impracticable The Parallell is too apparent to need more words We ought therefore to give our continual Thanks to Almighty God for his great Mercy as well in this as in the other Case that he has plac'd us in a Countrey whose Happy Situation has exempted us so long from falling under any such difficulties Page 6. rather then wilfully to apply these Instances of forbearance in such Cases of Necessity to our careless Negligence and plead the Examples of our Neighbours Miseries in justification of our own Wantoness Before I proceed to the next Paragraph give me leave to Condole with your Lordship the decay of your Memory I Remember in your Enquiry into the Measures of Submission to the Supream Authority about a year ago you tell us 't is unreasonable to Conclude Measures of Submission §. 6. from the Possession of a Supream Power by any Person or Family that it is the Will of God it should be so because this would justifie all Vsurpers when they became successful But to pass this over you will not there allow of any Conclusions to be made with Relation to any particular Government from the Examples either in the Old or New Testaments but say Ibid. §. 8. It is clear that all the Passages in the Old Testament are not to be made use of in this matter of neither side and as for the New Testament all that is in it upon this Subject Ibid. §. 10. imports no more then that all Christians are bound to Acquiesce in the Government and submit to it according to the Constitution that is setled by Law so that no general Considerations from any Passages Ibid. §. 11. either of the Old or New Testaments ought to determine us in this matter But you here forget your own Maxim Examples of this kind I perceive are fashionable Arguments and Passive Obedience is again Orthodox provided always it be Extensive enough and carry'd to reach Vsurpers and Conquerors in prejudice to the Rightful Kings These My Lord are dangerous Passages which an ill-man may improve to such a Scandal as this that you square your Doctrine by the Rule of Convenience and draw a Scheme of Divinity according to a Model of Politiques which may be Vary'd and Chang'd as the Circumstances of publique Affairs and Interest require Accordingly he may urge That when you Writ your Measures of Submission you foresaw it convenient to Explode the Bible because it would be difficult to draw us into the necessary intended Rebellion whilst we had the Word of God to guide us The Scriptures teach us by Example as well as Precept That Kings are God's Vice-Gerents on Earth and therefore to be Honour'd and Obey'd in all things Lawful But that Rebellion in any case is like the sin of Witchcraft but now when the Turn is serv'd and the Case alter'd you here direct us again to them with this necessary Caution That we wholly forget we have still a King and apply all the Instances of Obedience to an Unjust Possessor as if we had been Laps'd into a state of Nature and every man had had an equal Right to Ascend the Vacant Throne If this be not playing with and wresting the Scriptures he prays God it be not to your Destruction he knows not what is All this may be said and more But I will return to your Argument where the only business will be to enquire whether any Example you here produce will reach to the Case of Possession only under our Circumstances In order to this I must remind you of the Restrictions I above Noted under which and such like Possession may be allow'd a Title of Right We must also consider that the Jewish Government was a Theocracy as well as a Monarchy so that in all doubtful Junctures of publique Affairs they might have recourse to God himself for advice by means of the Prophets and of the Vrim and Thummim Whenever therefore we find in that state any Unaccountable Revolutious not reprov'd we may reasonably Conclude that God had fore-signify'd his Approbation of it and this the rather because we generally may Observe that a Priest or a Prophet chiefly promotes it There is this further difference between the Constitution of Our Government and that of the Jews whereby the Examples from them are not conclusive to us That whereas this Crown descends by an Haereditary Right That did not For sometimes the Aged King declar'd his Successor before his Death Thus David gave his Kingdom to Solomon 1 Kings 1.34 2 Chron. 21.3 and Jehoshaphat to Jehoram But more usually the Jews Elected that Person to be their King whom God by his Prophets had destin'd to that High Office pursuant to His Express Command by Moses Deut. 17.15 that they shall in any wise set him King over them whom the Lord their God shall Choose Accordingly in the first great Rupture in the Government Pag. 8. where the ten Tribes wholly Revolt from Judah the Prophet Ahijah gives ten of the twelve pieces of his new Garment to Jeroboam with this assurance that the LORD would rend the Kingdom from Solomon 1 Kings 11.31 tho not in his yet in his Son's Reign and give ten Tribes to him and thus when Rehoboam took violent Counsel and Answer'd the People of Israel roughly 1 Kings 12.13,15 we are told that the Cause thereof was from the LORD in performance of his word by this Prophet and afterwards he expresly forbids the Subjects of Rehoboam to fight against their Brethren the Children of Israel 1 Kings 12.24 because this thing was from HIM The like is remarkable in other Instances So that in all the Revolutions that happen'd there Possession without doubt might be presum'd to give a just Right And indeed this is not only true in Relation to the Jews but is in it self Universally so as appears from the Nature and Reason of the thing for wherever a Monarchy is Elective if the Throne be fill'd whether by Force or Cunning Allegiance may be due because tho some of the Community may be said to be injur'd by the Usurpation yet none is dispossess'd of a Preceding Right where none is Dethron'd Where therefore none had a preceding Right to Allegiance it is payable to any but to whom so properly as to him who has given the greatest Evidence at least of the Majority of Electors since they had strength and Interest enough to Seat him in the Throne beyond the Reach of his Opposers But all this is nothing to our Case we know the Person who is Dispossess'd to whom our Allegiance as is confess'd by all was once due and that he is still in being and calls upon us for the performance of this Duty the only Objection you here offer against him is that he is unfortunately Dispossess'd by the force of a violent Intruder but who was ever yet adjudg'd punishable for a meer Misfortune These Considerations alone well apply'd would be
