Jure proprietatis or In patrimonio imperantis that is properly or in Property or in chief or how else you please to render these Words in English Which Grotius in the same Chapter explains by a Jus regendi non aliunde pendens A Right of Government not depending upon any other humane Authority whatsoever Mer. But Sir since you have founded Empire upon a Supreme Right of Government or Power over Men how comes it to pass that we find a Right of Power and Priviledges and Government too so founded in the Possession of several Lands that the Possession of those Lands alone gives a Man several Rights and Prerogatives For example amongst us 't is said That whosoever hath the Right and Possession of the Barony of Burgaveny besides some others becomes thereby a Baron of England and enjoys those Priviledges which belong to it In France I have heard say That nothing is more common than for Men to receive their Titles according to their Lands whether Count Baron Marquess and so forth Is it not plain then That the Right of Command or Power which is Empire may be founded upon Property according to our Author's Interpretation that is the Possession of Lands Trav. I agree to what you have urg'd that is to say That several Priviledges and Right of Power are annexed to several Lordships or Terres Nobles that they have thereby haute basse Justice and their Jurisdiction extends to Life and Death Nay more in several parts of Italy and particularly in Lombardy there are several Imperial Feuds which Grotius seems to call Regna Feudalia which have almost as great Prerogatives as some other Kingdoms have They make Laws raise Taxes and mint Money as other greater Kingdoms do And yet all this makes little for our Author's Aphorism as by him interpreted Mer. The Reason if you please Trav. Because all those little Lordships or Principalities whether they were instituted at first by the Goths and Vandals or Lombards or granted afterwards by several later Emperours and Kings or both as is most probable yet they did and still do at this day depend upon a Superiour Power and pay Homage and Fealty for those Priviledges which they enjoy which is much different from Empire or a Sovereign Right of Power And yet even in this Case this subordinate Power is so far from being founded upon the Possession of all the Land belonging to the Feud which is our Author's Proposition that very often their Liberties depend only upon the old Walls of a ruinated Castie and a very inconsiderable Number of Acres which represent the whole Feud or Mannor the rest of the Land having been sold away and become the Property of others some small Rent only or Acknowledgment being reserv'd And after this manner the Supreme Power may as well tye Priviledges to a Post and grant the Possessor of that Post such Royalties as the Proprietor of such a Castle or Land Which is very far from proving that the Possession of Lands doth thereby originally create a Sovereign Right of Power Mer. Cousin I have heard and read too I think that the Sea hath formerly eaten up a considerable part of your ancient Patrimony and from thence it may be you are no Friend to Lands But for my part I will stand up for Land as long as I can and must therefore ask you Why those Rents or Acknowledgments were reserv'd if not to testifie that they came originally from the Lord and that thereby he still keeps up a kind of Sovereign Right to the Lands themselves knowing well enough that his Power according to our Author is founded upon them Trav. This yet signifies nothing for although the Reservation of these Rents or Services do preserve the Memory of the Benefactor and continue the Respect due from the Tenant yet this is personal only and hath no Relation to the publick Right of Power or Government For when this Rent was not reserv'd yet whosoever lives within the Jurisdiction of such a Fewd or Mannor is always subject to him who enjoys the Lordship So in England Services and Quit-Rents have been generally receiv'd and paid untill the late King and his present Majesty were pleas'd to dispose of them But to believe that this hath lessened his Sovereign Right of Government is a Fancy that sure cannot enter into the Head of any sober Man But let us put a plain Case Suppose the Kingdom of England were at any time obtain'd by absolute Conquest as I conceive it was more than once and that such Conquest gives the Conquerour a Sovereign Right not only to our real and personal Estates which we find to have been wholly in the hands of some of our Kings but also over our Liberties and Lives as may be fully seen in Grotius de Jur. B. P. Now Sir supposing a People in this Condition and having nothing of their own submit themselves and all they have to the Mercy of the Conquerour as the Carthaginians did to the Romans you will grant I imagine that this Conquerour is an Emperour to all Intents having an absolute Right of Power over the People and their Land also Mer. Yes certainly as long as he keeps himself and People in that Condition there cannot want any thing to make him an absolute Monarch Trav. But we will farther suppose That our Conquerour being of a more noble and more humane Temper than it may be our Author would have been orders diligent Inquisition to be made into the Value of his conquer'd Lands Which being done and enter'd into a Register such as we call Doomsday Book the Conquerour divides most of these Lands between the Conquerours and the Conquered some he returns to their former Owners upon certain Conditions or Services others he changeth To his Noblemen and Favourites he grants great Titles and Priviledges to the Gentry less and to the vulgar or common sort some small Possessions which with a little Labour and Diligence will enable them to live easily and peaceably the rest of their days All these become an Inheritance to themselves and their Heirs according to their several Tenures which the Conquerours have generally created and which we call Property These Sir being thus established and the Lands of the Kingdom setled after this manner the Conquerour or King himself reserves it may be a small part which we call Crown Lands and in Consideration of his Right of Conquest and those Benefits which he hath bestowed upon his People in granting them their Liberties Lives and Lands he continueth to himself the Power of making and abolishing Laws according as he shall think most fit and proper for the Peace Honour and Safety of his Government He creates Magistrates for the due Execution of these Laws who in his stead and by his Authority have a Power to judge between his Subjects and in some Cases between his Subjects and himself or his Attorney Besides these he retains the sole Power of making Peace and War of
our Doting Mountebank impudently proposed From these Ostrogoths and Gepidae sprang the Lombards whom Narses the Roman Patrician inviting into Italy and shewing them the goodness of the Soyl and warmth of the climate by the richness of the Wines and pleasantness of the Fruit which he sent them as a Present to encourage their remove at last they undertook the journey and finding the Countrey fully answer their expectation from guests as they were intended they became masters And having introduced several of their own Laws and Customs have left many of them remaining even to this day with the name of Lombardy to one of the most fertile Provinces of Italy Merch. Pray what kind of Government did they settle amongst themselves Trav. The most popular that could be contrived For hating the Roman Emperors from whom they had usurped those Lands which they did possess as the offender is oftentimes the last reconciled they set up a Government as contrary to Monarchy as they could invent For obtaining leave to use their own form under certain conditions and restrictions they chose to be governed under Consuls which they elected annually for the most part out of three orders which they distinguished into Captains Vaivods and the Commonalty And that they might secure themselves from the ambition of the great ones they made no scruple to choose into the most honourable employments the most mercenary Tradesmen and Artificers Inferioris conditionis juvenes vel quoslibet contemptibilium etiam mechanicarum artium opifices quos caeterae gentes ab honestioribus liberioribus studiis tanquam pestem propellunt ad militis cingulum vel dignitatum gradus assumere non dedignentur Merch. What was the effect of this their Popular Government Trav. The same which generally happens in all such low irregular constitutions that is to say defection from their Soveraign and division amongst themselves so that every Town became a different Commonwealth and were never united or friends but when they were to oppose the Emperor and that they seldom fail'd to do as often as occasion happened For instance the Emperors always reserved a certain tribute which they called Fodrum to be payed them as often as they should pass out of Germany into Italy The denial of this Fodrum produced most desperate Wars insomuch that the Emperors were generally forced to fight their passage to Rome through their own Dominions At last under Frederick the first most of those Corporation Towns were utterly destroyed Amongst these Milan was the chief seat of Rebellion then Brescia Bergamo and several others shared in the same fate as they had done in the same fault Merch. I thought there had been several Imperial feuds in Lombardy as you lately observed and Counties what became of them did they follow the Government of those great Towns Trav. Sir there were several Marquisses and Counts who had great priviledges and possessions But in the absence of the Emperor they were in a manner necessitated to acquiesce under the irresistible force of an insolent people Vixque aliquis nobilis vel vir magnus tam magno ambitu inveniri queat qui civitatis suae non sequatur imperium But many times upon the return of the Emperor into those parts they have been established in their Dominions and the Rebells severely punished as in the case of William Marquiss of Monferat and the Bishop of Aste to whom when the Citizens of Aste and Quiere the chief Towns belonging to them had refused to do justice concerning their rights and priviledges the Emperor Frederick the first punished those Citizens most severely as Revells and his declared enemies Now Sir if you have observed any thing in the Government of those Lombards which either makes for our Authors proposition or pleases your self let me know it and I shall shew you all the farther satisfaction I can Merch. I have nothing more to offer concerning them I hate their Government which I think makes little for us But I would gladly hear somewhat more of the Goths and Vandals because t is said they lived under a Monarchy though limited Trav. The later Goths which were of the race of the Visigoths being much weakned and harrassed by the Romans at last under their King Alaric obtained permission from the Emperor Honorius to retire into Spain But being treacherously pursued by Stilico whom they overcame were so incensed against the Romans that they immediately returned and sacking Rome again set down in that part of France which they call Provincia or Gallia Narbonensis There being again beaten they entred into Spain and possessed it which happened about the year of our Lord 412. Here they setled a Monarchical Government but not so absolute as formerly it had been before their separation a great part both of the power as well as the possessions being in the people Much such was the case of the Vandals who after they had run over almost all Italy taken Rome and Naples and had spread themselves all over Campania follow'd the Goths into Spain whence being invited by Bonifacius General to the Emperour Valentinian they pass'd the Streights at Cadiz into Africa which they possess'd near 100 years according to Procopius his account until Belisarius General to the Emperour Justinian routed them and restor'd the Province to the Roman Empire This happened about the year Five hundred and thirty Now Cousin you must observe that though both these Goths and Vandals instituted a kind of Kingly Government yet their Prince was rather a General than a Monarch and their affairs were for the most part so turbulent that they were in a continual state of war Sometimes their success was good but generally bad And as the honour of Victory is given to the chief Commander so the ill fortune falls heaviest upon his head who governs Hence those insolent people might possibly as our Author says beat the Kings brains out or commit many outrages upon his person who was indeed in some things accountable to his people and held a Kingdom so precarious that Grotius thinks them not worthy of the name or title of Kings But no man sure that had not his hands in some measure already dy'd with the blood of one of the best Kings could have commended a people for beating out the brains of their Soveraign nor imagined that some excellent person as he says contriv'd a Government in which the people have ever been call'd and accounted most barbarous by all the most civiliz'd Monarchies and learned men in Europe and even by Procopius himself He tells us that nothing remains that may give us any great light in what their excellencies consisted Truly our Author seems to have grop'd in the dark for all the arguments and authorities which he hath produc'd to favour his innovation But no wonder men avoid the light when their deeds and principles are evil Mer. But what say you to the possession of lands and share in the Government which are the points that chiefly concern
