a power and the People such ample priviledges that as our form of Government is Monarchy and that as perfect and free as the Sun ever saw so it is eternally secur'd from the corruption of Tyranny Over all this our present Age enjoys a Prince so moderate and so just that his mercy and goodness have been his greatest faults and his Government over us hath been so modest that his greatest Enemies are forc't to consess That his present Majesty never did any Act of arbitrary Power nor toâ—k from any particular Person the benefit of the Law Plato Red. p. 18 19. These considerations have oblig'd all Persons of all Nations whom I have hapned to meet abroad oâ— who have heard or read any thing concerning us to congratulate with me the incomparable Constitution and easiness of the Government under which we live and applying the happiness of Virgil's Husbandman to our own People have often repeated O fortunatos nimium bona si sua norint Anglicolas Now Cousin if you have an inclination to leave all those general blessings besides your particular ones of a noble House a healthful pleasant situation delightful Garden plenty of water fresh springs and many other great conveniences belonging to them then Cousin go abroad and there learn to be wiser Mer. No good Cousin I intend to remain a fool and stay at home to speak plainly if I had as good an Opinion of the present Constitution of our own Government as I have an ill one of those which you have mention'd all those foreign pleasures which the most Frenchefi'd Traveller would make us believe were to be found amongst them should not persuade me to leave Old England not so much as for one single Month. Trav. How dear Cousin Is it possible that there should be any thing in the Constitution of our own Government which can displease a man of your sense and solid Judgment and one whom hitherto I have ever thought very well affected to it Mer. Truly Sir few men love their King and Countrey better than my self I have never forwarded any irregular address to his Majesty nor given my Vote for any notorious Phanatick nor am I look'd upon as such amongst them But I must confess when I reflect upon the differences and animosities between the King and the House of Commons the discontents of a great number of People the Danger of Popery and many other such considerations which I have not at present in my mind I cannot but think there is a fault somewhere and where to lay it more modestly and more reasonably than upon the Constitution of the Government itself is what I cannot find out But we shall not want opportunity to discourse as much as you please of these matters ere we return to London And in the mean time I think it a good hour to break your fast What Drink do you choose for your Mornings draught Trav. Good faith Cousin a mouthful or two of good Air is to me the most acceptable Breakfast in the World Mer. Pray use no ceremonies You know and believe I hope that our friendship as well as near relation gives you the same freedom in my House as you have in your own If therefore you will eat or drink any thing speak what you like best and the Butler shall bring it you immediately But if you be resolv'd to stay till Dinner I will in the mean time carry you to a very pleasant walk and shew you a little Arbour at the end agreeable enough Trav. Most willingly I 'll only put on my Cravat and Perriwig and wait upon you Mer. And I until you are ready will with your leave examine what curious Books you have brought down from beyond Sea Trav. Very few besides such as I carried over for I find London the best Library and England the best University for learned men in Europe Mer. I am glad you think it so Let 's see what have we here Hugonis Grotii de Jure Belli ac Pacis This we have translated into English since you left us Trav. I heard so in Italy but never saw the Book I should have thought it a very difficult undertaking by reason of many expressions so particular to the Civil Law and Latin that they are hard to be rendred into our Language Mer. It is very well done and of good use I can shew it you when ever you please For in my vacant hours I love a little reading especially when I meet with an Author who is universally allow'd to be of a solid Judgment great Learning Trav. You could not have met with one in my opinion who more truly possesses those two qualifications then Grotius did Joseph Scaliger tells us that he was prudens Politicus optimus Groecus Juris-consultus modestus proestantissimus in Epigrammatibus and certainly he deserv'd all or more than he hath said of him Mer. What have you got next The holy Bible in English Nay then Cousin we may hope that besides your English inclinations you have brought over with you also your English Religion For I think the Papists seldom make use of the Bible Trav. Sir I assure you I profess the same Religion which I ever did and hope I ever shall I mean the true Orthodox Protestant Religion of the Church of England as it is by Law establish'd and in my Heart do believe it not only a safe Religion but the most sound and the most pure in its Doctrine as well as in its discipline that is profess'd this day in any part of the whole World Mer. I shall ever agree with you in the Doctrine and not much differ from you in the Discipline But let us proceed What fine gilt Book is this Plato Redivivus 'T is a strong piece Cousin Trav. As strong as Mustard Cousin Children are afraid of it because it bites them by the Nose as they fancy But those of riper years easily discover the fallacy for when examin'd it leaves no impression behind it Mer. Have you read it Sir Trav. Please to open it and you will find whether I have or no. Mer. I perceive indeed that your red Lead Pen hath examin'd it very strictly every leaf looks almost as dismal as a Martyr Trav. Not a Martyr I beseech you but if you will say a Sacrifice I will admit of the Comparison Mer. Why Cousin What distinction do you make between these two Trav. Martyr Sir is generally taken in a good sense and in a good cause but a Sacrifice may be said to be offer'd either to God or to the Devil Mer. Which is as much as to say That you believe the Author hath undertaken an ill cause Trav. Yes Sir and under any good Government besides our own especially in that Republick which he so much admires both himself and his works would have been made publick Sacrifices to Justice and to the quiet of the establish'd Government long before now Mer. But is it not hard that
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 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
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