agreeable to the Maxims of Machiavelli then to the Doctrine of the Church of England And if Your Lordship do not well Limit the Judge of this Necessity I may safely Affirm that all the Vnnatural and Rebellious Principles of the Jesuits and our Democratists join'd together cannot be more pernitious to any State then this one of Your Lordship's For Instance Can there be any Grievance so intolerable and so necessary to be redrest in any Government as that of Suppressing the True Religion Is it not also most undoubtedly true that every man firmly believes the Religion he Professes to be the True and the Best If then any Sect whether Christians Turks or Jews find their Circumstances such that to support their True Religion the dearest thing on Earth and the Exercise thereof the greatest Priviledge and most desirable Happiness that can be secur'd by any Establishment it is absolutely Necessary or at least in this Extremity the safest way not only to Murther the Reigning King but perhaps even his whole Race and to Massacre all those who any ways set themselves in opposition to 'em This Maxim Justifies all it was absolutely Necessary and therefore upon that very account Just and Good Again Should a Combination of Men Deliberate thus Nothing can barr an aspiring English man from Disturbing the Government by Treasonous Attempts and Usurpations but an apparent Impossibility of Success Nothing concludes such an Impossibility but a perpetual want of Pretence and Title by placing an Hereditary Right in another if therefore the Succession be once interrupted there can be no Peace nor Happiness to the Nation till it falls again into the Right Line This Opinion they are Confirm'd in by considering the long Warrs between the two Houses of York and Lancaster till they were United by K. Henry the Seventh and of late the continued Convulsions and Changes of the very Forms of the Government after the Murther of K. Charles the First till the Happy Restauration of His Heir and Rightful Successor These Observations they apply to the Present Settlement and find it not unlike that under K. Henry the Fourth and fear the Consequences will be the same For His Majesty having a Just and a Legall Title to the Crown will never desist from all possible Endeavours to be Restor'd to his Own and K. William having obtain'd the Possession seems resolv'd tho by the Power of a Forreign Army to keep it If the King have Success he must return with such as are no Friends to the English and the Intollerable Affronts which have been put upon him will probably prompt him to a just Revenge And will be a very strong Temptation to him to Execute those Designs which have been so unreasonably Charg'd upon him If he dyes in the Attempt he entails all his Forces his Friends and the Justness of his Warr to his Son and that Line that may possibly Spring from him But should these fail and K. William remain without this Competition Yet the Government is Unhing'd the Crown is become Elective whereby every man may plead a Right who can get Voices and Hands enough to reach it and the natural sullen Complaints of the People and their Pretences of Grievances will successively reach out Hopes and Occasions to some Proud Aspiring Patriots to Attempt it From these Melancholly Reflections they come to this Conclusion That in this Extremity and to prevent this Continuance of Miseries and at last inevitable Ruine the safest way and therefore the best is to Restore the Succession to the Right Line by Removing the two Contending Kings and the Disputed Prince and leaving Q. Mary the Second the Rightful Heiress alone in the Throne whereby the Government will be sixt again upon the only firm and lasting Basis This they resolve and this they Execute Can your Lordship Condemn them The Resolution is necessary to the Peace and Happiness of the Nation and upon that very account Just and Good because 't is Necessary But I believe this will pass with very few for sound Doctrine and therefore your Lordship may find your self Oblig'd either to Retract the Maxim or at least to explain it so that it will signifie very little in the place where it stands And now my Lord I have laid before your Lordship my Exceptions to your Reasons Page 23. And till I meet with better Arguments or better Confirm'd I cannot but Conclude that the Settlement now made is sounded upon no Good Grounds and that the Convention had no Authority to make such a Decision and therefore tho' I am ready to submit and pay SOME Obedience to the Possessour of the Throne yet I cannot pay ALL that Obedience and Duty which I naturally owe the Rightful Soveraign And therefore cannot swear it in such words and such terms as imply ALL and are intended by the Imposers to do so There further remains to be Consider'd your Lordships Answer to an Objection from those Oaths and Engagements whereby we were and are bound to K. James Page 23. and his Heirs which is this that Allegiance and Protection are Duties Reciprocal So that if one fails the other ceases What the word Allegiance means in our Oaths and what we are Oblig'd to by it I presume we were agreed above Vid. Sap. P. 6 7. Page 24 25. and therefore no need of engaging in a new Enquiry into the Original of the word But as to the Obligation it self I shall ask your Lordship this easie Question Are you sure that we owe no Allegiance to a Prince whilst he remains under an incapacity to Protect us I never met with any so black Mouth'd but the Recicides themselves or their profest Adherents that they durst deny Allegiance to be due to K. Charles the First under his Confinement yet he was so far from being able to Protect his People that he could not secure himself from the Rude Insolence of his Keepers and the Horrid Barbarities of his Murtherens But are you sure no Allegiance was due to K. Charles the Second in his Exile tho' he could not Protect yet the Parliament has Declar'd and it is undeniable that he was King of England all that time and truly I cannot comprehend the Notion of a King without Subjects nor of Subjects who owe no Allegiance to their King These are too sublime Thoughts for me to understand Page 25. As to the word Heir 't is true No Man can be bound to him till the Inheritance he his Who affirms it do but give us leave to pay our Allegiance to the King and we will never ask to transfer it during his Life to any other But the force of the Objection from the word Heir is this That had you made it appear that K. James has actually ceas'd to be King it had been at least a Death in Law and the Crown being Haereditary by the Constitution of the Government at the same moment had devolv'd to the next of the Line For it