he perswades them to unite under one Government knowing that they would become thereby like a bundle of Arrows much the stronger And that the name of Tyrant might not affright them or the loss of their fond power and freedom discourage them he promised to abate so much of his own Soveraign right of Government as to consult with them and take their opinions in weighty affairs as he did in a common Hall or meeting place called Asty In this method things went prosperously on until one Mnesteus a factious and an ambitious Prince of the house of Ericthonius insinuating to the people that Theseus intended at last to enslave them he caused the Athenians to rebell Theseus retired to the Island Sâ—yros where he ended his days Mnesteus usurped the Kingdom but having held his ill gotten honour but a little while the sons of Theseus were remitted to the Throne of their father and Theseus was ever after adored amongst them as a God Now if there be any thing in this story which makes for our Author much good may it do him And lastly Romulus cannot sure be said to have instituted the Common-wealth of Rome any more than Charles the Fifth the Republick of Holland from whose successors those people rebelled Tacitus says most clearly That Rome was governed in the beginning by Kings and that their liberty was procured by L. Brutus Vrbem Romam à principio reges habuere Libertatem consulatum L. Brutus instituit And to shew the extent of his power he tells us Ann. lib. 3. that Romulus governed them according to his will Romulus ut libitum nobis imperaverat Plutarch calls the Government all along a Monarchy and after Romulus had instituted the Senate composed of the Patricii or chief Citizens whensoever he appointed them to meet they were obliged says he to observe his orders and commands without making any reply Constat initio civitatis Reges omnem potestatem habuisse says Pomponius That in the beginning of the City of Rome their Kings enjoyed intirely the whole Soveraign Authority But not to multiply Authorities to prove such vulgar truths I shall refer you to our Authors chief Divine I mean the Divine Machiavel as he stiles him more than once his words are full and very intelligible where he calls all three Princes and their Governments Kingdoms Verum ut ad eos qui non fortuna sed singulari virtute in Principes sunt evecti veniamus speaking all the while of Kings excellentiores dico fuisse Mosen Cyrum Romulum Theseum and again which puts all out of dispute At qui Cyrum reliquos qui Regna sibi pepererunt constituerunt c. And farther of Romulus quo Romano imperio potiretur de Principe ca. 6. And yet Plato Red. hath the confidence to affirm p. 31. that Romulus himself was no more than the first officer of the Common-wealth and chosen as the Doge of Venice is for life But if Plato's Divine were not an ignorant Ass then our Author is certainly a very impudent impostor Merch. Indeed Cousin I have great reason to believe that Plato's authorities and examples are as false as his principles absurd Besides supposing these great men had instituted popular Governments as I am fully convinced they did not what doth that concern us Is there no difference between the foundation of a new Government and the continuation of an old one Is there no distinction between the Roman State in its infancy which extended not for several years above fifteen Miles beyond their Walls and the Empire of great Britain and Ireland We know that many priviledges may be granted to the people at first for encouragement which afterwards may be inconsistent with the safety of the Government And is there no regard to be had to different circumstances but let us proceed In p. 62. we read That it is not dangerous to a City to have their people rich but to have such a power in the Governing part of the Empire as should make those who manage the affairs of the Commonwealth depend upon them which came afterwards to be that which ruined their libertie and which the Gracchi endeavoured to prevent when it was too late What means he by this Trav. Sir We will preserve his sence but giving other names to the Country People and Governours we shall see more plainly how it runs Let us say then that it is not dangerous for England to have their people rich even in land for he speaks immediately before of the Romans purchasing lands but to have such a share in the right of Government as should make the King who manages the affairs of the Kingdom depend upon them methinks it is very clear and it has ever been my judgment that the people might have what proportion their industry could procure them in the lands provided they did not pretend to any share in the Soveraign authority Mer. But this is directly contrary to his own beloved Aphorism Sure there must be somewhat more in it or else you will make him contradict himself Trav. Faith Sir I cannot help that Truth will come out sometimes in spite of the Devil Nor know I how to mend his sense except I should make him appear at the same time the most false partial and prejudiced scribler that ever wrote Mer. No matter Sir let us if we can preserve his sense which I believe he values himself most upon and let his honestly and honour take their chance Trav. Let us then see what follows Which says he came afterwards to be that which ruin'd their liberty and which the Gracchi endeavour'd to prevent Pray Cousin what is the antecedent to which in these two places Mer. Sure Sir that is most plain and according to my understanding it is that power in the governing part of the Empire c. Trav. You are right without doubt and I dare affirm that Q. Ennius himself could not make any other construction of it And if so then the whole sentence runs thus It was not dangerous to the Commonwealth of Rome to have their Subjects rich but it was dangerous that the Subject should have such a power in the governing part of the Empire as should make their Governours depend upon them which power of the people in the governing part of the Empire came afterwards to be that which ruin'd the peoples liberty And which power for all the world knows that and in this place is a conjunction copulative the Gracchi endeavour'd to prevent c. Now Sir the first part of this Sentence is most really sound doctrine and truth though diametrically opposite to Plato's grand proposition upon which undeniable Aphorism as he says he is to build most of his subsequent reasoning For indeed the people though never so rich are by no means to be trusted with a right of power but as I have said rather the contrary lest they should confound government or set it upon its head with its feet uppermost And
it we will suppose that by his Goths and Northern people he means the Saxons for the Danes were but a very little while I think not thirty years masters of England and so what may be gather'd in favour of his popular Government from them if any thing could would not be much material We will imagine then that our Saxons were of the race of the Goths and that retaining their customs They introduc'd many of them amongst us such as might be the division of the lands into several Feuds which they called Thane lands and were like our Mannors or Lordships under certain Tenures or Services Many also they might have found amongst the Britains and retain'd them under their own Government for it is certain the Britains held lands by several Tenures but whether they were originally of their own Institution or the remains of the Roman Clientela's and Praeda militaria I will not determine I have already told you that the Goths upon their first Transplantation and after they were setled in their new possessions were govern'd by Kings whose power encreas'd despotically according as the people grew secure and civiliz'd and so they continued above a thousand years nor do I find that the people in all this time pretended to any other share in the government than to meet in General Councils when the affairs of the Kingdom oblig'd their King to assemble them And truly I ever thought such National Assemblies when well regulated very conducible to the security and happy subsistence of all Governments and such our antient Monarchs have thought fit to make use of and have transmitted the custom of convoking such Councils which we not call Parliaments even to our days But that these Counsellors should have any right of command is so contrary to the design of their Institution that as this must needs be dangerous to the Government it self so they make their good Institution useless by rendring themselves suspected to the King who alone hath the right to assemble them For what wise Magistrate would by his own authority raise a power which he apprehends might shock his own The sad effects of this we have seen of late days among our selves when our Commoners in Parliament who were meer Counsellors and no more or Representatives with a power to consent have arrogated to themselves a Soveraign authority and under that pretence have forceably and violently subverted our antient Government and destroyed our Lawful and Natural Governour himself and have besides of late spent so much time in unnecessary new disputes concerning their own rights and prerogatives which really do not much concern us that they have totally neglected those main ends of their meeting which are the Security of our Government under our Lawful Soveraign and the peace and happiness of his people and which are the only blessings and benefits which we desire of them Nay they have been so far from procuring those advantages for us to which purposes they have been solely entrusted by us that their disputes concerning the Succession to the Crown of England which is indisputable The Right which the King hath to borrow money upon good Security which was never taken from the poorest of his Subjects shewing mercy upon unfortunate offenders which is his Nature as well as undoubted Prerogative and several such other irregular Heats and Animosities are the most apparent causes of our present horrid Conspiracies troubles and distractions But to return to our Goths I have told you that after their division those that spread toward the West and Southern parts of Europe were in a continual state of war and so their King was but their General whom sometimes they did depose or continue according as they found him capable of that great employment upon whose conduct in their dangerous circumstances their Lives and Fortunes did chiefly depend and such in some respects was the case of our Saxons under their Heptarchy here in England All the world knows that they invaded us without any pretence of title being only call'd in as friends by Vortigern the British King to assist him against the Scots and by degrees encroaching upon the Britains they erected several Kingdoms until at length the Native Inhabitants were totally over-power'd But this made very little alteration in their affairs for wanting a common enemy they were always quarrelling amongst themselves usurping upon one another untill their several little Governments were united under one Soveraign Monarch who was Egbert as some write or Alfred the eighteenth King of the West-Saxons ` T is true that during Vide Chron. Sir R Baker their Heptarchy they chose one amongst themselves who was the Supreme head of the rest and was call'd King of Engle-lond And it is recorded that eight of the Mercian Kings in a continued succession kept the Imperial Crown of the Heptarchy But it was rather a titular honour than a Soveraign right of