Nation in point of Strength yet whilst the Tenures are preserv'd such as were formerly in England the Prince had a stricter Tye upon the People than when having relinquish'd them he hath no other Obligation upon them than his Parchment Right of Power and if you please their Oaths of Allegiance both which are cancell'd in a Moment while the Lands remain eternally in the People Trav. I have already told you That publick Right of Government or if you will the Right of publick Government doth not in the least depend upon Tenures for they are only particular Services and Royalties which Princes have sometimes thought good to reserve to themselves more or less according as they alone have thought fit and may be alter'd or relinquish'd without diminishing their Publick Right of Government over the Nation they being such as regard rather the private Person of the King as Lord of a Mannor than his Politick Capacity as Supreme Magistrate or Governour of the State And indeed many of these Services and Tenures were rather very inconvenient and burthensome to the People than beneficial to the Government Many such were anciently known in England and Scotland as well as France Amongst others what was more inhumane than that the Lord should have a Right to lye with his Tenants Wife the first Night they married which in France they call Droit de Jambage Some Services were very ridiculous and some extravagant So I have heard of a Tenure in France by which the Tenant is oblig'd at certain Times to drive a Cart with twelve Oxen round the Court of the Mannor House In which time if any of the Oxen happen to dung in the Court the Cart with the twelve Oxen was forfeited to the Lord of the Mannor but if none of the Oxen should dung untill they were driven out of the Court then the Lord was to receive only one Egg. Now how do these and many other such Services relate to a Right of Government So many Mannors were held of the King to accompany him in his Wars in England or in France or elsewhere some were obliged to carry his Spear some his Sword others his Helmet and such like which are all merely private Obligations and which any private Man might reserve upon consideration of Lands given It is true the King had then a stronger Tye upon particular Persons than since he hath released them But this I say hath no influence upon his Publick Right of Power for the Supreme Magistrate is always notwithstanding any such Release Master both of our Estates and Persons as far as they are necessary for the Preservation of the Government So you see Care is taken that all Lands shall pay their Quotas towards Horses and Footmen which is in use at this day which Forces so paid we call the Militia His Majesty may press Souldiers and by the Consent of his great Council the Parliament charge our Estates and Persons with such Sums as shall be thought expedient for the Occasion And this brings me to the third Point which is That all Sovereign Princes have a Right of Power over the Lands notwithstanding the Property be divided amongst the People And this proceeds from the Dominium Supereminens which is eternally in all Supreme Magistrates or Magistrate whatsoever whose Duty it is to look after and by all means secure the Preservation of the Whole in which every particular is involv'd Nor is it a sufficient Objection to say That Laws or Impositions may lye very heavy upon particular Men if such an Arbitrary Power should rest in any Government for Laws cannot be always made so easie but that Occasions may happen which may make them seem very hard to some Id modò quoeritur si majori parti in summo prosint Hence Grotius from Thucydides remarks an excellent Passage of Pericles to this purpose Sic existimo saith he etiam singulis hominibus plus eam prodesse civitatem quoe tota rectè se habeat quam si privatis floreat utilitatibus ipsa autem universim laboret Qui enim domesticas fortunas bene collocatas habet patria tamen eversa pereat ipse necesse est c. All which Livy thus briefly expresses Respublica incolumis privatas res salvas facile proestat Publica prodendo tua nequicquam serves That whilst the Commonwealth is safe in general our particular Concerns may be also easily secur'd But by deserting the publick Interest of the Nation we do thereby no ways preserve our own Nothing therefore seems more reasonable and indeed necessary than that the Government should have always a Power to compell every particular Subject who standing upon their private Rights and Properties would thereby suffer the Whole to be destroy'd For though naturally every Man hath a Right to maintain what is his own and by consequence might oppose whosoever would endeavour to take his Property from him yet Grotius tells us That Government which is instituted for the publick Tranquillity of the Whole or Tranquillitas publica in qua singulorum continetur acquires thereby a more Sovereign Right even â—ver our Persons as well as Possessions than we our selves can pretend to that is as far as shall be necessary for obtaining that great end of publick Preservation Civili societate ad tuendam Tranquillitatem instituta statim civitati jus quoddam majus in nos nostra nascitur quatenus ad finem illum id necessarium est Whence Seneca observes That the Power of all is ever in the Supreme Magistrate but the Property remains nevertheless in the Hands of particular Subjects Ad Reges Potestas omnium pertinet ad singulos Proprietas And so as hath been said the King in Parliament hath a Right to dispose of our Estates and Persons as shall be thought necessary for our publick Security And where Sovereign Princes act without Parliaments they have in themselves the same Authority I have spoke already of the Power which the Government hath over our Estates and for our Persons Grotius hath furnish'd us with a Case very strong to shew the great Extent of Sovereign Authority He puts a Question Whether an innocent Citizen may be abandoned ad Exitium even to Destruction for the Common Good Without doubt says he such an innocent Citizen may be so abandon'd Dubium non est quin deseri potest And going still on how far such a Citizen is oblig'd to deliver himself he concludes That he may be forc'd to it and sacrific'd too to prevent an imminent Mischief both against his Will and entirely innocent Quare in nostra controversia verius videtur cogi posse civem for saith he Though one Citizen cannot compell another to any thing more than what is strictly just according to Law yet the Superiour hath a lawful Authority as Superiour to force an innocent Man to suffer for the Common Good Par parem cogere non potest nisi ad id quod jure debetur strictè dicto
Conscience Shall all Religions as Papists Orthodox Protestants Presbyterians Independents and other Fanaâ—icks and Sectaâ—iâ—â— be promiscuously tolerated If not â—ll then injustice must be done to those who are restrained Who being all equally freeborn Subjects our grievances will not thereby be heal'd If all can any man of sense and sobriety imagine that men of such different principles aggravated too by strong animosities and prejudice will rejoice or be satisfied to see the tranquillity or propagation of those principles which they hate and believe most damnable Or should they establish one Church which should be the mother Church under whose discipline and government the other different Congregations were to be regulated would it be the Orthodox Church of England Ah Cousin let us consider what our Author declares p. 188. I will add says he the little credit the Church of England hath among the people most men being almost as angry with that Popery which is left amongst us in Surplices Copes Altars Cringes Bishops Ecclesiastical Courts and the whole Hierarchy besides an infinite number of idle useless Superstitious Ceremonies and the ignorance and viciousness of the Clergy in general as they are with those dogmâ—'s that are abolish'd So that there is no hopes that Popery can be kept out but by a company of poor people call'd Fanaticks who are driven into corners as the first Christians were and who only in truth conserve the Purity of Christian Religion as it was planted by Christ and his Apostles and is contain'd in Scripture Now Sir can we hope that an impudent Fanatick who dares publish all this even whilst our Government is yet intire will faâ—l to introduce his Geneva discipline and bring his poor Fâ—naticks out of their corners when he or his disciples shall be once themselves at the helm in