence and in point of duty his Servants or the King their Lord for it is nothing so Thus we read 1 Kings 12.4 the People come and tender their Service to Rehoboam upon condition that he would ease them of their burdens they came with respectful courteous language unto him and thought to win him thereby but when he refused to perform his duty to them they make him know that in a strict and proper sence they were his Masters and could punish him for his faults and did deprive him of his Crown ver 16. And so the Parliaments of England and often the People without the Parliament have in their Addresses to the King given him the Title of Lord in a way of honour and respect but when he hath refused to perform his duty to them and endeavoured by his unlawful Prerogative to abridge them of their Liberties they have made him understand his Relation and by force of Arms asserted their own Priviledges and sometimes compelled the King to perform his duty other times deposed him from the Government as the People of Israel did Rehoboam upon the same account and so have most if not all the Nations in the World done the same How common a thing is it in our ordinary Salutations to say we are such a ones Servant in a general and respective sence and in point of courtesie whose Servant we are not in a strict sence and point of duty Object But why may not Princes be Lords over the People as well as Masters Lords over their Servants for the word translated Master Ephes 6.5 Col. 3.22 signifies Lord Sol. 1. Because the Servant is inferiour to his Master and by his place obliged to serve his Master but here it is the contrary for the Magistrate is inferiour to the Commonwealth because he is made by and for them and his Office as I have shewed before is to be a Servant to the People Now a man cannot be in one and the same respect Lord and Servant 2. The Master pays the Servant his wages so doth not the Magistrate the People but the People pay him his wages So that this Objection is justly retorted upon those that urge it and in stead of proving the Magistrate to be the Lord and the People to be Servants proves the contrary that the Magistrate is the Servant and the People Masters Which not only the Philosophers and wise sort of the Heathens understood but many of the greatest Emperors in the World have confessed Augustus Caesar one that had the Empire of the world of whom we read Lu 〈…〉 1. would not suffer the People to call him Lord. Tiberius Caesar who succeeded him in the Empire of whom we read Luk. 3.1 forbid any man to call him Lord and took it as a reproach cast upon him for any one to call him so And in an Oration he made to the People he useth these words I have often do still afirm that a good and virtuous Prince whom you have entrusted with so great and large authority ought to serve the Senate and all the Citizens often and many times particular Persons neither do I repent of what I have said And I have acknowledged you for my very good and favourable Lords and do still acknowledge the same Thus you see the greatest Emperors of the world confessing themselves to be the Peoples Servants and the People their Lords or
apprehended again for Preaching Acts 5.27 They told the Rulers plainly that they ought to obey God rather than them and charged them with the murder of Christ to their faces If Magistrates command us to persecute the Lord's People to oppress the Innocent to hale the faithful Servants of God to Prisons to be upon the Guard while they spill innocent blood to prevent any from rescuing such as they intend to murder we are not to obey them but God 4. We owe the Magistrate no passive obedience or subjection in case he injure or oppress us If we have done that which is evil we are bound to submit our selves to the Magistrate as the Servant of God and the People to execute wrath upon us but if he punish us for doing well oppress the Innocent and pervert Justice we are not bound to submit our selves to him but may lawfully resist him Which I prove thus 1. Because the Law of God doth not command us to be subject to the Magistrate or forbid us to resist him if he oppress us and offer violence to us Now sin is a transgression of the Law 1 John 3.4 and where there is no Law there is no transgression Rom. 4.15 But all the Prelates in England cannot produce any Law of God which forbids us to defend our selves from the injury or injustice of the Magistrate or to resist him in our own defence The great place they urge to prove the unlawfulness of resistance is that Rom. 13. Let us therefore take a survey of that place and see if there be any injunction to obey an unjust or oppressing Magistrate or any prohibition to resist him And truly we shall find just as much reason from that place for subjection and obedience to a wicked oppressing persecuting Magistrate as from 1 Thess 5.12 13. 