Government and I do not find but that every particular King in his own Province did generally exercise those two great Regalities of making Laws and levying Taxes by vertue of his own authority But whether they did or not it is little to our purpose since we have no reason to follow the examples of those petty Kings and Vsurpers especially when we consider their circumstances But if we must lay aside the form of Government since the Norman conquest from whence our Aera begins and concerning which our Histories are more certain and Authentick let us then rather consult the Administration of those West-Saxons who solely and Soveraignly enjoy'd the Crown of England And not to be too tedious we will six upon King Edward the Confessor the last except Harold of our English Saxon Kings I shall not trouble you with much neither concerning him because you may find at large whatever can be said of him in our own English Histories I shall only therefore make this remark that we have had no Kings since William the Conqueror nor was he himself more absolute than King Edward the Confessor was I remember nothing of his impositions but rather believe there might have been none during his reign because I find that he remitted to his people the yearly Tribute of 40000 l. that had been gathered by the name of Danegelt But for Laws which now are made by Act of Parliament I observe no such Parliamentary way of proceedings in his days It is true that he called a Councel or Wittena Gemote which some call very improperly a Parliament especially as it is now understood in the second year of his Reign but the Commoners were so far from having any right of power that their presence was not really necessary Minores laici non sammoneri debent sed si eorum praesentia necessaria fuerit c. Which shews plainly that they might be omitted Nay although they were summoned and did not appear nevertheless the Parliament was taken to be full without them Which is a sufficient proof that the Commons
away the Kings Prerogative in the Affirmative Yet notwithstanding this and ten times more that may be said to this purpose our King is advised and perswaded nay almost necessitated as our Author would have it not only to quit some One of his Prerogatives but to make short work to release and give them up all at once In the next place let us consider Plato's excellent new model it self and here like a wise Politician he hath made Three co-ordinate powers in being at the same time that is to say King Lords and Commons I confess for the King he says little of him and with great reason for indeed he signifies nothing more than a Cypher which as in Arithmetick is only to make the Commons more valuable But to do our Author right he hath yet a farther use to make of this his otherwise useless Prince that is to say whilest neither his own Right nor his Power nor our Laws can secure himself his Name nevertheless is to preserve these his Masters With that they hope to prevent all opposition and civil wars at home For should they forceably depose him they justly apprehend that his Loyal Subjects in England would endeavour to revenge such an insupportable wrong Nor can they believe that the Kingdoms of Scotland and Ireland would again tamely submit their Necks to the servile yoke of a few ambitious English Commoners or that foreign Princes themselves would even for their own securities sake quietly and unconcern'd countenance this horrid injustice and outrage done to the sacred dignity of Kings But if they can perswade his Majesty willingly to depose himself and at the same time disinherit his Heirs and Successors they imagine that none can pretend to disapprove much less blame or impute to them the volunry act of a King For as Volenti non fit injuria and by consequence no offence in them so they will certainly reserve to themselves the honour of punishing in the King as their master-piece and last act of justice the Treason which he shall have committed against himself To facilitate all this our Author hath taken from his Majesty his Militia and his Revenue that is men and monâ—y which are the strength and sinews of Power and in the Commoners he hath plac'd the Royal authority of Calling Proroguing and Dissolving themselves And left the King in this miserable condition should have yet any hopes left even of securing his own Person he hath taken from him the power of making his own Officers and bestowing those imployments which have always depended upon the Regal authority Nay the Lords themselves are no more to receive their Honours from the Fountain of all Honour but must lick the dust from the shooes of their once obsequious vassals So our poor Master having nothing now to give must lose the hopes even of a grateful friend who in his extremity might at least wish him well and speak a good word for him to his insolent Governours Mer. But Sir our Author leaves most of these things in the disposition of the Parliament by which he tells us that he ever understood the King Lords and Commons so that neither his Militia nor Revenue can be said to be so absolutely taken from himself as granted to the Parliament in general of which he is still to be the head Trav. Ah Cousin there is deadly poison in this his varnished treacherous Cup and you will easily perceive it when you consider Plato cares not so much that the Militia should be in the power of the Commons as out of the King For whilest the King cannot dispose of it without the consent of his Lower House judge you whether they will ever agree to the raising any force which they shall not themselves command If then any difference arise upon that or any other point which unavoidably and designedly will happen then are the Commoners become immediately masters of all For what can the King do though joyn'd with the House of Lords without a right of command or force against a multitude and that so unequal too that if the House of Commons in Parliament represent the whole Nation as they pretend they do then are they at least ten thousand men against one though all the Nobility be included with the King The necessary consequence of all this must be that if on the one hand the King and Lords agree with the Commons in all things then the Commons govern more absolutely than if there were neither the one nor the other because there is no pretence against them On the other hand if they in any thing differ from the Commons then undoubtedly the disagreeing Lords as formerly shall be turned out of doors the King set aside and the Votes made by the House of Commons Jan. 4. 1648 revived and confirmed which being very short but plain I shall here repeat First That the people under God are the original of all just power Secondly That the Commons of England assembled in Parliament being chosen by and representing the people have the Supreme Authority of this Nation Thirdly That whatever is enacted and declared for Law by the Commons of England assembled in Parliament hath the force of a Law Fourthly That all the people of this Nation are included thereby although the consent and concurrence of the King and House of Peers be not had thereunto What think you now Cousin of these four Votes even whilst the King and Lords were yet in being Do they not look as if they designed a Commonwealth or rather to establish an arbitrary Tyrannical power in the House of Commons and yet their propositions all along to the King were the same which Plato hath again offered us that is leaving the Militia the publick revenue nomination of officers and such like to the Parliament by which was always meant King Lords and Commons This is the politick web which our Author pretends to have spun out of his own shallow brains and indeed it is so very wondrous thin that if our present Statesmen could not with half an eye see through it I should be apt to agree with our Author p. 22. that they ought in conscience to excuse themselves from that sublime imployment and betake themselves to callings more suitable to their capacities as Shoomakers Tailors and such other mechanick professions Merch. Sir the Sun at noon day is never more clear than that he designs at best a Commonwealth And indeed where three co-ordinate powers are in being at the same time it is impossible they should continue long in that state but some one or two must certainly in time over balance and get the advantage of the other I think Lucan confirmed this long ago when he said Nulla fides regni sociis omnisque potestas Impatiens consortis erit And the King having neither power strength money nor officers it is ten thousand to one as you observe on the Commons side who are actually possessed of all Pray therefore proceed
so necessary to be effected that it was morally impossible to succeed in the former until the latter was actually executed It being then most certain that our Authors intention was to establish a Common wealth I shall now give you my reasons why we ought not upon any terms to admit of it And first I shall not insist much upon those vulgar inconveniences which are visible to all men As for example the inevitable consequences of most bloudy wars For can any rational man believe that all the Royal family should be so insensible of their right and honour as never to push for three Kingdoms which would so justly belong to them or could they be supposed to leave England under their popular usurpation what reason hath Scotland to truckle under the Domination of the English Commonalty What pretence hath the English Subject supposing they were to share in the English Government over the Kingdom of Scotland All the world knows that that Kingdom belongs so particularly to our King that the late Rebells themselves did not scruple to call him King of the Scots Why should Ireland also become a Province to an English Parliament Or should both Kingdoms be willing to shake off the Government of their Natural Lawful and antient Monarchy why should they not set up a Democracy or an Aristocracy or what else they pleas'd amongst themselves Is there never a Statesman in the three Kingdoms but Plato Redivivus Can none teach them to Rebel but he No rules to maintain an usurpt Authority but what we find among his extravagancies I am confident you do not believe it Shall these people notoriously known to have hated one another whilst formerly they were under different Governours become the strictest friends when they shall return unto those circumstances under which they were the greatest enemies Will the French King take no advantage having so good a pretext of our Divisions Or should we unite against him under our popular Governours was it ever known that a Confederate army was able to defend themselves long against an Army of equal strength commanded by one sole absolute Monarch Can we foresee any thing but most desperate wars and can wars be supported but by most heavy taxes Were not our Thimbles and Bodkins converted in the late times into Swords and Mortar pieces and by a prodigious transmutation never before heard of were not our Gold and Ear-rings turn'd into a brazen Idol These consequences Cousin and dismal effects of a Commonwealth besides many other are so obvious that I shall not spend any more time to mind you of them Supposing then that none of those former horrid inconveniences might happen I must mind you by the way that one reason why our Author and the Associators desire a Commonwealth proceeds from the fear of a certain Arbitrary power which they pretend the King would introduce as may be seen pag. 161. 