our Palaces Will he suffer think you the orthodox Religion of the Church of England by Law established or its professors to enjoy those just rights and priviledges which they have done ever since the first plantation of Christianity among us Or shall we not be all crowded into those corners from whence he shall have fetcht his poor Apostolick Fanaticks Will the Papists have better measure than the Protestaâ—ts and will this be a setling the Nation and redressing its Grievances Must our gracious King and his lawful Successors who alone do and can and are willing still to protect us be deserted and shall we run headlong into the open jawes of those weeping waâ—ling canting praying still dissembling but ever devouring Crocodiles Dear Cousin oblige me not to speak more upon such a dismal subject the consideration of which must either break our hearts or raise our indignation beyond that temper which I would willingly retain Merch Sir assure your self that I heartily comply with you in all that you have said and symâ—athise with you no lâ—ss in your â—ust resentment than fears of their diabolical machinationâ— But we have a God most manifestly gracious to us in his wonderful preservation of his Majesties person and discoveries of their deep and damnable Conspiracies against him We have a King merciful loving and tender of uâ— oven beyond the ordinary extent of humane nature a Council wise Loyal and â—â—cumspect and a people universally â—…testing this Traiterous Association and all the consequences of it And for my own particular let that moment bâ— the last of my life when I comply with our false Authors detestable propositions Trav. Sir I am most truly glad to find you so well satisfied and will hope that the plainness and sincerity which I have used in obeying your commands will qualifie the tedâ—ousness and my want of judgment If there yet remains any thing which you would have me explain to you pray proceed for we have yet a little time left before Dinner Merch. Sir I find one lâ—â—f oâ— two â—urned down let us see what they contain and then I have done In p. 112. speaking of a certain Act of Parliament which it seems he cannot produce concerning answering all petitions before the Parliament could be dismissed he tells us That if there were nothing at all of this nor any record extant concerning it yet he must believe that it is so by the fundamental Law of the Government which must be lame and imperfect without it For it is all one to have no Parliaments at all but when the King pleases and to allow a power in him to dismiss them when he will that is when they refuse to do what he will Here you see Sir he couples granting petitions and a power in the King to dissolve Parliaments together The one he affirms the other he denies What have you to say to this Trav. Nothing Sir only desire you to remark as I suppose you have done all along the prodigious impudence and vanity of our Author who dares advance his own private opinion in matter of Law against several Statutes determining absolutly the contrary the universal consent of all Lawyers and continuâ—l practice of near six hundred years standing Merch. What say you next to the Title of the Duke of Moâ—â—outh Trav. Little our Author himself looks upon it as ridiculous and impossible to be supported Nor do I think that we are much beholden to his honesty or conscience alone for this frank declaration though indeed it is plain and agreeable to reason But he hates the thoughts of a single person and it is no injustice to him to believe from all that he hath said that if Jesus Christ should come upon earth again and pretend to govern according to the present constitution of â—ur Government under a Monarchiâ—â—l form he would find Platâ— Redivivus a Rebellious Spirit and ever the Son of Ambitious Lucifer For the faâ—lts of that unfortunâ—â—â— Duke I shall only say that if he â—aâ— have merit enough to be lamented he hath sence enough to thiâ—k himself the most unhappy of all mankiâ—d and must believe the presâ—rvâ—tion of his life the â—everest punishment Merch. Will you say nothing of the Duke of York Our Author you see speaks a great deal concerning him Something 's look fair but it is easie to perceive his maliâ—â— through the disguâ—â—â— Trav. No Sir his Royal perâ—â—â— and high merit are as much above my needless defence as our Authors little friâ—olous accâ—sation we have only therefore to pray that God would please to continue him long a blessing to these Nations and that we may be no less protected by his Council than defended by his more than Heroick â—oâ—râ—ge Merch. Pray give us then your opinion concerning our â—ure in general Trav. Where there is no disease there can be no â—ure besides I ever held it to be the greatest insolence and vâ—â—ity imaginable to presume to give counsel to the great Counnil of the Nation undestred and unauthorised And for my own part I have no â—…ner of pretence to â—o gâ—eâ—â— an 〈…〉 Have you any thing more Coâ—sin iâ— particular Merch. Sir
to embrace Shadows than retain Substances I have endeavoured to distinguish Both unmask our Republican Daemon shew no less his horrid Claws than his Cloven-feet I should now make some excuse that this Answer comes so late into the World but I have a sufficient Witness that I had never seen the Book call'd Plato Redivivus before I received it at Paris about May last from My Lord Preston His Majesties Envoy Extraordinary in the French Court To his Lordship I owe the first motion and encouragement of answering it you the advantage if any be and satisfaction of the Answer Next I must inform you that I meddle little with the Law-part which is now and then to be met withal in Our Author not only because it hath been sufficiently answer'd already but besides if there be any breach of the Law or Government by any Person whatsoever the Courts of Justice are open which are the proper places for Law matters and when Plato shall think fit to shew himself and legally accuse both himself and such other of the Kings Subjects who may have been deceived by him will receive a more full ample satisfaction than I durst pretend to give them The historical and rational part I endeavour to answer as plainly as my judgment and little time would permit which I have done also by way of Dialogue that I might in all things comply with Our Authors method as far as is reasonable Many impertinencies I have passed by to avoid tediousness Those faults in this Discourse which shall not be found malicious I hope the Reader will excuse small mistakes may be easily rectified And as to the whole if the Reader shall please to examine it as impartially as it is writ sincerely I persuade my self that he will find nothing misbecoming an Honest Man and a Loyal Subject Farewell PLATO'S Daemon OR The State-Physician unmaskt BEING A Discourse in Answer to a Book call'd Plato Redivivus The Argument An English Gentleman lately return'd from France and Italy where he had spent several years is invited by a very considerable Merchant and his near Kinsman to his Country House where discoursing of many things with great liberty the Merchant accidentally opens a Book call'd Plato Redivivus which the Traveller had brought down with him into the Country This becomes a new subject of Discourse and both deliver their opinions concerning it with great freedom as follows First Discourse Merchant GOod morrow Cousin What up and ready too so early How do you like our Old English Country Air Traveller Very well Sir and indeed the pleasantness of this situation with those