a sufficient Answer to all that can be urg'd from the Examples you have brought for our present submission to a King without Right But least this should seem too general I will descend to particulars and show you wherein every single instance you produce is defective The Case of Athaliah comes near your purpose Her Reign was undoubtedly an Usurpation because not being of the seed of David Page 8. she broke into the Government contrary to the promise of God Director of the Succession to him 2 Sam. 7.16 that His House and His Kingdom should be Established for ever She took the proper method too to maintain her Usurpation for she made way to the Throne through blood and slew as was believ'd all of the seed Royall who could pretend any Right to the Crown 2 Kings 11.1 2 Chr. 22.10 So that the people through Ignorance might pay Obedience to Her But your Lordship may observe that this is a very Melancholly History for any Vsurper to reflect on For those who were privy to the conceal'd Infant King and knew to whom their Allegiance was due probably never gave it to any other For we find that Jehoiada the Priest does not as was usual in such extraordinary occasions receive and declare a particular Command from God in this affair but he insists only upon the forecited Promise of God to David This the whole Assembly judge Authority sufficient to own Joash King 2 Chr. 23.3 the only instance that I remember of like nature without an immediate Message from God even before he was Anointed or Athaliah put to death For it it is observable in this Relation that Jehoiada in his Consultation with the Rulers calls him KING 2 Kings 11.7,8,11 2 Chr. 23.7,10 As if no room had been left for Election since he was the Only person remaining of the Line and therefore alone qualify'd for their Choice Farther yet all the Congregation made a Covenant with the King which you take to be Equivalent with swearing Allegiance to him in the House of God whereas he was brought forth to be Crown'd and Anointed Compare 2 Chr. 23.3 with 10. and 2 Kings 11.4 with 12. However this is undeniable that as soon as their Lawful King was thus publiquely known neither Priest nor People held themselves oblidg'd by their Allegiance to Athaliah but instantly upon her first appearance they execute a just Revenge upon her and Sacrifice the Bloody Tyrant to this Infant Rightful King Upon the whole matter My Lord 2 Chr. 23.21 2 Kings 11. I can see but very little Temptation from hence for any to insist upon Possession against Right when the Priests thus inform us by this Example without any Imediate command from God which shows it to be agreeable to his ordinary positive Laws that we must when the Rightful Sovereign becomes a Competitor for his own Throne endeavour to pull down the unjust Possessor Then which nothing can conclude more strongly against your Assertion For certainly since there is such a natural Tye between Subjects and their Kings it must be contrary to all the Laws even of Common Honesty to promise Faith to one whom if this occasion require and they know not how soon it may happen they are pre-engaged to destroy Page â—0 § 6. The next Instance would be of considerable service to the Cause had you prov'd that the Righteous Heir was known and Claim'd his Right you must add that too and that the Debate which the Pharisees kept up was not only Negatively against a Forreign Authority but also positively for some Person publiquely known to be that Righteous Heir This indeed would conclude somthing and reach our Case Page 9. But the Task is too hard to be undertaken since that Positive Law which Excludes all Aliens Commands also to make Him their King whom God shall Choose Deut. 17.15 So that God's Designation of the Person and the Peoples Election are Precedent to any Right and must be made out before any Righteous Heir according to this Law can appear Besides our Saviour does not answer to a question of Allegiance but of Tribute only which is indeed a good Argument for our payment of those heavy Taxes that are Luke 20.22 and must be laid upon us but who has hitherto scrupled to do this But let our Saviour's answer to this Ensnaring Question be Extended to the utmost it will amount to no more then this That they should Acquiesce under the Roman Usurpations For the annexed Command Luke 20 25. To give to God the things that are God's may be reasonably thus Interpreted That since God vouchsafed to be their King they should reserve their Entire Obedience and Allegiance to him and to a King of his appointment which was the Debate the Pharisees kept up This Interpretation seems the more probable Luke 20.26 because both the Pharisees and Herodians Marvelled at his Answer wherein he had so equally divided and reconciled the matter in dispute between them that they were both satisfy'd and held their peace However this is Evident that God long before this Revolution had declar'd by the Prophets that at the coming of the Messiah the whole Constitution of the Jewish Government should be Dissolv'd And chang'd from a Temporal particular Kingdom to a Spiritual Universal Monarchy under Christ the King Who then should endeavour to maintain this Government fore-ordain'd by God to Dissolution and thereby resist his Will But I hope We are not yet determin'd for destruction at least I have not heard of any such Revelation notwithstanding the Face of publique Affairs looks so very gloomy before us The two next Paragraphs are grounded upon the Revolutions in the Roman Empire which was never yet call'd Haereditary Page 11. §. 7. and Page 13. §. 8. And therefore as they have no Relation to us so I will say no more to 'em then this that however the Election of the Emperours was extorted by force yet certain it is there was always an appearance of an Election and something like a Consent was always obtain'd from the Senate and People who had the only Right to confer this Honour upon them And they all Acquiesc'd in these unfair Elections This alone was sufficient reason and Obligation for all private Persons who had no such Right of Electing not to trouble themselves with Enquiries into Titles But farther the Empire being thus Elective Page 12. whenever an Emperour was Dethron'd all his Right fell with him and none could Claim by Descent from him So that all the Primitive Christians might safely swear the Military Oath to the Possessour of the Empire Page 13. after they had been Absolv'd from that to the former by his death Yet it does not appear and I believe them so good Soldiers in every respect that methinks your Lordship would much blast their Courage as well as Fidelity should you affirm that ever they Deserted their unfortunate