208 and in several other places Now Though nothing be more extravagant than such a groundless imagination our Author having assured us that his Majesty never did one act of Arbitrary power since his happy restoration And moreover pag. 176. That our laws against Arbitrary power are abundantly sufficient Yet that we may no more dispute this point I must produce Plato's own authority against himself in these words That the King fears his power will be so lessened by degrees that at length it will not be able to keep the Crown upon his head pag. 208. Nay farther in pag. 214. he shews us That it is impossible he should ever become an Arbitrary King For his present power as little as it is is yet greater than the condition of property can admit and in a word from his beloved Aphorism and the whole course of his Libel he endeavours to prove that Dominion being founded on the property and the property being in the people the King can have no manner of hopes upon earth of becoming absolute nor introducing an Arbitrary Government but by some Army of Angels from Heaven who must procure him an Authority which he cares not for The next and main reason why our Author would set up a Democracy at least as far as I can collect from the whole scope of his discourse is because the State inclines to popularity Now Sir for this last time I must make use of our Author 's own reasons against his own positions and do affirm that for this very reason were there no other all sober men and true Politicians ought to oppose with their utmost endeavours a Popular Government I will not recount to you the many mischiefs desolations and destructions which a popular power hath brought along with it whereever it goâ—â—he better of the antient Established Government of the place Somewhat hath been already said to this purpose in our discourse and much more may be read in the Histories of most parts of the world to which I refer you and shall only mind you of some inevitable consequences which will follow such an innovation amongst our selves And first if it be true that the King hath no power to make himself absolute then we have no cause to apprehend an Arbitrary power in him and by consequence no reason to change But if the inclination of the people be such that they will take advantage of the King's want of power and introduce their own Government what moderation may we expect from men towards those who are to become their Subjects who shaking off all sense of Justice Law Religion and temper dare usurp the Soveraign authority over their natural Governour Where shall we appeal for mercy when having cut the throat of the most merciful King in Europe we expose our own to our ambitious and unmerciful Tyrants Where shall we expect compassion towards our selves when we shall become Parricides and Regicides to our father and our King Where shall we seek after Eqâ—ity when the House of Lords the supreme Court of Equity are most unjustly turn'd out of doors and what end of our miseries can we ever hope for when our Tyrants by our villanous Authors constitution have not only got all the Wealth and Militia into their hands but have perpetuated their usurpation by annual Parliaments never to end Who being Judges of their own priviledges p. 254. may regulate elections as they shall think fit p. 249. Sit Adjourn Prorogue and Dissolve as they alone shall judge expedient What more barbarous villany was ever propos'd and publish'd under a lawful and peaceable Government besides our own upon earth But suppose our poor Country thus enslav'd and our antient Kingdom turn'd into a Common-wealth what can our new masters do for us more than is already done Can our libâ—rties be greater as to our persons and estates It is impossible to suppose it Will our properties be more secur'd all the Laws that ever were upon earth under any Government cannot make them more inviolable Nothing then can remain but liberty in Religion which we call of
Monarchies And that they descended for many ages successively from Father to Son as generally amongst us at this day I will pitch chiefly upon Athens and Sparta which I suppose will be sufficient at present I need not begin so high as the very original of Greece it self and tell you they were peopled by Fathers of Families I mean Jon Javon or Javan the Son of Japhet Whence durum Japeti genus and thence their name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as is observ'd by Suidas Of these you may read farther in Josephus and other Authors I shall only mind you that before Deucalion's Floud Cecrops was said to have brought Learning and with it Idolatry out of Aegypt into Greece and was King in that Country which we call Attica or Athens Ante Deucalionis tempora Regem habuêre Cecropem Cranâ—us succeeded Cecrops to whose Daughter Athis that Country owes its name After him Amphiction who dedicated the Town to Minerva and from her name call'd it Athenae In his days happen'd the Floud of Deucalion After that per ordinem successionis the Kingdom descended to Erichtheâ—s or Erichthonius then passing through many others unto Theseus and from him to Demophoon who was an associate in the Trojan War There you have a long Catalogue of the Grecian Kings without the least mention either of an Aristocracy or a Democracy amongst them And from thence the Kingdom fell by succession to Codrus the Son of Melanthus who was the last King of Athens Eusebius in his Chronology gives us the names of Sixteen Kings of Athens to Codrus inclusively which space of time makes up near Five hundred years And in his time it was that a War broke out between the Athenians and the Dorians Which last when they consulted the Oracle of Apollo which should have the better it was answer'd that they should certainly overcome their enemies except the King of the Athenians were slain Upon this strict charge was given to their Army that none should presume â—â— hurt the Athenian King but Codrus being inform'd as well of the Answer â—f the Oracle as the order which the Dorians had given unknown to any clad himself in a miserable habit and geting in that condition into the Enemies Camp rais'd on purpose an impertinent quarrel and was there according to his intent slain by his enemies This being soon discover'd the Dorians of themselves retreated home and the War ended Quis eum non miretur â—aith Paterculus qui iis artibus mortem quoesierit quibus ab ignavis vita quoeri solet Much such an action did Leonidas King of Sparta for the safety of his Country in the Persian War at the streights of Thermopiloe Who being admonish'd by the Oracle that either himself must fall or Sparta dy'd desperately fighting in the midst of the Persian Army I believe Cousin you will hardly remark two more generous actions of publick spirited men in any Common-wealth than those of these two Mâ—narchs But to return to Athens Mâ—don Son to Codrus was first Archon â— Athens in whose Family that Kingdom continued having chang'd nothing by the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 into Archon until the death of Alcmoeon After him Charops was first created Archon for Ten years only which constitution lasted Seventy years The last of those was Erixias Tum annuâ—s commissa est magistratibus Respublica Then Monarchy lay bleeding and their Archon became but an annual Magistrate The first of these was Creon to whom Nine other Princes were chosen ex nobilibus urbis And under this Form it was which we may truly call an Aristocracy That Solon was appointed to make them laws which it seems were contrived so equal between the Senate and the People that he was weâ—â— esteem'd and thank'd on both sides This was the first considerable change in the Athenian Government for whâ—â— was before a Monarchy and Govern'd absolutely according to the will of the Monarch became now an Optimacy or if you will according to Isocrates a mix'd Democracy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and had now by the diligence of Solon certain publick written Laws which as I said seem'd so reasonable that both the Prince and the People obliged themselves to observe them Mer. Pray Cousin by your leave had the Athenians no Law before Solon And did their Kings rule after their own Wills which we may call Fancies or Inclinations Trav. First Sir the Athenians had as I said no certain publick Laws by which they might constantly know their Duty and which might regulate the Princes Commands as well as their Obedience except a few which Draco made for them about sixty Years before Solon which being now mostly antiquated signify'd little Solon therefore is truly said to have found Laws proper for the Government and Times which were both much out of order and distracted Administratio Reipublicoe annuis magistratibus commissa sed Civitati nulloe tunc leges erant quia â—â—bido Reguâ—â— pro legibus habebatur Legitur itaque Solon vir justitia insignis qui velut novam Civitatem legibus conderâ—t c. And for their Kings I must tell you that anciently not only in Greece in which there were several Kingdoms but generally all the World over the People were govern'd purely and simply according to the good Will and Pleasure of their Prince This you will easily believe was very inconvenient for the People For since there are more bad than good amongst all sorâ—s of Men and Professions it happened by consequence that there were generally in the World more evil than just and vertuous Princes The last therefore were ador'd as Gods The first from the very ill use of their right of Power were deservedly call'd Tyrants and sometimes remov'd by violence when their Yoke grew insupportable Mer. I do not wonder at it for humane Nature hath its Bounds beyond which it cannot suffer and both Respect and Obedience too will break when bent with too much Rigor and beyond their Trempe Trav. This hath happen'd and may do so again especially amongst People whose Understandings having been never open'd by the more glorious Rays and Light of the Gospel follow at best the Dictates of Nature only amongst which that of Self-Preservation is none of the least But you will observe that these Accidents are still no Arguments against a Monarchical Form of Government no more than the happy Reign of a good King and the entire Obedience of most dutiful Subjects are certain Reasons for it these being Contingences and may vary often in Prince or People or in both together Mer. What solid Foundation then do you establish for perpetuating a Government and judging of its Goodness Trav. The same which God and Moses did I mean good Laws of which we have as many as prudently penn'd and as proper for us as any People upon Earth not only in the point of Meum and Tuum but the more necessary parts of Obedience and Command the Right of Power
is so ridiculous a piece of Insolence that I know not whether I should be more angry at his Arrogance than laugh at his Impertinence But let us proceed and see whether the second Day will afford us any thing better Mer. Nothing Sir can be more acceptable to me But I think the ringing of that Bell tells us that Dinner is ready In the Evening my Coach shall carry us into a pleasant Aiâ— a little farther from home where if I shall not too much tire you I should be extreamly pleas'd to hear your Opinion of the Second Part. Trav. Most willingly Sir and by that time I shall have rubb'd over some few of my old Notes whereby I may be able to give you a little better Satisfaction than hitherto I have done Mer. Dear Cousin I shall own my self much oblig'd to you and in the mean time let us go drink a Health or two to our Good Friends at London Trav. Sir I wait upon you Second Discourse Mer. COme Sir we are now in the open Air and I think in a pleasant Country And to tell you the Truth I am so much pleased with our Morning Discourse that I cannot any longer forbear importuning and persecuting you untill we shall have got through our politick Author and examined whether we be really so sick as he would make us believe we are and if we be whether he hath ghessed right at our Distemper and our Cure Trav. In good faith Cousin I am perswaded he plays the Knave with us as those idle People did when they took in the Gentleman's Doublet making him believe he was in a Dropsie and only let it out again when they thought fit to tell him he was cur'd But however pray Sir proceed Mer. The first Remark which you have made lies I perceive upon the high Commendation which the Noble Venetian hath bestow'd upon our Country in Page 16. Trav. Pray read it Mer. He saith then That since he arriv'd in England he finds it one of the most flourishing Kingdoms in Europe full of splendid Nobility and Gentry the comeliest Persons alive valiant courteous knowing and bountiful well stor'd with Commons honest industrious fitted for Business Merchandise Arts or Arms prodigious for Learning and succeeding to Admiration in the Perfection of all Sciences Trav. Add to this the good Character which our Author himself gives of us That there is not a more Loyal or Faithful People to their Prince in the whole World than ours are that we have as gracious and good a Prince as is any where to be found having never yet heard that he did or attempted to do any the least Act of Arbitrary Power in any publick Concern or endeavoured to take from any particular Person the benefit of the Law that his only Brother and Heir to the Crown is a most glorious and honourable Prince one who has expos'd his Life several times for the Safety and Glory of this Nation who pays justly and punctually his Debts manages his own Fortune discreetly and yet keeps the best Court and Equipage