many delights which appear round about it are sufficient to raise any Man from his Bed especially one who hath been so long a stranger to the happinesses of a Country retirement and who loves them so much as I do Mer. I rather feared that notwithstanding our best endeavours here your time would pass tediously away for having seen all France and Italy which they call the Garden of Europe I apprehended that the best part of England would have appeared no better to you then an uncultivated Desert Trav. No nor yet shall Lumbardy nor Capua which is the Garden of Italy be ever preferr'd by me before our own blest happy soil Mer. I am glad to find you so good an Englishman the rather because we may now hope to keep you henceforward in a place which it seems you like so well Trav. Believe me Tutto il mondo è paâ—se All Countries are in this alike that they have their conveniences and inconveniences their particular delights and their particular wants And when we shall have made a just estimate of all the Kingdoms in Europe I know none which for pleasure and profit ought to be preferr'd justly before our own Mer. Sir I was always satisfied with my own Countrey and the little encouragement you give me to exchange it for any other confirms me now so much in my Opinion that I am resolv'd never to cross the Seas except some greater Business than I can foresee should necessitate me Trav. I have now spent somewhat more than Eight years as you know Cousin out of England The first time I went abroad I only learnt my Exercises and made those Tours of France and Italy which generally other Gentlemen use to do I could then have told you who was the best Dancing Master of Paris where liv'd the most fashionable Taylor the airiest Perriwig-maker and such like In Italy where the best Wines and what Curiosities were particular to every City But having almost lost the bon goust as they say or rellish for those youthful pleasures since I went last abroad I have made other remarks and grown more sullen possibly than I ought to be can tell you now of the pride and libertinage of the French Noblesse the impertinence coquetry and debauchery of the Gentry the misery of the Commonalty the extream poverty of most and slavery of all In Italy the restraint of their Wives and Women the jealousie of Husbands and their general vindicative humour At Venice the insupportable insolence of their Nobili Venetiani and triumphant Vice At Genoua the scandalous Mechanick Traffick and notorious Avarice oâ— their Grandees insomuch that they starve even a Jew in his own Trade Their frequent assassinations pride and ill manners The dull Bigotry of Florence and hard impositions upon Subjects The formalities of Rome the lost Vertue and Courage and natural Cowardize and Poltronery of the degenerated Romans the insolence of the Commonalty del regna as they call it or Kingdom of Naples the Robberies of their Banditti the great Titles and small Estates of the Nobility the hereditary risses or quarrels of the Piedmontesi and those of Monferat and from their ill administration of Justice their eternal Processes And to conclude add to this the arbitrary Government exercis'd generally all over Italy and the heavy impositions upon their Subjects greater than they ought to bear Now Cousin with all I have said compare the extream happiness of the English Nation The Riches of the Commonalty insomuch that some have thought it to be the greatest part of our disease The vast trade and prosperous condition of our Merchants The Hospitality Wealth and Modesty of our Gentry The high quality and true worth of our Nobility their uncorrupted Loyalty to their Prince and unaffected kindness for the People But above all let us reflect seriously upon the most happy security and liberty of our Persons and Estates which all strangers are forc't both to admire and envy Our freedom and exemption from all manner of Taxes and Impositions but such as we our selves shall consent to And not to be too tedious upon a subject which is so large let us truly consider and at the same time bless God Almighty for our just Laws and impartial execution of them for the admirable equal Constitution of our Government where the Prince hath so great
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
great Power and Trust in so few hands was look'd upon as a great Obligation to those Lords and a great Security to that King so long as their Interests stood united in their new Conquest yet in the next Age when the heat of that Action was over their Interests divided and the Obligation forgotten it proved to the succeeding Kings so great a Curb and Restraint to Sovereignty that nothing fell more intimately into their Care than how to retrench as much as they durst the Power of that Nobility which they began to suspect and was like in time to mate even Monarchy it self Though others foresaw the mischief in time yet none attempted the Remedy untill King John who no sooner began to reign in his own Right for by the way he practis'd a little in his Brother's time and by that Experience found Mat. Paris his Words true of the Barons viz. Quot Domini tot Tyranni But he bethought himself to frame his Counsel of such a Constitution as he might have Credit and Influence upon it To be short he was the first that durst restrain the tumultuary access of the Barons to Council he was the first that would admit of none but such as he should summon and would summon none but such as he thought fitting and besides he would send out Summons to several of the Commons or lesser Tenants mixing them with the Nobles and engaging them thereby to his Interest and whereas before the Council consisted of the Nobility and Clergy he erected a third Estate a Body of the Commons or lesser Tenants which might in some measure equal the rest and be faithful to him All which appears in the Clause Rolls and Patent Rolls of the sixth Year of this King and in vain before that time shall any Man seek either for Summons or Advice of the Commons in any of these great Councils King John having put this Cheque upon the Councils considers next how to ballance the unequal power of the unruly Barons and first he tampers with the Bishops and Clergy sain he would have drawn them into his Party at least to his Dependency but that Tryal cost him dear In the next place therefore that he might create new Dependances and new Strength to himself he becomes a great Patron and Founder or at least Benefactor to many considerable Corporations as Newcastle Yarmouth Lynn and others insomuch that he is taken notice of by Speed and other of our Chroniclers and stiled particularly the Patron of Corporations Thus you see not only when but for what Reason the Institution of the House of Commons was first thought upon and indeed according to their old or first Constitution their Attendance in Parliament or as we say their serving in Parliament was look'd upon rather as an easier Service due to the King than otherwise as a Priviledge granted to the People as may be seen not only in the Case of the Burgesses of St. Albans in temp Ed. 2. recited by the Worthy Dr. Brady against Petit but also by many other good Authorities too long for this place But begging your Pardon for this long Story I now proceed to the second Parenthesis in which he makes no Scruple to accuse his present Majejesty and his late Sacred Father of breaking the Law in adjourning proroguing and dissolving Parliaments Indeed Cousin I know nothing that reflects more truly upon the Constitution of our Government than that it suffers