most UNPARALLELL'D TREASON c. and ALL PROCEEDINGS TENDING thereunto how far this last Expression will reach I leave Your Lordship to be Judge Again when King Charles II. is said to be exterminated into Foreign Parts by the most TRAYTEROUS CONSPIRACIES 12 C. 2. c. 14. c. of USURPING TYRANTS and EXECRABLE PERFIDIOUS TRAYTORS than all which nothing can be exprest more Monstrous Yet that whole Revolution was transacted by the two Houses of Parliament with this addition above our late Convention of a Legal Summons to justifie their Meeting and the Royal Assent to Sit in effect 16 C. 1. c. 7. as long as they pleas'd But if that Parliament be not a Parallell I am sure that that Convention which Elected Cromwel to be Protector is so in every respect For did the apparent Necessities of the publick to prevent an Anarchy during the King's Secess require this the same Necessities requir'd that Was this Summon'd by one who was desir'd to take upon himself the Government and had an Army at his Command to support him in it till the Meeting thereof so was that Were the Members of this duly Elected and the Houses full so were they Had these an entire freedom of Debates so had they In the Result of their Consultations indeed they differ Those being abundantly more modest than these For these without any Precedent in any Age in this Kingdom Elect and purely Create a King who had before no pretence of Title to the Crown Whereas they very modestly go no further then to Declare a Protector for which they have many Precedents tho' none throughly adapted to their Case But notwithstanding all these Extremities of the Publick the Summons of the Administrator of the Government the fair Elections the freedom of Debates and the Result of all this the Election of Oliver into the Protectorate yet the Healing Parliament of K. Charles 2. Declare and Enact 12 C. 2. c. 12. that the Names and Stiles which those pretended Powers Usurped and every of them are most REBELLIOUS WICKED TRAYTEROUS and ABOMINABLE USURPATIONS DETESTED by this present Parliament as OPPOSITE in the highest degree to his Sacred Majesty's most JUST and UNDOUBTED RIGHT 13 C. 2. c. 1 12 C. 2. c. 30. c. and upon that Account they Declare all their Pretended Orders and Ordinances to be Null and Void Attaint the Protector himself of High Treason and Brand him with the Titles of USURPER and TYRANT and to express an Indignation effectually 12 C. 2. c. 12. §. 13. after his Death his Body was Hang'd at Tyburn An Vnlucky Omen avertat Deus But as if all this had been foreseen in sufficient to declare no Power in such Mock Parliaments to transact such Matters as this of ours has undertaken That Parliament proceeds 12 C. 2. c. 30. to Declare it does not Enact it a Law for the future tho' even that were Obligatory but Declares it to have been always a Fundamental Law of this Kingdom that not only neither the PEERS of this Realm nor the COMMONS nor BOTH TOGETHER in Parliament or OUT of Parliament but it goes on to Declare that not even the whole People either COLLECTIVELY or REPRESENTATIVELY nor any other Persons whatsoever EVER HAD HAVE HATH or OUGHT to have any COERCIVE POWER OVER the Persons of the Kings of this Realm Here is an express Renunciation of all the Consequences of an ORIGINAL CONTRACT But if that which was Committed against K. James was not a Coercition when he was put under a Foreign Guard driven from his own Palace and appointed his Place of Retirement The Dutch Marcht to Whitehall and mounted the Guard about 12 at Night and not long after the M. of Hallifax the E. of Shrewsbury and my Lord Delamere 't is pity their Names should ever be forgotten rudely prest into the King's Bedchamber and surprisingly wak'd him with this Message That the Prince Design'd to be at St. James's the next day by Noon and that it was therefore His Highness's Pleasure that his Majesty should retire in the Morning to Ham. 'T is true he went another way to Rochester but not till he had sent after his Goalors and ask'd their leave or rather Confinement and lastly when Deposed by a Vote of the Convenvention and his Throne declar'd Vacant if all this I say be not Exercising a Coercive Power I know not what is But should you still deny all this to be applicable to the late Convention you will surely allow this to be a Natural and a just Deduction that since it is less injurious to the King to restrain his Person for a time then to Judge and Depose Him the whole People of England as is above Confest and Declar'd having no Coercive can have therefore no Judicial Power over their Kings Yet this Power our Convention has arrogated to themselves and Acted solely by the pretence hereof contrary to this Fundamental Law 13. C. 2. c. 1. I will add but this one Statue more It is Prohibited under the pain and Penalty of a Premunire to affirm That both Houses of Parliament or either House of Parliament have or hath a Legislative Power without the King If then a Parliament has no Right to this surely much less to that whereby they may Judge or Constitute the Legislature it self These Declarations and Statutes which I have cited are of so late Date and the occasions of them so well known that I profess I can no more bring my self to believe that I cannot read or do not understand them and thereby Sacrifice my Notions in a Fact so Notorious â—…ge 19. to the Decision of a Convention at Westminster then I can all my Senses in the controversy about Transubstantiation to the Decree of a pretended General Council at Trent for I look upon both equally a Contradiction to Common sense And â—…ge 19. § 11. And now My Lord we are come to your last Refuge the Right of Conquest But this is a Plea so disrespectful to the whole English Nation as none but Your Lordship or one inflam'd with a National Antipathy against it one born in Scotland and Naturaliz'd in Holland would have vented Had this Plea been urg'd by the Dutch themselves it had been Vngrateful and Impudent Vngrateful because they owe their Being to the English Protection and Impudent because they never yet could boast a Victory except the Bloody Massacre at Amboyna were one This Plea is equally disrespectful too to the Prince of Orange whom it is produc'd to Vindicate for it makes him at once both Treacherous and Vnnatural Treacherous to the States General and all the Forreign Princes in Amity with them to whom he protested he meant nothing less then an Attempt upon the Crown and Treacherous to the English even beyond thought to whom he so often Declar'd that he came as a Friend and not an Enemy as a Protector and not an Invader or a Conqueror It makes him also