of any Subject in Christendom is courteous and affable to all and in fine hath nothing in his whole Conduct to be excepted against much less dreaded These are our Author 's own Words Now dear Cousin if all these extraordinary Happinesses be the Symptoms of a distemper'd Government then the Lord keep me and my Friends out of a healthful one Mer. But yet you see that both the Venetian and himself concur in this That the Posture of our Affairs is turbulent the Government and the People disunited the Gentry discontented and to cure all this he tells us That the present Constitution of the Government it self lies agonizing must be alter'd and chang'd from what it is or all will come to Destruction Trav. Indeed I am apt enough to believe that somewhat is amiâ—s amongst us But to lay the fault upon the Government rightly understood that I think is unreasonable Mer. Pray Sir please to inform me what you mean by Government rightly understood Trav. Most willingly since it is extream necessary to avoid Equivocations of which our Author and most such malicious Writers as he is are very full Government then is divided into the Material part and the Formal part The material part or Subjectum materiale is the People The Subjectum Formale or Proprium est persona â—na pluresve pro cujusque gentis legibus ac moribus is one or more Persons according to the Customs of different Countries in whom the right of Power resides Now by this distinction when a Man shall tell you that our Government is distemper'd you will certainly ask him whether he means in the material or formal Part because Government by use is become an equivocal Word Mer. I understand you and suppose that our Author means the formal part Trav. Without doubt he does but therein I think he is mistaken For when the whole Crasis of a Body is decay'd and Infection is gotten into the very Marrow and Soul of Life the Body consumes all over and in every part and never produces such lively and beauteous Marks of Health and Vigour as those which the Noble Venetian and English Gentleman have numbered up But on the other side when a little Choler only or Heat or some sharp Humours abound they generally shew themselves in some little Tettars or Pimples on the Face without infecting the whole Mass of Blood And though I be no Physician am yet perswaded that they may be easily cuâ—'d by some slight Purge or if you please breathing a Vein with some proper Juleps and keeping a little Diet for a time Now these Tettars and Pimples in our Body Politick are some of those few discontented Gentlemen whose number our worthy Author has himself augmented or some of the ignorant and turbulent Commonalty But had I been call'd into Consultation with our State-Physician whom between you and I Cousin I believe to be only a Quack I should never have agreed that the whole Oeconomy and Systeme of the Body should be so much discompos'd to purge it of Humours so easily remov'd Mer. But what if this Choler run on untill it come to the Disease which they call Atra bilis Trav. It would be ill advis'd to neglect the Cure so long but if they should a few stronger Medicines apply'd by a skilâ—ul hand would remedy all at last But of these matters we shall discourse more fully in a more proper place And in the mean time pray go on Mer. In Page the twentieth you note these Words The evil Councellors the penâ—ioner Parliament the through-pac'd Judges the flattering Divines the â—â—sie and designing Papists the French Councils are not the cause of our Misfortunes What have you to say to this Trav. Little Sir save only I would have you remark the Malice of the Man But he and his Party are known sâ— well that their Tongues are become no Slanders For first as to evil Counsellors
we must believe that there ever hath been such and ever will whilst Men have different Judgments that is to say if we mean those as in all Charity we ought to do who following their Opinions give sometimes Counsel which in truth may be prejudicial rather than advantageous for us witness our Author himself whom supposing to be as in great Charity we may an honest Man hath yet given Counsel even undesir'd and unauthoriz'd more pernicious to our Government and Happiness than the worst of our evil Counsellors could ever have invented As to the Pensioner Parliament I must confess till of late days I never knew it was a Crime for a Parliament Man to hold an Imployment from the King nor a fault in the King to endeavour to â—oâ—â—en the Rancor of a virulent Member any more than in an indulgent Father to hire by fair Words and Promises a froward and perverse natur'd Child to live peaceably and decently in the Family amongst the rest of his Brethren since the Design both of the Pater Patrioe and Pater Familias is no other than to procure to himself and Family a quiet and happy Life For the Judges and Divines if their great Worth and Learning and most exemplary Lives did not speak plainly and loud enough in their Behalf they would not want better Pens than minâ— to defend their Cause But I think their Sphere is much above the noise much more the danger of this barking Mongrel When â—e nam'd the busie and designing Papist I was in great hopes that he would have added the Presbyterians too and then we might have come betimes to the Cause of our Misfortunes But since he has thought fit to leave them out I shall also let them alone till occasion requires For his French Councels I know them no more than himself does and in my Opinion had our Author had any Wit in his Anger he might have forborn in this place to have revil'd the Divines and Judges of our Land the King's Council and Parliament it self that is to say all that we hold under the King sacred and religious amongst us especially since he tells us immediately that these are not the Causes of our Misfortunes the finding which out is I think one main Design of his Politick Search Mer. Very well Sir The next thing is We have plaid handy dandy with Parliaments and especially the House of Commons the only Part which is now left entire of the old Constitution by adjourning proroguing and dissolving them contrary to the true meaning of the Law Trav. That 's enough I have only to remark his two Parenthesises In the first he tells us That the House of Commons is the only part that is now left entire of the old Constitution Pray Cousin Have you heard what is become of the House of Peers or Do you know how it comes to be less entire than ever it was I am perswaded you cannot tell me Mer. I imagine his Meaning may be that their Estates are not so great as formerly they have been or that the House of Commons depended more upon them formerly than now they do Trav. For the first it is false there being as great Estates now in the House of Lords as generally ever there were And for the dependance of the Commons upon the Lords that is to say wearing their blew Coats making up their Lords-train waiting upon them to the House of Lords and making a Laâ—e for them to enter and such like as he tells us pag. 135. Let him endeavour to reduce the House of Commons to this old Constitution if he can and he will soon see how far the Commoners will think themselves oblig'd to him for it If not why does he talk of an old Constitution But Sir with his good leave and the Commoners too I take the House of Commons to be the latest Addition to that Assembly which altogether we call a Parliament I do not remember to have heard any News of a House of Commons as it is now understood untill several Years after the Norman Conquest that is untill the end of the Reign of Henry the Third at soonest But though some contend for the eighteenth of Henry the First But the House of Lords hath subsisted and been a Court of Judicature even before the Roman Conquest 1700 Years ago Witness amongst many other Passages the Dispute between King Cassibelaunus and Androgeus Duke of the Trinovantes Whose Son or Nephew having slain the Son of the King Cassibelaunus commanded the Duke to surrender him in order to his Tryal that he might suffer such Punishment as the Noblemen or Lords of the Kingdom should judge most â—it Commotus Rex Androgeo mandavit â—t nepoleâ— suum sibi redderet paratum â—alem sententiam subire qualem Proceres regni judicarent So we read of Vortegern the British King Vortegernus excitatus perstrepentium vocibus super statu publico in medium consulit Sententias Magnatum So of the Malm. l. 1. Saxon Ethelwulphus Cum concilio Episcoporum ac Principum concilium salubre ac remedium uniforme f. 22. affirmavi c. So Edmundus Rex Anglorum â—â—m concilio consensu Optimatum meorum c. Besides many hundred of such Instances proving the Existence of a Court of Lords from the Conquest of Will the First untill the end of Hen. the Third are to be found in Eadmerus and other good Authors But it being none of my business to defend in this place the Prerogatives of the House oâ— Lords I shall not offer any thing further concerning them But since our Author troubles himself so much about the old Constitution of the House of Commons and detracting from the House of Lords calls the Lower House the only entire part of the old Parliaments I shall beg leave to mind you what was the Cause and Design of their first Institution as I find it in the best Histories of those Ages and by that you will easily perceive their Antiquity as also which was the eldest Constitution William the Conquerour P. 57. 154. 211. called by Eadmerus and others William the Great having master'd the Power and the Fortune of the English Nation what he retain'd not in Providence as the Demesnes of the Crown or reserv'd not in Piety for the Maintenance of the Church the rest of his Kingdom he divided amongst such of his principal Lords as sailed hither with him in the Barque of his Adventures giving to some whole Countries to others considerable parts of it so as in the County of Norfolk for instance there were not above threescore Chief Lords or Owners and half of them not very considerable as appears by Doomsday And as the Estate so the Council of the Kingdom was entrusted into few Hands none being employed in the publick Councils but only these great Lords and Peers who were Conciliarii nati born to that priviledge and came thither without Leave and without Summons And although at first this
there reigned any King over the Children of Israel And these are the Names of the Dukes that came of Esau according to their Families after their Places by their Names And Verse the last These be the Dukes of Edom according to their Habitations in the Land of their Possessions he is Esau the Father of the Edomites Now what can be more particular or express than what I have here produc'd Or what can he mean by tracing the Foundation of Polities which are or ever came to our Knowledge since the World began if these will not pass for such He cannot pretend that we should bring a long Roll of Parchment like a Welch Pedigree ap Shinkin ap Morgan and so from the Son to the Father untill we arrive at ap Ismael ap Esau ap Magog ap Javan and so forth that would be too childish to imagine of him for we know very well that all the Kingdoms upon the Earth have oftentimes chang'd their Masters and Families But if he means as surely he must if he mean any thing that we cannot name any such Kingdom or Government that hath been so begun then he is grosly mistaken for the Assyrians the Medes the Ethiopians or Cusoei the Lydians the Jones or Greeks and very many others are sufficiently known and preserve to this day the very names of their first Founders who as is made appear were all Fathers of Families Mer. Cousin I begin to be very weary of this rambling Author Pray therefore let us go on as fast as we can Trav. Read then what follows Mer. As for Abraham whilst he liv'd as also his Son Isaac they were but ordinary Fathers of Families and no question govern'd their Housholds as all others do What have you to say to this Holy Patriarch and most excellent Man Trav. I say we are beholden to our Author that he did not call him a Country Farmer some such a one it may be as in his new Model of the Government is to share the Royal Authority Indeed it is hard that whom the declar'd Enemies to the Hebrew People have thought fit to call a King we who adore the Son of Abraham will not allow to be better than a common Housholder Mer. I confess my Reading is not great but as far as the Bible goes I may adventure to give my Opinion And if I mistake not the Children of Heth own'd him to be a mighty Prince among them Trav. Yes Sir and the Prophet David in the hundred and