such pestilent seditious Men as our Author seems to be to live under it For nothing sure is more evident in the whole or any part of the Law whether Statute common or customary than that the Kings of England ever since the first Parliament that ever was call'd have had and exercis'd the same Power in adjourning proroguing and dissolving them as his present Majesty or his Father of Blessed Memory ever did And that you may have Plato's own Authority against himself I must anticipate so much of his Discourse as to inform you That in p. 105. you will find these very Words That which is undoubtedly the King 's Right or Prerogative is to Call and Dissolve Parliaments Nay more so great was the Authority and Prerogative of our Kings over the House of Commons according to their old Constitution That they have in their Writs of Summons named and appointed the particular Persons all over England who were to be returned to their Parliaments sometimes have order'd that only one Knight for the Shire and one Burgess for a Corporation should be sent to their Parliaments and those also named to the Sheriffs and sometimes more as may be seen by the very Writs of Edw. 2. and Edw. 3. fully recited by the aforesaid Dr. Brady from p. 243. to p. 252. Besides Sir what is more reasonable and equitable than that our Kings should enjoy the Power of Adjourning Proroguing and Dissolving that their Council or Parliament when and as often as they please since our Kings alone in Exclusion to all other mortal Power in England whatsoever enjoy â—olely the Prerogative of Calling or Assembling these their Parliaments when and where they alone shall think convenient Mer. I confess we generally say That it is a great Weakness in a cunning Man to raise a Spirit which afterwards he cannot lay and that in such case the Spirit tears him in pieces first who rais'd him And I think we have had the Misfortune to see somewhat very tragical of this kind in the beginning of our late Troubles if it were not possibly the great Cause of his late Majesty's fatal Catastrophe But truly excepting that case I never heard the King's Authority in proroguing or dissolving Parliaments question'd before Trav. Well Sir go forward to the twenty fifth Page for all between is nothing but quacking and ridiculous Complements or Matter as little worth our notice Mer. He tells us there that it remains undiscovered how the first Regulation of Mankind began that Necessity made the first Government that every Man by the Law of Nature had like Beasts in a Pasture Right to every thing That every Individual if he were stronger might seise whatever any other had possessed himself of before Trav. Hold a little Sir that we may not have too much Work upon our Hands at once I think he said before at Page 22. That he would not take upon him so much as to conjecture how and when Government began in the World c. This Cousin I cannot pass by because it seems to be the only piece of Modesty which I observe in his whole Treatise And I should commend him for it much but that I have great reason to suspect that he pretends Ignorance only to cover his Knavery and thereby leave room to introduce several other most false and pernicious Principles which we shall endeavour to refute First therefore I shall take the Liberty not only to conjecture but to tell him plainly when and where Covernment began and how also it continued
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
necessary Blessings which Mankind enjoys that Government cannot subsist without Power and that Power is originally in God who is the Fountain of all Power nothing seems more reasonable than that we should deduce all humane Authority from that inexhaustible Source and respect it accordingly I have only one Argument against what you have propos'd which however it may seem strange yet I must beg leave to offer it to you And it is this That I have heard some Learned Men both Ancient and Modern seem to maintain That although God may possibly be the universal Governour of the World or governs the Universe in general as the Sun Moon and Stars and so forth yet that he doth not as being beneath so great a Majesty inspect or mind the little particular Governments of our small Globe of Earth Trav. This is indeed the pernicious Doctrine of the Epicureans which with its Disciples ought to be banish'd all good Governments Qui ex bene moratis urbibus ejecti sunt as Grotius tells us cap. de poenis Ita coerceri posse arbitror nomine humanae Societatis quam sine ratione probabili violant Gassendus I confess in his Treatise de Vita Moribus Epicuri seems too much to favour this Opinion But Grotius whose Judgment I prefer before the Philosophy of both and St. Paul whom we Christians ought to respect before all three tells us Heb. 11. v. 6. That he who cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a Rewarder of those who diligently search him Grotius also in the same Chapter says farther That that Religion which in all Ages has been accounted true is chiefly grounded upon four Principles the third of which he says is this That God takes Care of humane Affairs and determines them according to his most just Decrees à Deo curari res humanas aequissimis Judiciis dijudicari And after he hath quoted to the same purpose Cicero Epictetus Lactantius and others he concludes That Revera negare Deum esse aut negare à Deo curari actiones humanas si moralem effectum respicimus tantundem valet That to deny there is a God or to deny that he regulates humane Affairs is in Effect the same thing And particularly in the same Chapter Sect. 44. he tells us farther that Epicurus when he took away the Providence of God in the Government of the World he left nothing of Justice but the empty Name That Justice is no farther necessary than profitable and that we ought to abstain from hurting one another out of no other Consideration than the Fear that those whom we offend should revenge themselves Epicurus cum Divinam providentiam sustulisset Justitiae quoque nihil reliquit nisi nomen inane c. But these and many other of the Epicurean Principles are rather plausible than solid witty than judicious and striking the Senses are rejected by a sober Vnderstanding Besides Cousin we Christians are obliged by a truer and much more Divine Philosophy to which we have all subserib'd and which is become a publick Law and Rule amongst us and with good Reason for nothing is more dangerous in all Governments than to regulate Publick Actions according to Private Opinions Publick Actions must have Publick Rules and publick Obedience must have Publick Laws under which we must acquiesce untill they be alter'd by Publick Authority otherwise we may eternally wander after the false Lights of foolish Men who from their Extravagancies would be accounted witty Mer. Sir I shall not dispute any farther either your Reasons or your Authorities both which I allow as most authentick pray therefore proceed Trav. Having told you then what Power is I come now to Force and as the first is the spiritual part of Government so the latter is the material part Force is the Arm and Nerve which being animated by lawful Authority produces Power in the general Acceptation which is properly and in a good Sense the Vnion of both Force without this Right is Vis injusta or Violence With it it becomes the just Defence which Nature hath given all Creatures as well as Man to preserve to themselves their Lives Liberties and Possessions Without it that is when we invade the Possessions of another it becomes Robbery and Rapine and is no