of like horrid Nature which were no less busily whisper'd through the whole Kingdom and with as great an Assurance of Truth as these your Lordship here insists on But why they should continue to be Secrets now is the greatest Secret Tho' I confess I am strongly enclin'd to believe that they were only invented to blacken the King and to Alienate the Affections of his Subjects from him so that since they have Answer'd the End of their Being in his Ruin there is no reason to publish the useful Malice of those who devis'd and dispers'd them by offering at Evidence where they know there is none The Committee of Noble Peers who made an Attempt towards some New Discoveries into the Unfortunate Death of the late E. of Essex had such ill Luck therein and their Creature the Witness was so shamefully baffled that we are left without all hopes of ever seeing further into those Mighty Mysteries of Iniquity charg'd upon the King But if these Crimes be indeed known to be true why are they not clear'd by some Solemn Testimony of credible Witnesses For if they be not known it can never be answer'd either to God or Man that a King should be thus Scandalously Defamed upon no sufficient Motives even of Credibility much less that the Justice of a War against him should be grounded on the pretence of a Common Fame then which nothing is more False and Malicious and to which I presume your Lordship has no great Temptation to Appeal No sufficient grounds therefore for the Justice of the War appears And if the War be unjust all the Acquisition is so too Page 21. But I will carry it one step further and in that as far as you your self can wish I will suppose the War just and therefore the Acquisition a Lawful Title yet the Prince of Orange is no more concern'd in it then every General in the case of Conquest The Honour is theirs But all the Benefit accrues to those only who had the Right to make the War So that whatever Obedience or Allegiance is due 't is not to the Prince but to the Princess in whose Right the War was begun and the Conquest if any made This is Evident and needs no more words for the confirmation of it Your Lordship I suppose never design'd that this next Fallacy should pass upon the World for an Argument You seem to be in the humour to make a Jest when you urge the King 's Deserting if forc'd as an Evidence of Conquest or if voluntary of a wilful Desertion forfeiting his Crown For was ever King thought to be Conquer'd only because he was Betray'd or lose his Right to his Dominions tho he lost the Possession because his Subjects prov'd Traytors and Deserted him All the Kings Actions and Councils have sufficiently shown that he did no more then what self-preservation and common Prudence oblig'd him to he gave way to a Torrent that would else have overwhelm'd him till he could gain time and strength to make head and Repel it which concludes no more against his Right then his Brothers Flight at Worcester did against His notwithstanding which his Restoring Parliament is said in the Title to be held in the twelfth Year of his Reign But this Reflection is forc'd and Malicious which you make upon his casting the Great Seals into the Thames From this Action which you call the unaccountable part of his withdrawing Page 22. you conclude that he had taken a Resolution of Perpetual Tyranny and that he would no more Govern by the shew of Law Whereas if your Lordship considers that the Broad Seal carries with it the Kings Authority as well as his Image you must own that he had great Reason to keep it from the hands of those who were so insolent to him least thereby they should get an opportunity to employ his Authority against his Person Lastly The Dilemma which your Lordship brings for the Conclusion of the whole is Defective in every part For when the King with-drew he left his Privy-Council who have Power of themselves and he soon after sent a Letter to them with his Directions to issue Orders for the due Administration of the Government All Towns Corporate were Restor'd to their Ancient Rules and Charters and there were Sheriffs and Justices of the Peace in most Counties for the Civil and Lord Lieutenants and their Deputies for the Military State So that we were not and therefore there was no necessity of Continuing in a State of Anarchy Page 22. If these did not Act according to their Commissions in their several Stations the fault was not the King 's but Theirs who so far over-aw'd them that they durst not Besides we must not lay too much stress upon this lest we find an Uparallell'd Neglect in the first beginnings of the Prince's Government For he apply'd no other Remedy to this intollerable Confusion during his Administration of Publique Affairs before he was Proclaim'd and some time after but to remove that Awe and Dread of his Displeasure they then Labour'd under and to give them new Life to Execute that Power they had received from the King by an encouraging Proclamation So that in whatever Anarchy the King Left us the Prince Continu'd us But I confess it was such that very few would have suffer'd by it tho He at the same time had Return'd into Holland The Necessity was not greater of Returning to that Misery Page 22. we so much dreaded a few Months before For our Case was so well amended before the Prince of Orange Landed that could we then have remain'd or now have leave to return to the same Condition we should have no just Cause of complaint or fear However I have above in some measure show'd Page 23. that the present Settlement has no Legall Foundation and therefore cannot likely long secure the Peace and Quiet of the Nation So that the same Misery and Confusion does still threaten us with this Addition that we cannot now have the comfort of suffering Innocently We have Plung'd our selves into the same sin of Faction and Conspiracy which we so Severely I had almost said Vncharitably â—…eigh'd against in others And therefore if the King should Return we must expect to be Chastis'd if not Punish'd but if not tho the Prince may serve himself of our supiness I cannot think he will ever forget or forgive the Treachery Peace of Conscience is all we can hope for and that we shall not find till we have made an Attonement for our Sin Page 23. The next thing Observable chills my Blood An English Bishop dogmatically Affirming that in all Extremities relating to the Government that is always best which is safest and every Resolution which is necessary to the Peace and Happiness of the Nation is upon that very account Just and Good because it is Necessary This had sounded much better in the Schooles of the Jesuits And is far more