fifth Psalm calls him the Lords Anointed But because I perceive the Word of God is too vulgar a Study for our Learned Statesman I have found out a Prophane Author who concurs with the History of the Bible And first Justin makes no Scruple to call him in plain Words a King Post Damascum Azillus Mox Adores Abraham Israel Reges fuere lib. 36. Josephus also and Grotius who are Men of no small Repute even amongst the most Learned have quoted Nicolaus Damascenus to vindicate the Regal Authority of Abraham His Words are very intelligible 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And tells us moreover that in his Days which was in the Reign of Augustus the Fame of Abraham was much celebrated in that Country and that there was yet a little Town remaining which was called by his Name Mer. I perceive when Men grow fond of their own Imaginations they run over all and neither Reason nor Religion have any Power to stop them Trav. Then he introduceth Samuel upon the Stage chiefly I suppose to insinuate that the People had a Power and did choose themselves a King which is so notoriously false that they never had the least share or pretended any in the election of Saul It is true they chose rather to be govern'd by a temporal King who was to live amongst them and rule as other Kings did than continue under the Government of the King of Heaven and Earth and so the Word chose relates wholly to the Government but not to the Person of the Governour For which Samuel also reproves them and accordingly they acted no farther leaving the Election of their new King wholly to God and their Prophet and God did particularly choose him from the rest of their People and Samuel actually anointed him before the People knew any thing of the matter Afterwards lest some might have accus'd Samuel of Partiality in the Choice he order'd Lots to be cast which in the Interpretation of all men is leaving the Election to God and Saul was again taken What Junius Brutus another old antimonarchical seditious Brother objects concerning renewing the Kingdom at Gilgal where it is said And all the People went to Gilgal and there they made Saul King before the Lord will serve very little to prove any Right of Power in the People no not so much as of Election for confirming and renewing the Kingdom and such like Expressions signifie no more than the taking by us the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy which I think were never thought to give the King any Right to the Crown but only a just Right to punish us for our Perjury as well as Disobedience in Case of Rebellion So renewing the Covenant with God as particularly a little before the Death of Joshuah cannot be supposed to give a greater right of Power to God Almighty than what he had before but is only a stricter Obligation for the Peoples Obedience that they might be condemned out of their own Mouths And Joshuah said unto the People See ye are Witnesses against your selves So Samuel makes the People bind themselves to God to their King and to their Prophet that they would faithfully obey him whom the Lord had set over them And behold saith Samuel the Lord hath set a King over you But having spoke more to this purpose elsewhere and the Case being most clear as well by the History it self as by the Authority of Grotius and other learned Men that Saul and the rest of the Hebrew Kings did not in the least depend upon their People but received all their Right of Power wholly from God we will proceed with our Author Only I must note by the way that with the learned Gentleman's leave neither the Sanhedrim the Congregation of the People nor the Princes of the Tribes had any manner of Power but what was subordinate and that only to judge the People according to the Laws and Institutions of Moses And so they continued to the Babylonish Captivity Grotius only observing in favour of the Sanhedrim that they had a particular Right of judging concerning a whole Tribe the High Priest and a Prophet Mer. Well Sir we are now come to our modern despotical Power What say you to Mahomet and Cingis Can. Trav. Prethee Cousin let 's not trouble our selves with those Turks and Tartars they are yet â—ar enough off and not like to trouble us nor does their Government much concern us we have Laws of our own sufficient which
as they secure us from the danger of any Despotical Power or arbitrary Government which can rise up amongst our selves so they do no less protect the Person of our Supream Magistrate or King from all manner of Violence or Jurisdiction of the People Mer. In the next place then we come to an Aphorism which is That Empire is founded in Property Upon which he tells us he must build the most of his subsequent Reasoning Trav. Ay marry here 's Work indeed And no doubt but the Foundation being so solid the Building will last eternally But let us see in page 40. he gives us this Aphorism in Latine and then it runs thus Imperium fundatur in Dominio which lest we might not understand he tells us his meaning of Dominium is the Possession of Lands And that what Kings soever in former times had no Companion in the Sovereign Power they had no share likewise in the Possession of the Ground or Land Truly Cousin I do not remember to have met with such grave and serious Fooling in any Author besides himself But we will examine his Reasoning and his Aphorism as fully and impartially as we can And in the first place it is most necessary that we should define the Word Imperium which surely we cannot do more plainly than when we say That Imperium est jus Imperandi Empire is a Right of Command Now that this Right of Command should be fix'd or founded upon what in it self is incapable of receiving any Command or paying any Obedience I mean Land is so absurd a Proposition that it makes Empire an empty Name only and Sound for when you thunder your Imperial Laws through your hollow Rocks your shady Groves and Woods those stiff and stately Subjects of your new found Empire will pay no other Homage or Obedience than a Return of your Commands upon your own Royal Head by the Repetition of a foolish Eccho the only Subject which can entertain you with Discourse You in the mean time must remain like Midas amidst his Gold without Service or Sustenance except being wholly transform'd into an Ass or grazing like Nebuchadnezar amidst your fertile Pastures you might indeed in such case become a fat and lusty though a beastly Emperour But Cousin to be serious the great Folly of our Authors Aphorism will appear more demonstrable by putting a familiar Case or two and such as may shew us plainly upon what Empire is truly founded and upon what it is not Let us suppose then that the King should make some Nobleman or Gentleman Duke or Prince or if you will Emperour of some vast tract of Land in the Western Part of Terra Australis incognita which we will also imagine totally uninhabited What kind of Emperour do you think this Nobleman would be Mer. Truly Sir if he had no Subjects I think he would appear much such another kind of Prince as Duke Trinkolo in the Comedy Trav. You have hit upon a very proper Instance Mer. But pray Cousin why may not our Emperour have Subjects having Land to bestow Trav. Undoubtedly so he may but they must be procur'd one of these three ways either from his own Loins as in the old World that is from his Wife and Children or from Slaves such as may possibly be bought in some other Part of the World or from Free People whom he may probably carry over with him Mer. Very well and why may not the Land be peopled in time by his own Family especially if Polygamy be permitted as formerly it was and both himself and Sons take to themselves several Wives Trav. So it may Sir but this will not do our Business for his Empire in that case will not be founded upon the Possession of his Land but the Persons of his Children who become naturally his Subjects even when he did not possess one Acre of Land For God and Nature have so invested a Sovereign Right of Command in Fathers over their Children that no Power upon Earth can take that Right away 'T is true the Civil Law for the Good of all has reduc'd even Fathers themselves under the Civil Government who is still Pater Patrioe But naturally every Father is Emperour in his own Family Mer. I understand you Sir for Fathers having naturally a Sovereign Right of Command over their own Children if then he peoples a Country by his own Posterity the Possession of his Land gives him no more Power than what he had originally and from a higher Title too before It is plain but why may he not then stock his Land with Slaves from Guiney or other Parts of Africa Trav. O Cousin but properly speaking there is no Empire of Slaves 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For Aristotle lib. 8. de Rep. and from thence Grotius assure us That such a Government is not properly an Empire but an over-grown Family Qui ergo tali tenetur imperio populus in posterum non civitas erit sed magna Familia Besides Reason it self convinces us of this Truth for no Man is a Slave willingly and what we hold by force is not truly an Empire which as I said is Jus Imperandi but a Tyranny which always includes Injustice Mer. But by your leave may not a Man justly command his Slave Trav. Yes Sir as he may use his Oxe or his Horse and they are always look'd upon as part of our Personal Estate and pass accordingly But naturally or according to the Law of Nature which is Justice no Man is born a Slave Servi natura id est citra factum humanum hominum nulli sunt saith Grotius lib. 3. Whence the Civilians tell us Contra naturam esse hanc servitutem Lawfully indeed which is humane Institution Men become and are sometimes born Slaves but Subjects we are both by Law and Nature too All Politicians therefore and Civilians have made a Distinction between Subjects and Slaves the last are so by Accident and Misfortune and against their Will for the sole Benefit of their Lord and Master the others are Subjects by Nature and willingly continue so not only for the Honour of their Emperour King or Supreme Governour but for the peaceable and happy Subsistence of themselves So Tacitus distinguisheth them in these Words Non Dominationem servos seâ— rectorem cives cogitatet And Xenophon of Agesilaus whatsoever Cities he reduc'd under his Government he exempted from those servile Offices which Slaves pay their Lords and only commanded such things as were fit for Free-Men to pay their Supreme Governour 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nor are there or ever were there any such Kingdoms of Slaves For though the Turk and Tartars at present the Persians and generally all other Eastern Kings anciently govern'd despotically yet their Subjects always had a Civil as well as a Personal Liberty and were generally so far from being govern'd against their Wills that as Apollonius observes the Assyrians and Medes adâ—r'd their Monarchy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