more excusable in Alexander than the Pyrate Tully de Officiis 3. and Grotius who cites him besides many others tell us the same Truths in plain Words Vt quisque malit sibi quod ad vitae usum pertineat quam alteri acquiri concessum est non repugnante natura Illud natura non patitur ut aliorum spoliis nostras facultates opes copias augeamus And Grotius adds this Consequence Non est ergo contra Societatis naturam sibi prospicere atque consulere dum jus alienum non tollatur Ac proinde nec vis quae jus alterius non violat injusta est It is Right of Power therefore which makes Force justifiable both according to the Laws of Nature and the Laws of Man To conclude Power or Authority and Force are generally so united that they oftentimes are mistaken and pass for one another But they are also sometimes separated as a Right may be from the Possession and by this Instance we may easily distinguish them A lawful Prince hath first Power and Authority to which Force is added A Rebel first procures a Force or Strength and afterwards usurps a Power Mer. This is plain enough and I have nothing to reply Trav. Having then made these necessary Distinctions I affirm That the People which is the Force and Strength of all Kingdoms by how much their Strength is great whether in Land or Personal Estate by so much their Power which is Authority or Right of Government ought to be the less And this not only because it is incongruous and unnatural that the Governed should become their own Governours or that the several destructive Appetites of the Members should train after them the Reason which ought to regulate all but it is also very imprudent and against all the Rules of true Polity and Government For it hath been ever the Rule and Endeavour of wise Men so to ballance Power and Force that neither may offend the other but that by the harmonious Accord of just Commands and faithful Obedience a State may become most happy invincible and eternal Hence Power never ought to assume an adventitious Force such as Mercenary Souldiers which have generally prov'd destructive both to Prince and People nor the People usurp a Power which belongs not to them such as the Seditious Tribunes of Rome often pretended to which lost them both that Power and Liberty which they had Government consists in Command and Obedience whence Empire is defin'd by some to be certus ordo in jubendo parendo Command is the Effect of Power Obedience the Result of both and Peace Happiness and Security the end of all The general Interruption proceeds from
or subject to any other mans right or authority so as that they may be made void according to the will or pleasure or decrees of any other mortal man Potestas summa illa dicitur cujus actus alterius juri non substunt ita ut alterius humanae voluntatis arbitrio irriti reddi possunt De jure B. P. p. 47. But with submission to so great authorities These do not reach the definition of an absolute Monarch in a good sense as it ever ought to be taken For though they have given their Prince exemption from all Laws and power enough to command yet they have not excluded Tyranny which indeed is oftentimes mistaken for absolute power I confess it seems hard to destroy the Tyrant and yet preserve the absolute Monarch However I shall presume to give such a definition as may do both which I refer to the impartial judgment of those who shall consider it An absolute Monarch then is he who having receiv'd a just authority executes the Laws of God and Nature without controul By receiving a just authority I exclude one principal mark of a Tyrant which is intrusion or usurpation In the next place I oblige the absolute Monarch to execute the Laws of God and Nature and nothing contrary to them By this also Government is freed from Tyranny in the use or exercise of authority For he who governs according to the Laws of God and Nature I speak of a Natural Monarch or a Monarch in the state of Nature does no unjust thing and is by consequence no Tyrant And lastly as I have secur'd the absolute Prince from Tyranny so I have plac'd him above all conditional limited Governments by these words without controul For he who commands or governs as far as the Laws of God and Nature permit hath certainly as ample and as absolute a Jurisdiction as any mortal man can justly possess This is so large a power that he who acts beyond it that is contrary to it is deservedly esteem'd a Tyrant and in such case the people are not oblig'd to obey And the reason is because the Prince having never receiv'd an authority to command that which is unjust that is to say contrary to the Laws of God and Nature the people are acquitted from their obediences as to that particular command All that we have now to do is but to apply this definition to the Hebrew Kings and from thence we shall be able to judge of their absolute power And first it is certain that they receiv'd their right of power from God himself and no other which continued by Succession especially after David unto the Babylonish captivity I have not time at present to inlarge upon this point and answer those frivolous objections which some men have brought against it You will find this done more fully in another place and confirm'd by the authority of Josephus Grotius and the History of the Bible I know some have pretended that David received his authority from the people and would prove it by a passage in 1 Chron. 11. where it is said that the Elders anointed David King over Israel But we must observe that David was Anointed first by Samuel and that by the express command of God himself and next this second Anointing by the people signified nothing more than to exclude by this publick act the pretensions of Isbosheth eldest Son to Saul Who without the special reveal'd will of God would have succeeded his father And this was ever practised where there was any interruption or dispute in the Succession So Solomon was anointed because of the difference between him and Adonijah otherwise that Ceremony was not absolutely necessary and was many times totally neglected Besides in the case of David it is plain that he received no right of power from the people but from God and that by their own confession both before and after their anointing And the Lord thy God said unto thee thou shalt feed my people Israel and thou shalt be ruler over my people Israel And again They anointed David King over Israel according to the word of the Lord by Samuel 1 Chron. 11. 