is a known Maxim that the King of England never dies This Kingdom knows no interregnum But when the Predecessor Ceases Then the Successor begins to Reign And therefore in all the Revolutions which have happen'd in England it is remarkable that the Right of Inheritance was always the Claim tho' often unjustly apply'd to the Person Thus K. Henry the Fourth Cott. Rec. 1 H. 4. P. 388. so soon as the Resignation of K. Richard the Second was read and the Sentence of Deposition was pronounc'd immediately stood up and CLAIM'D the Kingdom and Crown of England c. as his INHERITANCE descending by RIGHT from K. Henry the Third Nay even the Election of that Bloody Vsurper K. Richard the Third See the Record at large Cot. Rec. 1. R. 3. Page 709. by the Three Estates out of Parliament the only Precedent for our late Convention which was also confirm'd by a succeeding Parliament was grounded upon his RIGHT TITLE and ESTATE c. to and in the Crown c. by the Laws of God and Nature and also by the ancient Laws c. of this Realm c. And therefore it was Decreed c. That he was the very undoubted King c. as well by RIGHT of Consanguinity and INHERITANCE as by Election The Recognition of the Parliament to K. James the First is yet more full For they acknowledge 1 Jac. 1. c. 1. That IMMEDIATELY upon the Dissolution and Decease of Elizabeth late Queen of England the Imperial Crown of the Realm c. did by INHERENT BIRTH-RIGHT and Lawful and Vndoubted SUCCESSION descend c. to his Majesty From which and many other Passages in our Laws and Histories it is Evident that by the Constitution of this Government the Crown immediately devolves to the Heir by a Lineal Haereditary Right of Succession So that there is no room for either a Convention or a Parliament to appoint or determine the Successour because he is actual King before they can even Assemble to proclaim him much less to make such a Decision as manifestly supposes or makes an Interregnum and breaks the Succession by excluding the known Rightful Heir But I perceive your Lordship is positively in the Right Page 26. and that you have Examin'd the Nature of Civil Societies in general according to the Roman Law and the Nature of the English Government from the Laws and History of England with so much Care that you understand our Constitution much better then our Legislators themselves and may therefore be allowed to Contradict them as oft as you please But methinks some maintainers of a contrary Opinion deserve more Consideration from an English Bishop then your Lordship here seems willing to afford them It is a very bold Censure that at once reaches the Compilers of the Homilies a whole Vniversity and the Repeated Convocations of the Clergy and that charges all these Ornaments of the Church of England with want of Learning or Care to understand the Constitution of our own Government and of the Necessary Knowledge of the Degrees of Submission which are due from the Subjects to our Kings for all these agree that a Supream Power is lodg'd with them which Exempts them from being call'd to an Account Page 26. or Resisted by their People 1. Your Lordship sometime ago thought it Answer sufficient to the Bishop of Oxford to show that his Assertions were repugnant to the Doctrine of this Church as Exprest in the Homilies And prest it justly enough upon him that he must either Renounce our Church Enquiry into the Reasons for Abrogating the Test Art 35. and all he Possest in Consequence of his having Sign'd her Articles wherein it is Declar'd that the Homilies contain a Godly and wholesome Doctrine or else that he must Answer his own Plea Your Lordship has Subscrib'd them as well as He And if you continue of the same Opinion you too must either Retract or Resign For they lay this down for an Universal Principle That Kings and Princes Hom. against Reb. Par. 1. as well the EVIL as the GOOD do Reign by GOD's ORDINANCE and a little lower declare their Original to be neither by Chance and Fortune nor by Ambition but that they are SPECIALLY appointed by the ORDINANCE of GOD. They hence Conclude that when God gives a People an EVIL Prince he does it for the punishment of their Sins and that we are therefore bound to Obey such least after we have provok'd God by our Wickedness to place them over us by Rebelling against them we be found to Rebel also against God And to shew the reasonableness of this Opinion they add What a Perilous thing were it to Commit unto the Subjects the Judgment which Prince is Wise and Godly and his Government Good and which is Otherwise As though the Foot must Judge the Head But they carry the Case further and suppose the Prince to be Evil indeed and also evident to all Mens Eyes that he is so What 's to be done to have such an Evil remov'd from us Their Answer is Let us take away our Wickedness which provok'd God to place such a one over us and God will either displace him or of an Evil Prince make him a Good Prince so that we first will change our Evil into Good But to obviate all Objections that can be rais'd they go on thus Ib. Par. 2. Shall not we especially being so Good Men as we are Rise and Rebel against a Prince HATED of GOD and GOD's ENEMY and therefore likely not to prosper either in Peace or War but to be Hurtful and PERNICIOUS to the COMMON-WEALTH No. What shall we then do to an EVIL to an UNKIND Prince our KNOWN MORTAL and DEADLY ENEMY HATED of GOD HURTFUL to the COMMON-WEALTH c Lay no VIOLENT HAND upon him saith good David but let him LIVE till GOD appoint and work his End either by NATURAL DEATH or in War by LAWFUL ENEMIES not by TRAITEROUS SUBJECTS Lastly since the Redress of the Common-Wealth and the Defence of Religion are the usual Pretences for all Insurrections Ib. Par. 4. they have carefully prepar'd fit Antidotes against these Pests Against the former this Rebellion is the greatest Ruin and Destruction of all Common-Wealths and against the later this The TRUTH of the Gospel though it cost them their LIVES that Teach it is able to maintain the True Religion In a word God alloweth neither the DIGNITY of any Person nor the MULTITUDE of any People nor the WEIGHT of ANY CAUSE as SUFFICIENT for the which the Subjects may move Rebellion against their Princes I shall only observe upon all this that let the Pretence of taking Arms against the King be what it will the Compilers of these Homilies call it in plain Terms nothing less then Rebellion And therefore since this Doctrine is Calculated for the Meridian of England before I can submit to Swear the New Oaths whereby I should be oblig'd as much