At superior cogere potest etiam ad illa quae quaelibet virtus praecipit quia in jure proprio Superioris quâ superior est hoc est comprehensum We find even in the Common-wealth of Holland so much envied and applauded by Men who are given to change that in the late Wars with England and France they taxed Mens Purses with such heavy Contributions that they were almost as much dissatisfied with their Governours at home as afraid of their Enemies abroad and all this was done much against the Wills of almost every particular Subject Nay more I have heard say That their Fond or Principal the greatest part of their Estates for want of Land consisting in Money is so involv'd in the great Bank that they can never retrieve their Principal again But their Estates being wholly at the Dispose of the Government when that falls they perish I confess I do not know of any Christian Kingdom where a more arbitrary power is exercis'd But it is it seems necessary for their affairs that it should be so Yet nevertheless it is no rule for our imitation their circumstances being extremely different from ours Mer. I perceive you will not be perswaded to let us enjoy our properties and our share in the government together notwithstanding our author assures us that we will and must have it But pray Sir setting aside your reasons why you have taken from us our shares which indeed at present I know not how to confute let me prevail with you to be rul'd in this matter by examples of other great Kingdoms And you know Plato Redivivus tells us for certain that those Kings who had no companions in the Soveraign power had no sharers likewise in the Dominion or possession of the land But if the Senate or people or both did share the land they shar'd also in the Administration of the Soveraignty And pray why should we who enjoy no small possessions be excluded Trav. Cousin under-favour your Plato redivivus is a most impudent Ghost For provided it serves his turn he makes no Conscience of advancing downright falshood for undeniable matter of fact which will appear more fully hereafter We will begin with the Scythians who contending with the Egyptians for antiquity have been thought the first people which inhabited the earth after the sloud The people were not known in History before their Kings whose power also was arbitrary So sure it is that the first known Governments upon earth were Monarchical Principio rerum gentium nationumque Imperium penes Reges erat says Justin And immediately after Populus nullis legibus tenebatur arbitria Principum pro legibus erant And yet we find the ground so common to all that every man was as much Proprietor as the King himself Hominibus inter se nulli sines neque enim agrum exercent nec domus illis ulla armenta pecora semper pascentibus per incultas solitudines errare solitis Every man had a propriety to as much ground as was necessary for himself and his cattle which also he chose as he thought most convenient Yet so far were the people from pretending any share in the Government that no Kings were more absolute than the Scythians nor did any enjoy their Government longer And if we follow them into the upper Asia which they totally conquer'd we do not find their Kings pretending to one foot of the land Mer. What good then did their conquest do them if they did not enjoy the possessions of the conquered Trav. They made the same use of it as all Conquerors generally have done that is to say leaving the lands to their proper owners they only exacted a Tribute which was gathered amongst themselves Yet nevertheless contrary to our Author's Proposition they always retain'd the Empire or Government over them and that for no less time than 1500 years Asiam perdomitam vectigalem fecere modico tributo magis in titulum imperii quam victoriae praemium imposito His igitur Asia per mille quingentos annos vectigalis fuit Pendendi tributi finem Ninus Rex Assyriorum imposuit Ninus then was the first who freed the Assyrians from their Tribute and the Scythian Empire Nor do we read that he enslaved them more under his own But leaving them their possessions entire yet preserving always the Supreme right of Government required only such Contributions as himself thought necessary After the Assyrian Empire that of the Medes began But no alteration can I find in the Property of the lands On the contrary we read that the Persians became only Tributary to the Medes Sed civitates quae Medorum tributariae fuerant mutato imperio conditionem suam mutatam arbitrantes à Cyro defecerunt That Those Persian Cities which were tributary to the Medes under Astyages revolted from Cyrus But to leave no dispute in the case Xenophon in his Cyri Inst l. 4. tells us in plain words that Cyrus bid the Assyrians be of good heart that their condition should be no ways altered but in the change of their King That they should enjoy their houses and their lands as formerly they did and have the same right over their wives and children Cyrus victos Assyrios jubebat bono esse animo eandem ipsorum sortem fore quae fuerat mutato tantum Rege Mansuras ipsis domos agros jus in uxores in liberos ut fuisset hactenus This I think shews most clearly that the people enjoy'd the Property in their lands not only under the Medes but the Persians also And yet they were so far from sharing any part of the Government that all men agree no Princes to have been more absolute than the Medes and Persians Now if this be true as sure it is for Xenophon was a very good Judge who wrote particularly the History of Cyrus what an ignorant or what an impudent Author is Plato Redivivus who boldly affirms p. 52. that Cyrus by name and other conquering Monarchs before him took all for themselves From Asia let us travel into Egypt and by the way we will take notice of the Government of Sodom and Gomorrha and those five Kingdoms which we read in Scripture to have been subject to Senacherib King of Assyria for twelve years But we do not find that either before or after their defection the King of Assyria had any right to their lands but only a tribute which they at length refus'd to pay With the History of the Bible Josephus agrees who tells us chap. 10. Eodem tempore cum Imperium Asiae penes Assyrios esset Sodomitarum res tam opibus quam numerosa juventute florebat ut a quinque Regibus administrarentur donec victi ab Assyriis Tributum eis solvebant The Egyptian Kings notwithstanding the conceit of our Author and it may be of some other his Antimonarchical Accomplices were as absolute as any Kings of the East Egyptiorum Reges saith Grotius ut alios Reges Orientis summo imperio
Soveraign power in the house of Lords either conjunctim or divisim joyntly or separately without the King therefore the Soveraign right of power can be no where but in the King right of council is in the Lords and Commons in Parliament duly assembled but right of command is in the King For he both calls the Parliament and dissolves it One Soveraign power cannot dissolve another Soveraign power could they be supposed together except by force But the Kings of England have ever called and dissolved Parliaments not by force but by right of power and command which belongs to them by inherent birthright and lawful and undoubted Succession A Bill which shall have regularly past both Houses and brought even to the Royal assent is no Act nor hath it any manner of force as such without the Kings will Le Roy le veult doth solely and necessarily transform a Bill into a Statute and is the essential constituent part of it His Will doth alone give life and being to that which is no more than a dead insignificant letter without it Nay though a Bill should pass both Houses with the unanimous consent and approbation of every individual Member yet the King may refuse it and it is indisputably the right of our Kings so to do if they shall so think sitting which prove evidently amongst other things that the Soveraign Power is solely in our Kings Merch. But Sir Plato Red. insinuates very strongly p. 123. that It is a violation of right and infringment of the Kings Coronation Oath to frustrate the counsels of a Parliament by his negative voice and that in his opinion the King is bound confirmare consuetudines or pass such laws as the people shall choose Trav. The Delphick Oracle did never impose Laws more peremptorily to the Greeks than Plato Red. would arrogantly obtrude his private opinions upon us for notwithstanding all the Laws are against him yet he alone would pretend to devest the King of this his undoubted Prerogative But Sir there is a difference between new modelling a Government and maintaining it according to its ancient institution If Plato designs the first he may as well pretend it is inconvenient that the Imperial Crown of England should be Hereditary and Successive and endeavour to make it Elective for the right of a negative voice in Parliament is as certainly the Prerogative of the Kings of England as their right of Inheritance or Succession is But having no design to dâ—…te so much at this time what â—lteration might be convenient for us as â—o maintain what the Kings Right â—â— and ever hath been according to the â—â—cient as well as present Consâ—…tion of the Government I must 〈…〉 do averr That the King enjoyinâ— â—â—reditarily and undeniably this Nâ—…tive voice in Parliament hath himself the Supreme power of England And this the English Gentleman and his Doctor seem to acknowledge p. 105. Besides If the Soveraign power of England were not solely in the King then when there is no Parliament there could be no Soveraign power in England which is ridiculous and absurd For there is no Free and independent Kingdom or Commonwealth upon earth in which there is not at all times a Soveraign power in being If the Soveraign power ceaseth for a moment the power which remains becomes dependent and at the same instant a higher power must appear But the Imperial Crown of England depends upon none but God Omnis sub Rege ipse sub nullo nisi tantum Deo says Bracton an ancient and a Learned Author and again Rex non habet superiorem nisi Deum The King has no Superiour but God Or as it was express'd under H. 4. The Regality of the Crown of England is immediately subject to God and to none other Mer. But since the King can neither make any Laws nor levy any Taxes without the consent of both Houses it shews sure that at least some of the Soveraign power resides in them Trav. I perceive Cousin you have forgot your Grotius for he tells you that you must distinguish between the Empire and the manner of holding the Empire or the Jus ab usu Juris Aliud enim est Imperium aliud habendi modus So that although the Kings of England do generally promise or swear not to alter the Government nor to make Laws or levy impositions but according to the ancient Constitutions of the Kingdom yet nevertheless this takes not from him his Soveraign right of power for that he hath in him by Birthright and Inheritance and according to the Original Institution of the Kingdom and which is antecedent and Superiour also to any Oaths or Obligations I 'll give you Grotius his own words as you will find them l. 1. c. 3. s 16. Non definit summum esse Imperium etiamsi is qui imperaturm est promittat aliqua subditis etiam talia quae ad imperandi rationem pertineant But he confesseth indeed that such a Constitution is a little limitation to the Supreme power Fatendum tamen arctius quodammodo reddi Imperium But it doth not follow from thence that there is any authority Superiour to his own Non inde tamen sequitur ita promittenti Superiorem dari aliquem And he gives you the example of the Persian Monarchs who though they were as absolute as any Kings could be yet when they enter'd upon the Government they sware to observe certain Laws which they could not alter Apud Persas Rex summo cum Imperio erat tamen jurabat cum regnum adiret leges certa quadam forma latas mutare illi nefas erat So also that the Egyptian Kings were bound to the observance of several Customs and Constitutions Aegyptiorum Reges quos tameâ— ut alios Reges Orientis summo imperio usos non est dubium ad multarum rerum observationem oblig abantur Mer. Very well Sir but pray why may not the Soveraign power remain still in the people especially if all be true which our Author boldly affirms p. 119. viz. That our Prince hath no authority of his own but what was first entrusted in him by the Government of which he is head Trav. Here Plato plays the Villain egregiously is a Traitor incognito and carries Treason in a dark lanthorn which he thinks to discover or conceal according to the success of Rebellion which he evidently promotes But we shall unmask this Republican Faux And first our King whom he calls Prince not understanding it may be the difference between Regnum and Principaâ—us hath no authority saith he but what was first intrusted by the Government Here Government is a word of an amphibious nature and can as well subsist under a Monarchy as a Commonwealth For if Rebellion doth not prosper then Government in this place signifies the Law of the Land and indeed the King's authority over us is establish'd by the Law that is to say the consent and acknowledgment of the People in due form That