2 3. Hence Grotius observes that David gave God thanks for that God had subjected his people unto him David Deo gratias agit quod populum suum sibi subjecerit Taking it therefore for granted that David received no right of power from the people by consequence he depended upon none but God as all the most Soveraign Princes do and this is one great mark of an absolute Monarch In the next place he executed the laws of God and nature without controul I never heard any question made of this except in the case of judgment concerning a Tribe the High Priest and a Prophet Which judgments Grotius supposed were taken from the Hebrew Kings Aliqua judicia arbitror regibus adempta But I rather think under favour that they were more properly Principibus concessa which makes a considerable difference For I find no mention of any time or power who could take those judgments from the King On the contrary we read of several Kings erecting Courts of Judicature and making Judges both in Gods cause and in the Kings And these three points being of the highest consequence the judgment of them might most probably be granted by the King to the determination of the highest Court of Justice In the first of Chron. chap. 26. v. 5. We find David making Rulers over the Reubenites the Gadites and the half Tribe of Manasseh for every matter pertaining to God and the affairs of the King but more particularly in the second of Chron. chap. 19. Jehoshaphat does the same thing but in terms more plain And he set Judges in the Land through all the fenced Cities of Judah City by City And said to the Judges take heed what you do c. Moreover in Jerusalem did Jehoshaphat set of the Levites and of the Priests and of the Chief of the Fathers of Israel for the judgments of the Lord and for controversies when they return'd to Jerusalem And behold Amariel the Chief Priest is over you in all matters of the Lord and Zedekiah the son of Ishmael the Ruler of the house of Judah for all the Kings matters Indeed I should think that this is plain enough to prove that their Kings had in them the Supreme right of administring justice through their territories and made their Subordinate officers who wholly depended upon them and I am the more confirm'd in this opinion because I find both the High Priests and Prophets too judged condemned and pardoned even against the judgment of the Sanhedrim by the Kings single authority So Solomon banished the High Priest Abiathar Solomon Abiatharem Pontiâ—icem in exilium misit says Josephus lib. 8. so Jehoiakim slew the Prophet Vriah And they sent forth Vriah out of Aegypt and brought him unto Jehoiakim the King who slew him with the Sword Jer. 26. 23. The same did Joash
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
the King hath inherently antecedently and by Birth-right a Soveraign authority over all his people and this is confirm'd to him both by Statute Common Law and Custom according to that of 19. H. 6. 62. The Law is the inheritance of the King and people by which they are rul'd King and people But if the Commonwealths men gain their point if the Association and its brat bloody murder had taken its damnable effect then Government had most plainly signified the People and that is truly our Authors meaning for the words which immediately follow are these Nor is it to be imagin'd that they would give him more power than what was necessary to govern them What can be the antecedent to They and Them but the word Subjects which precedes in the beginning of the Sentence This is the true Presbyterian or Phanatick way of speaking their most mischievous Treasons which like a Bizzare with a little turn of the hand represents ether the Pope or the Devil But since we are so plainly assured of his meaning I 'll take the liberty for once to put it plainly into words and I think it will then run thus That our King having neither by birthright nor by a long undoubted Succession of above six hundred years any Authority of his own but only that which the people have intrusted in him for they would give him no more than what was just necessary to govern them p. 119. the people in whom the Soveraign power resides may call this their minister otherwise called King to an account for the administration of this his trust and in case he should not acquit himself according to their expectation the Soveraign Subject might punish this their Subject King turn him out of his office as all Supreme governours may their subordinate officers nay and set up any other form of Government whatsoever without doing any manner of injustice to their King This is our Authors doctrine as appears not only by inevitable consequences drawn from this mâ—tuated or fide-commissary power which he hath placed in the King but from the whole context and course of his Libel Now though Hell it self could not have invented a proposition more notoriously false though the whole Association could not have asserted a more Traiterous principle though the Supreme power or Soveraign right of Government hath been fixed to the imperial Crown of England ever since the beginning of History or Kings amongst us or the memorial of any time though more than twenty Parliaments which are the wisdom and Representatives of the whole Nation have by several explanatory Acts and Statutes confessed declared and affirmed that this Soveraign Authority or power of England is solely in the King and his laâ—â—ul Heirs and Successors in exclusion to all other mortal power whatsoever Rex habet potestatem jurisdictionem super omnes qui in regno suo sunt Nay although all the Power Priviledges Liberties and even the Estates of the people proceeded originally from the meer bounty of our Kings as both ancient and modern Authors and Histories have evidently made it appear And after all notwithstanding our Author hath not produced one single authority or one little peice of an Act Statute or Law to prove that the Soveraign power is in the people or that the King held his authority only in trust from them as he plainly affirms or when they entrusted him with it or had it in themselves to grant yet by an unparallelled piece of impudence and vanity he dares to bring his own private opinion in competition with the wisdom learning practice decrees and justice of the whole Nation condemn our Ancestors as betrayers of the peoples rights and priviledges and by a single ipse dixit prove himself the only true Physician learned Statesman and except some who in most Ages have been Executed for their most horrid Treasons the only worthy Patriot of his Countrey and Defender of its rights Now lest some of our ignorant and infatuated multitude like the Children of Hamel should dance after our Authors popular and Northern Bagpipe until he precipitates them all into inevitable ruin and destruction I am resolved not to insist at present upon his Majesties Hereditary and undoubted Soveraign right of power which he now possesses not only by prescription and a Succession of more than eight hundred years but by all the Laâ—s of the Land as hath been already declared and the universal consent of all his good Subjects confirmed by their Oaths of Allegeance from which none but Rebels and perjured men can depart I will not I say at present urge those arguments which are sufficient to convince opiniastrete and wilful ignorance it self but will attack him in his strongest Gothick â—orts and the rational part upon which he seems most to value himself And first for these Goths I cannot find in any History when it was they came over into England nay I am confident that all Learned men will agree that there is no probable conjecture from any Author that they ever have been here or crost our Seas or came nearer us than Normandy one argument amongst others is the flourishing condition of our Island above France where the Goths and Vandalls had made some ravage in point of Learning and Sciences insomuch that Alcuinus an Englishman and Scholar to the Venerable Bede was sent unto Charles the Great to whom he became Doctor or Professor in Divinity Astronomy and Philosophy and by his direction erected the University of Paris But to return to our Goths it is certain that at first they travelled South-East which is very different from South-West such as iâ— our situation from theirs And yet our politick Author tells us positively according to his usual method that they establish'd their government in these parts after their conquest p. 93. And endeavouring to prove in p. 46. and 97. that according to their institution the people had an influence upon the Government he tells us that the Governments of France Spain and England by name and other countries where these people setled were fram'd accordingly Here we see our Country conquer'd and an excellent form of Government establish'd by the Goths so good and admirably just that we in this age must quit our happy Monarchy which hath subsisted most gloriously many Hundreds of years only to run a wool-gathering after these precarious Gothick Princes and yet no man could ever tell us when this conquest happen d nor by whom nor what became of them nor indeed any thing more than what the extravagant fancy of our Author hath imagin'd As for the Romans who conquer'd us sure they were neither Goths nor Northern people and so nothing can be pretended from that Conquest nor are the Saxons who next invaded us to be called Northern people by us at least who lye so much North to them our selves But forgiving Plato all his absurdities and incongruities the rather that we may find out the Truth and confound him with