as in me lies to support an Establishment whose Foundation is Rebellion I must either be Convinc'd that the Doctrine of these Homilies is not what I have subscrib'd GOOD and WHOLESOME or else I must have this DOCTRINE and these OATHS Reconcil'd 2. The Vniversity of Oxford in a full Convocation have given their Opinion that there cannot be any Power LAWFULLY Exercised within this Kingdom which is not SUBORDINATE to that of the King How then Profiteamur non neutiquam intelligere posse qui possit in hoc regno Potestas aliqua legitime exerceri quae non sit Regiae Potestati Subordinat Jud. Acad. Ox. 1. 1 Jun. 1647. §. viii I beseech your Lordship can the King be accountable to any For to be oblig'd to give an account is the greatest Instance of Subordination Imaginable But the same Vniversity has since given their Judgment more distinctly and definitively and Decreed Judg'd and Declar'd Jud. Acad. Ox. 21. Jul. 1683. all and every of these and some other there mentioned Propositions to be FALSE SEDITIOUS and IMPIOUS and most of them to be also HERETICAL and BLASPHEMOUS INFAMOUS to Christian Religion and Destructive of All Government in CHURCH and STATE viz. Prop. I. All Civil Authority is derived Originally from the People Prop. II. There is a mutual Compact Tacit or Express between a Prince and his Subjects and that if he perform not his Duty they are Discharg'd from theirs Prop. III. That if lawful Governors become Tyrants or govern otherwise then by the â—…aws of God and Man they ought to do they forfeit the Right they had unto their Government Prop. IV. The Soveraignty of England is in the three Estates viz. King Lords and Commons The King has but a co-ordinate Power and may be over ruled by the other two Prop. V. Birthright and Proximity of Blood give no Title to Rule or Government and it is lawful to preclude the next Heir from his Right of Succession is the Crown Prop. VI. It is lawful for Subjects without the consent and against the Command of the Supreme Magistrate to enter into Leagues Covenants and Associations for Defence of themselves and their Religion Prop. VIII The Doctrine of the Gospel concerning patient suffering of Injuries is not inconsistent with violent resisting of the higher Powers in case of Persecution for Religion Prop. IX There lies no Obligation upon Christians to Passive Obedience when the Prince commands any thing against the Laws of our Countrey and the Primitive Christians chose rather to die then resist because Christianity was not yet settled by the Laws of the Empire Prop. X. Possession and Strength give a right to Govern and Success in a Cause or Enterprize proclaims it to be lawful and just to pursue it is to comply with the will of God because it is to follow the conduct of his Providence Prop. XV. If a People that by Oath and Duty are oblig'd to a Soveraign shall sinfully dispossess him and contrary to their Covenants chuse and Covenant with another they may be obliged by their latter Covenant notwithstanding their former Prop. XVII An Oath obliges not in the sense of the Imposer but the Takers Prop. XVIII Dominion is founded in Grace Prop. XXVII K. Charles the First made War upon his Parliament and in such a case the King may not only be Resisted but he ceaseth to be King These and some other Democratical Propositions being thus Condemn'd by such Authority and in such Terms I do not envy your Lordship the Honour of maintaining them 3. Lastly The Doctrine of Non-Resistance against our Kings tho' Tyrants and of their Exemption from Account to any Power on Earth is Asserted by a far greater and more Convincing Authority the Injunctions of the King 1 Inj Ed. 6. 1 Inj. Eliz. Bp. Sparrow's Col. P. 2 67. and the Canons and Constitutions of the Church ever since the Reformation In the Injunctions we find that all Ecclesiastics should Preach four times every Year that the King's Power c. is the HIGHEST POWER under God to whom ALL Men by GOD 's LAWS owe MOST Loyalty and Obedience afore and ABOVE ALL Other Powers and Potentates on Earth Cranm. Art ib. P. 23. Rid. Art ib. P. 36. The observance whereof is made an Article of Enquiry by A. B. Cranmer in his Visitations distinct from that about the Popes Supremacy And Bishop Ridley Enquires further whether any Preach that private Persons MAY make Insurrections But if your Lordship will not Acquiesce in the Authority and Decision of these Injunctions and Articles of Enquiry Syn. Lond. An. 1603. can 1. ib. p. 271. I hope you will have some Respect to a Provincial Synod Yet that in the First Year of K. James I. Constitutes and Ordains the same thing with these Injunctions and in the same words The Nine and Thirty Articles of Religion are of a yet greater Authority For they were agreed upon by the Clergy of both Provinces An. 1562 and were afterward Ratify'd and Confirm'd by a Provincial Synod An. 1571. Rat. 39. Art ib p. 107 222 These Articles all we of the Clergy are oblig'd to subscribe and to acknowledge that all and every single Article therein contained is agreeable to the Word of God Syn. Lond. An And so much Care is taken to discover any Change of our Opinion 1603. can 36. ib. p. 287. Ib. can 37. Syn. Lond. An. 1571. can de Ep. ib. p. 223. with Relation to any of them that as oft as we remove from one Diocess to another we are oblig'd to Repeat the same Subscriptions A preceeding Synod is yet stricter for it requires us not only to subscribe our Assent but to give our Solemn Promise that we will Maintain and Defend the Doctrine contained in them as most Agreeable to the Truth of the Divine Word But besides this Particular Obligation us of our Repeated Assent 13 Eliz. c. 12. 14 C. 2. c. 4. two Parliaments have also Confirm'd these Articles After which we are to look upon them as transfer'd from the Ecclesiastical to the Civil State and Incorporated with the Laws and Constitutions of this Government So that every Lawyer as well as Divine is oblig'd to submit to their Authority and to be concluded by them and therefore to own with them Art Rel. An. 1562. n. 37. Spar Col. p. 105. that the Queens Majesty hath the CHIEF POWER in this Realm of England c. unto whom the CHIEF GOVERNMENT of ALL Estates of this Realm whether they be Ecclesiastical or Civil in all Causes doth Appertain But to prevent all Exceptions and Evasions hereof and for ever to Silence those Democratical Principles that begun to be Industriously maintained and instill'd into the People about the year 1640 in order to hasten that Wonderful Rebellion which soon after broak out the Church took care to Decree Syn. Lond. An 1640. can 1. ib. p. 346. that the Most High and Sacred