Fourth of Edward the Third and the words of it are these It is accorded that a Parliament shall be holden every year once and more often if need be Now Sir you must observe that this Act was made whilst the King was but Nineteen years of age and both himself and Kingdom under the care of Twelve Governours His Mother Queen Isabel and Roger Mortimer very powerful the Governours of the Pupil King divided amongst themselves and many other pressing affairs of the Nation oblig'd most people to propose that expedient of frequent Parliaments as the most probable means to secure the peace and prosperity of the Kingdom at least until the King should come of riper years and thereby many differences be reconciled After this in the Thirty sixth year of his Reign he called a Parliament and wanting money as generally he did the Parliament would grant nothing until an Act passed for maintenance of former Articles and Statutes there expressed And that for redress of divers mischiefs and grievances which daily happen a Parliament shall be holden every year as another time was ordained by Statute These are the two Statutes intended by our Author when he tells us that the Statute of Edward the first was confirmed by that glorious Prince Edward the third Whereas in truth they were both made by the same King and both in a great measure revoked in his own time Having declared after the making this last Act that he yielded to it only to serve his own turn This Sir is the matter of Fact upon which our Author builds his great pretensions to the old constitutions of Annual Parliaments The first Act was made whilst the King was very young the second when he wanted money and had Twenty six shillings and eight pence granted him upon every sack of wool transported for three years And both first and second Acts were broken by several intermissions before he died Besides we must make this remark that a Parliament seldom met without giving the King some money which might encourage those Kings to assemble them oftner than lately they have done But the truth is Annual Parliaments were lookt upon as so great a grievance to the Nation that we find that about the Tenth year of Richard the Second his Successor it was thought a great Prerogative in the King that he might call a Parliament once a year And both Houses appointed the Duke of Glocester and Thomas Arundell Bishop of Ely to acquaint the King that by an old Statute the King once a year might lawfully summon his Court of Parliament for reformation of corruptions and enormities within the Realm And if we consider with our selves we shall find that if yearly Parliaments were imposed upon us they would become grievances equally insupportable as to have no Parliaments at all For if the Knights Citizens and Burgesses be chosen out of the Countrey Gentlemen and Merchants inhabiting those Countries where they are elected as sure they ought to be what inconvenience if not ruin must it bring upon their affairs when they shall be forced to run every year a hundred or two hundred Miles from their particular domestick affairs to serve in a formal Parliament in which it may be the greatest business will be to make business for the next Indeed for idle persons who live about Town and have nothing to do but to scrible knavish politicks to the disturbance of honest men such a constitution might do well enough if they could get to be chosen members But we find from experience and History that in those days when Ambition and Faction were not so much in vogue as at present men were so far from making parties to get into the Parliament that many Commoners and Lords too have petitioned and been excused their attendance The King 's Queen's and Prince's Servants have stood upon their priviledge of exemption So James Barner was discharged by the King's command Quia erat de retinentia Regis 7. R. 2 and the Lord de Vessey in Edward the Fourths time obtained Licence not to serve in Parliament during his life Rex concessit Henrico Bromflet Dom. de Vessey quod ipse durante vita sit exoneratus de veniendo ad Parl. Besides the very Writ of Summons shews that in the original institution and design of Parliaments a frequent meeting could not be necessary For they were only to treat concilium impendere de magnis arduis negotiis Now God help us if every year should produce such magna ardua negotia such difficult and weighty affairs that the King with his Judges and â—rivy Council could not determine them without assembling his great Council the Parliament I confess in our Authors Chimerical model I am perswaded our circumstances would be bad enough but I thank God we are not gotten there yet Thus you see Sir that this grievance in not having annual Parliaments is become no grievance at all Mer. I begin Cousin to lose all manner of respect for this mistaken Mountebank For I perceive notwithstanding his great words and pretences all is but wind emptinâ—ss and cheat Having therefore fully satisfieâ— me concerning our liberties properties and Parliaments pray forget not to say somewhat of our Religion Trav. Sir I shall not presume to meddle with the Doctrinal part of any Religion that being none of my Province Nor shall I say much concerning the Ceremonial part or discipline of our own that is to say the Church of England It is sufficient to mind you that both the Doctrine and Discipline in Church Government have been established and confirm'd by several Acts of Parliament and Statutes Which Parliaments being the most Soveraign power that our Author himself pretends to set up amongst us we ought all to acquiesce in and be concluded by what they have done until an equal authority shall repeal those Acts or otherwise determine concerning us Mer. There is no objection can be made against this answer But Sir since the difference in our Religion seems manifestly to occasion most of our troubles why may not the King by his own authority dispence with the penal part of these Laws or grant a toleration especially to Protestant Dissenters or encourage an Act of Parliament for uniting them into the Church of England or else why might not the same Church release some part of the rigour of the Discipline and Ceremony since 't is agreed on all hands that the observance or non-observance of them are not points necessary or absolutely conducing to Salvation Trav. Cousin I shall answer you all these questions as plain as I can And first I shall never believe that true and unfeigned Religion especially amongst men where the Doctrine agrees is ever the real cause of any troubles disturbance or disobedience to lawful authority such as is that which produces an Act of Parliament even in our Authors sence being so contrary to the Doctrine and Principles of Christian Religion that I may confidently affirm where
whole Nation when joyn'd with so considerable a part as the Church of England they were both overcome by the Dissenters it was morally impossible Besides they had generally taken the Oath of Allegiance which for ought I can hear they have not broken generally I suppose for if there be any of them who refuse the Oath of Allegeance I look upon them as out of the Kings Protection and little better or full as dangerous as open enemies Nor can I imagine what other Government they could or were ever suppos'd to introduce contrary to that which was then establish'd and which they swore to maintain I am apt enough to believe that they might hope for some ease or exemption from the rigour of the penâ—l Laws which neither you nor I can blame in them if they had desir'd Mer. But though they have taken the Oath of Allegeance yet you see that they will not be prevail'd upon to take the Oath of Supremacy And you know that according to our Law the King is no less head of the Ecclesiastical than of the Civil Government Trav. True Sir But this is as much an argument against the Dissenters as the Papists For it is not a greater crime in them nor prejudice to the State to tolerate men who by the principles of their Religion are taught to submit their Consciences to another Spiritual guide in Spiritual matters as many Soveraign Princes themselves do at this day than those who owning the King to be Supreme head of the Church by their words disown him by their actions that is in not obeying his Laws or Rebelling against him as such Besides it is well known that the general opinion of the Popish Recusants the Laity I mean concerning the Pope's Supremacy hath no ill influence upon our Civil Government which is that which I chiefly intend in this discourse but that they think themselves indispensably oblig'd to defend our Lawful Kings and their Civil Authority not only against all temporal powers whatsoever but even against the Pope himself Mer. This Sir I have heard much controverted and the contrary opinion affirm'd by some of their own Writers that is to say That the Pope may and doth Excommunicate heretick Kings as he calls them By which act their Subjects are no more bound to pay them their obedience nay and can absolve the people from their Oath of Allegeance and impower them to depose their natural and lawful Prince and set up some other in his stead Now Sir this is such a doctrine as makes the Papists uncapable of ever being trusted under any Protestant Government Trav. I confess Sir I have heard that some private men have maintain'd some such erroneous and perniciouâ— Principles and flattering the Pope have endeavoured to raise his power to a much sublimer pitch than ever Christ himself or any of his Apostles pretended it should arrive But Sir as Temporal Princes have been ever usurping upon one another and by most unchristian ways sacrificed the innocent blood of many thousands of men for the promoting their own greatness and satisfying their ambitious designs so these Spiritual Emperours have follow'd too much the ill examples of Temporal Princes And being it may be more solicitous to extend their power than encrease the number of true believers have perverted the good use of St. Peters Keys and have rather opened by them the door of dissention and discord upon earth than the gates of the Heavenly Paradise For some years these holy Fathers exercised their arms against one another and how much blood and horrid troubles the dispute between the Bishop of Rome and Patriarch of Constantinople concerning Primacy hath cost Christendom is sufficiently recorded in History I may add farther that this their contention became at last the ruine of the Greek Empire but hitherto the Temporal Princes enjoy'd their rights and Prerogatives undisturb'd until Hildebrand otherwise called Gregory the seventh arrogated to himself a Soveraign authority over all Christian Kings and Emperours as may be seen at large in the History of Henry the fourth Emperour of Germany who was the first unfortunate example of the Papal usurpation which is confirm'd by a learned Roman Catholick Bishop and one who lived in the Reign of Fred. the first his words are these Lego relego saith he Romanorum Regum Imperatorum gesta nunquam invenio quenquam eorum ante hunc à Romano Pontifice excommunicatum vel regno privatum nisi forte quis pro Anathemate habendum ducat quod Philippus ad breve tempus à Romano Episcopo inter poenitentes collocatus Theodosius à beato Ambrosio propter cruentam caedem à liminibus Ecclesiae sequestratus sit Ottofrising c. 35. After this several encroachments were made upon other Princes and the Popes making use as well of St. Paul's Sword as St. Peter's Keys reduc'd most of them under their obedience and as the same Author expresses it destroy'd them by that very power which they had first receiv'd from the benevolence of the Emperours themselves seeming to imitate therein the Prophet David who first overcame the Philistine by the providence of God and then cut off his head with his own Sword Videntur culpandi Sacerdotes per omnia qui regnum suo gladio quem ipsi à regum habent gratia ferire conentur nisi forte David imitari cogitent qui Philistinum priâ—o virtute Dei stravit postmodum prâ—prio gladio jugulavit Now Sir after the Popes were in possession of these great Prerogatives and had perswaded the people to contribute as well to their own as their Princes slavery by granting them this universal right of power it is no wonder if some of their own Clergy have endeavoured by false arguments to maintain this usurp'd authority But Cousin it is well known that this is now become no more than an old antiquated title and gives him no right over Soveraign Princes at this day It is true those Princes who submitted themselves to the constitutions of the Council of Treâ—t permit the Pope to exercise some Spiritual Jurisdiction in their Kingdoms But it is universally and publickly declared that the Popes have no Civil or Temporal Authority over Soveraign Princes nor can they by their Spiritual power or authoritate clavium Ecclesiae depose any King or absolve any Subject from their Faith Obedience or Oath of Allegeanâ—e Mer. Can you give an instance of 〈…〉 made by any Popish Kings and consented to by the Roman Clergy Trav. Yes Sir and that so fully that there can remain no scruple or difficulty and it is by the most Christian King of France and eldest son of the Roman Church and a severe persecutor of the Protestant Religion I will give you the words of the Declaration it self as far as it concerns this particular that you may the better judge your self of the truth It is Declared by the Gallick Church Primum beato Petro ejusque successoribus Christi Vicariis ipsique