did not expect and hesitating much without giving any satisfactory account of what was demanded he was cast into chains and punish'd according to the hainousness of the offence Mer. And may all the Manlii amongst us be alike confounded Next Sir I cannot approve of the liberty men take of publishing their private sentiments which are generally grounded upon nothing but conjecture and Enthusiastical follies Trav. Certainly nothing would conduce more to our quiet than that the liberty of the press should be restrain'd But since it is not our business to look into those liberties which we enjoy so much as into those which we want let us leave the consideration of these and many other such things to our prudent Governours I shall only note this one thing by the way that since the Act of Habeas Corpus I think I may confidently affirm that even at this time when there is so much danger of a pretended slavery the Subjects of England enjoy a greater liberty than was known to any of our Ancestors before us Pray therefore proceed to the second consideration which is our properties Mer. That is wholly unnecessary for all the world knows that whatsoever we possess is so secured by the Laws of the Land that the King himself doth not pretend in prejudice of those Laws which indeed are his own Laws to touch the least Chattel that belongs to us nor can any Tax be impos'd but such as shall be granted by Act of Parliament which is the very Government that our Author so much approves And in a word Plato himself has clear'd this point telling us p. 127 That the people by the fundamental Laws that is by the constitution of the Government of England have entire freedom in their lives properties and their persons neither of which can in the least suffer but according to the Laws And to prevent any oppression that might happen in the execution of these good Laws which are our Birthright all Trials must be by twelve men of our equals and in the next page lest the King 's Soveraign authority might be urg'd as a stop to the execution of those Laws he tells us That neither the King nor any by authority from him hath any the least power or jurisdiction over any English man but what the Law gives him And if any person shall be so wicked as to do any injustice to the life liberty or estate of any Englishman by any private command of the Prince the person aggriev'd or his next of kin if he be Assassinated shall have the same remedy against the offender as he ought to have had by the good Laws of the Land if there had been no such command given Now dear Cousin in the name of sense and reason where can be the fault and distemper of our Government as it relates to the ease and priviledge of the Subject if this be the constitution of it as at least our Author himself affirms Trav. Faith Sir I could never find it out nor any man else that ever I could meet withal And what is still stranger our great Platonick Physician hath not vouchsafed to give us any one particular instance in what part our disease lyes notwithstanding he alarms us with dismal news of being dead men and that without such a strange turn of Government as his pregnant Noddle hath found out we are ruin'd for ever 'T is true he tells us that the property being in the hand of the Commoners the Government must necessarily be there also and for which the Commoners are tugging and contending very justly and very honourably which makes every Parliament seem a present state of war Mer. But Sir if it be true that we enjoy all those benefits and blessings before mentioned that the Government it self secures these properties inviolably to us which we know to be most certain without the testimony of Plato or any man else what then does this tugging concern us or what relation has it to our happiness which is already as great as we can wish it to be Must the enjoyment of our properties put us into a state of war Must our health become our disease and our fatness only make us kick against our masters what can this contention for Government signifie more than ambition and what could their success produce less than Tyranny should the House of Commons become our masters what could they bestow upon us more than we already enjoy except danger and trouble And what can our present Government take from us except the fears of those fatal consequences which such a popular innovation would induce Let then the property be where it will and if we possess it securely we are the happier for it Trav. Your reasons are too plain and strong to be resisted I shall quit therefore this point and inform you how our Author seems in many places to insinuate that the want of frequent and annual Parliaments is the cause of our distemper and that calling a Parliament every year might prove a pretty cure according to a certain Act in the time of Edward the first and that then instead of hopping upon one leg we might go limping on upon three Mer. Faith Cousin you are now gotten out of my reach and you must answer this your self I can only proceed according to my former rule which is that if we be as happy as we can be a Parliament cannot make us more Trav. That answer is I think sufficient to satisfie any reasonable man However we will speak somewhat more particularly concerning this matter as we find it recorded in History Our Author informs us in p. 110. That by our Constitution the Government was undeniably to be divided between the King and his Subjects which by the way is undeniably and notoriously false for according to our ancent Constitution as well under the Saxon as our Norman Kings the Government or the right of Power was originally and solely in our Kings And that divers of the great men speaking with that excellent Prince King Edward the first about it called a Parliament and consented to a Declaration of the Kingdoms right in that point So there passed a Law in that Parliament that one should be held every year and oftner if need be The same he confirms in p. 159. and in other places Now Sir if after these fine Speeches by those great men whom undoubtedly our Author could have named to this excellent Prince it should happen at last that there was no such Act during the Reign of Edward the first what would you think of our Author Merch. In troth Sir it would not alter my opinion for I already believe him to be an impudent magisterial Impostor Trav. I fear indeed he will prove so for except he hath found in his politick search some loose paper that never yet came into our Statute books we must conclude that he is grossly mistaken For the first Act that is extant of that kind was in the
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