1 Tim. 5.17 Heb. 13.17 for obedience and submission to an ignorant proud persecuting Minister The Apostle commands us to obey them that have the rule over us and submit ovr selves to them because they watch for our souls that they may be able to render an account of them with joy in our salvation Will it follow therefore we must obey and submit to such Ministers as would poison and destroy our souls and lead us to Hell and Damnation The Elders that rule well are worthy of double honour especially those who labour in the Word and Doctrine Will it follow therefore that we must give double honour to the Elders who rule wickedly and labour not in the Word and Doctrine The very same doth the Scripture assert concerning Magistracy Paul commands us to be subject to the Magistrate and tells us why for he is the Servant of God to us for good he is one that will praise us if we do well and he is not a terror to good works but to evil Will it follow therefore we â—â—st be subject to a Magistrate who is a terror to good works and a praise to evil that punisheth good men and praiseth wicked men What a ridiculous irrational Argument is this But to lay open the folly of this Inference a little more plainly and distinctly 1. The Power the Apostle forbids us to resist is The Ordinance of God but a Power to oppress or do injustice is none of God's Ordinance but the Devils therefore we may resist that God hath ordained no Power to oppress or injure the People and therefore in resisting a Power that oppresseth us we cannot resist God's Ordinance The holy Spirit representing the tyrannous Kings of the fourth Monarchy by a beastly cruel Monster Rev. 13.1 2. tells us that the Dragon or Devil gave them their Power Lawful Power to execute Justice and protect the People is derived from God Tyrannous Power to do Injustice and oppress the People is derived from the Devil Now surely to resist that Power which is derived from the Devil is not to resist God's Ordinance nay it is blasphemy against God to say so 2. He that resisteth the Power Paul speaks of shall receive to himself damnation or judgment Therefore it is clear he means not an unjust or oppressing Power but a just rational and righteous Power Tyrants and Oppressors have been often resisted by the Lord's People as I shall shew anon out of Scripture And the French Bohemians Scots and most if not all the Protestant Nations have resisted the oppressing Power of their wicked Rulers Those confident and faithful Witnesses of Christ the Waldenses have frequently opposed their unrighteous Magistrates by force of Arms and now lately done the same and think you they shall all receive damnation for resisting that Power which is derived from the Devil or for resisting Tyrants which are not God's but the Devil's Vicegerents 3. The Power the Apostle forbids us to resist is a Power that if we do well we shall have praise of the same Rom. 13.3 but an oppressing unrighteous Power doth not praise us when we do well therefore we may resist that An unjust Power will praise those that do evil and dispraise those that do well as we see most evidently at present 4. The Magistrate Paul forbids us to resist is one who is a Minister or Servant of God to us for good but an unrighteous oppressing Magistrate is a Servant of the Devil to us for hurt therefore we may resist him 5. The Rulers we are forbid to resist are such as are not a terror to good works but to evil Rom. 13.3 But Tyrants and Oppressors are not a terror to evil works but to good therefore we may resist them 6. The cause why we are commanded to be subject to and forbid to resist a Righteous Magistrate doth not agree to an Oppressor for if you observe the reason which the Apostle urgeth all along that discourse for subjection to the Magistrate cannot be applied to an Oppressor He that resisteth saith the Apostle shall receive to himself damnation One might answer This is a very hard saying that you should threaten us so severely if we resist but sayes the Apostle Consider well the reason and you shall confess there 's reason enough for it For Rulers are not a terror to good works but to evil Wilt thou then not be afraid of the Power Do that which is good and thou shalt have praise of the same for he is the Minister of God to thee for good ver 3 4. Indeed if I threatned you for resisting Tyrants or Oppressors who are a terror to good works and a praise to evil who are enemies to you and seek your hurt you might say it were a hard saying but since I forbid you to resist only those that praise you when you do well and are Servants to God and you for your good you have no reason to say I speak harshly for it is a great wickedness to resist righteous Magistrates Again when the Apostle bids us be afraid of the Magistrate if we do evil he gives us this reason for it for he is the Minister