Order of Kings is of DIVINE RIGHT being the ORDINANCE of GOD HIMSELF founded upon the PRIME LAWS of NATURE and clearly Established by EXPRESS Texts both of the Old and New Testaments A SUPREME POWER is given to this most Excellent Order by GOD HIMSELF in the Scriptures which is That Kings should Rule and Command in their several Dominions ALL Persons of what Rank or Estate soever whether Ecclesiastical or CIVIL That when Prelates used the Power of Calling and Dissolving Councils c. It was as in times of PERSECUTION with supposition in case it were required of submitting their very LIVES unto the very Laws and Commands even of those PAGAN Princes that they might not so much as SEEM to disturb their CIVIL Government which Christ came to Confirm but by No Means to Undermine For any Person or Persons to set up maintain or avow in any their said Realms c. under ANY PRETENCE whatsoever Any INDEPENDENT COACTIVE Power either Papal or POPULAR whether Directly or Indirectly is to UNDERMINE their great Royal Office and Cunningly to Overthrow that most Sacred ORDINANCE which GOD HIMSELF hath Established And so is TREASONABLE against GOD as well as against the King For Subjects to bear ARMS against their Kings Offensive or DEFENSIVE upon ANY PRETENCE whatsoever is at least to Resist the Powers which are ORDAINED of GOD And though they do not Invade but only RESIST St. Paul tells them plainly They shall receive to themselves DAMNATION Rom 13.2 This Extract from the Publique and Authentick Records of the Church of England will I hope Convince Your Lordship and the World that the Doctrine to which we have so often given our Assent is Evidently Repugnant to the Deposing our Kings by Any Povver on Earth And that therefore K. James II. according to our own Doctrine our Subscriptions have made it such is still our Lawful King notwithstanding his Failings in the Administration of the Government that we still owe him the Allegiance of Faithful Subjects and for that very Reason we cannot Swear the the New Oaths and thereby transfer it during his Life to any Other Whether it will prove Effectual to this end or no time will inform us But I think it cannot possibly fail of another which is this to Vindicate my self and my Brethren and Fellow-Sufferers from your Lordships severe and uncharitable Censure of Adhereing Obstinately to a preconceited groundless Opinion Page 28. since 't is Evident that we hold no more then is plainly Decree'd by so considerable a part of the Catholique Church and the only Support of the Reformation And we cannot but believe that should we Renounce this Truth to prevent a Persecution or to keep the Doors of our Churches shut against the Dissenters the Reproach and Scandal hereof would be indelible I cannot close this Letter Page 28. till I have given my Opinion of the Passage you cite out of the Magna Charta granted by K. John which you say is now with his Great Seal to it in your Lordship's hands An unfit Archive for Records of such Publique Concern Tho' I do not see that it Concludes very strongly in Favour of the Proceedings in this late Revolution An exact Judgement indeed cannot be given without a sight or a Copy of the rest of the Charter But by comparing and examining some Copies of Records relating to the Transactions of those Times which now happen to be in my hands I am induced to entertain this Opinion of it that that Charter has not the force of a perpetual Law in every Clause and Member of it But that it was only a Personal Treaty and Pacification between that King and his Rebellious Barons who overpower'd him And does no more Bind his Successors in this Part of it then his Surrender of the Crown into the hands of his Holiness and his receiving it again in Vassalage from him I am enclin'd to this Opinion by these following Considerations 1. That within the space of Nine Years this Charter was Ratifi'd at least four times For the doing whereof no tollerable Reason can be Assign'd if it had at first the Force and Continuance of a Law 1. The first Confirmation of it was granted in the First Year of the Reign of K. Henry 3. and probably at his Coronation for within four or five Months after the Death of his Father I find him granting to his Subjects of Ireland thus that You may enjoy the same Liberties Libertatibus Regno nostro Angliae a Patre Nostro NOBIS Concessis Dat. ap Glouc. 6 Feb. Rot. Pat. 1 H. 3. m. 13. as have been granted to our Kingdom of England by our Father and by Vs Which he could not have said had not he himself either Granted or at least Confirm'd them 2. A second Confirmation I meet with in the beginning of the Second Year of the same King's Reign For when he sent down his Charters into the several Counties he sent with them a Mandate to the Sheriffs to see them Proclaim'd in their full County Courts Rex c. Salutem Mittimus tibi Chartas de Libertatibus c. Mandantes quatenus eas legi facias publice in Pleno Comitatu tuo c. dat 22 Feb. Rot. Claus 2 H. 3 The Date of the Mandate is 22 Feb. and therefore a strong presumption that these Charters themselves were distinct from those above-mentioned Because it is very improbable that the former Grant and Ratification which he made above a Year before should lie so long conceal'd and should then want to be disperst and publisht But the Collector of these Records says that in an Ancient MS. supposed to be Writ about the time of K. Edward 1. he finds the Date of these Charters to be 6 Nov. An. Reg. 2. which is a Demonstration of a second Grant 3. In the Year 1218 after Michaelmass and consequently either the latter end of the second Fox's Acts and Mon. ad an 12â—8 or beginning of the third Year of his Reign this King held a Parliament at Westminster wherein he Confirm'd and Ratify'd by his Charter all the Franchises which were made and given by King John his Father 4. In the Seventh Year of his Reign he was Adjudg'd of Age being sixteen Years Old to take the Government into his own Hands This he had no sooner done then the A. B. of Canterbury in open Parliament minds him of the Oath which was Sworn in his Name by the E. of Pembroke Rectore Regis Regni and others at the Pacification between Him and the Dauphin That he would restore and confirm those Liberties to his Subjects for which the War or rather Rebellion broke out between his Father and the Barons Upon this Admonition he owns the Obligation of the Oath and Issues out Writs into every County whereby Twelve Men were Chosen to make Enquiry upon Oath after such Liberties and Franchises as were not Granted by King John Per