RIGHT ought to be Our Soveraign Lord and Lady in and to whose Princely Persons the Royal State Crown and Dignity with all Honours Titles Prerogatives c. are most FULLY and RIGHTFULLY Invested So that in their Opinion they are King and Queen de jure and therefore Allegiance is payable to them in as large a degree as to any other whosoever of the Rightful Kings their Predecessors and as I remember thus that it should signifie no more than a Peaceable Behaviour â—…d an Acquiescence under the present Establishment But this Motion was rejected because it would thus give so great a Latitude to all Mens Consciences that it would oblige to and therefore signifie just nothing This is an express Declaration against our bold Interpretations of these Oaths to our selves And for the Truth of the Fact I Appeal to that House Take therefore Allegiance in your own Sense to be an Obedience according to Law Page 6. or to express it more fully All that Obedience and all that Duty which the Laws of the Land and the Constitution of this Government require from Subjects to our Kings take Allegiance I say in this sense which is that I always understood by it and it is impossible to be paid to the present Government under the Circumstances in your Argument supposed of Possession not of Right For Kings are like God in this respect that they are Supream which necessarily implies Vnity So that whatever Duty is proper to the Supreme and only so must be entire it must be whole and undivided Thus the Prophet Elijah tells us We must not halt between two Opinions 1 Kings 18.21 if the Lord be God we must follow him but if Baal him And a greater than he has said We cannot serve two Masters Mat. 6.24 nor can we for the same Reason pay the Duty of Allegiance to two Supremes or Soveraigns at the same time If then it appear that King James has still the Right of Soveraignty and this you here suppose we cannot without Robbery and a kind of Idolatry give this Worship much less Swear it to any other But I will bring this Matter home to our Case It is well known and declared by two Acts of Parliament under King Henry the Seventh to be the Natural Duty of All Subjects to Defend the Persons of their Kings to Fight their Battels The Words of the Statutes are these Subjects by reason of their Duty of ALLEGIANCE are bound to serve the Prince in his Wars in defence of HIM and the Land against EVERY Rebellion POWER and MIGHT Rear'd against Him 11 H. 7. c. 1. Again EVERY SUBJECT by the Duty of his ALLEGIANCE is bound to Serve and Assist his Prince c. at ALL SEASONS when need shall require and to Defend his Royal Person c. against his Rebels and ENEMIES for the SUBDUING of them 11 H. 7. c. 18. to Destroy ALL their Enemies and to do this at ALL Times as oft as occasion shall so require So that if this Duty of Allegiance be own'd as due and Sworn to an Usurperer Pardon the Expression All Possessors without Right are such and this is here in your Argument supposed Whenever the King shall attempt to Return to be restor'd to his own and shall demand our Assistance in order to it we must notwithstanding this Natural Allegiance confirm'd by our former Oaths to him Defend the unjust Possessor of his Throne against him And if occasion so requires as inevitably it must in some of our Cases even Sacrifice the King to the Interest of the Intruder and imbrue our hands in his Royal Blood to prevent the breach of those Oaths to one who has no right to exact them from us An Assertion so audauciously Impious that nothing can be suppos'd to surpass it but that alone which must justifie these daily Acts of the Clergy when in their Prayers where they should be sedate and well assur'd the Petitions they there offer to God are agreeable to his Will they dare be so hardy to call aloud for Vengeance upon the Head of the King whom they are expresly forbid to Curse even in their Hearts They do therefore little less than Blaspheme God as well as the King when they pray the Usurper may overcome ALL his Enemies even him But let them have a care least thâ—… 〈◊〉 return into their own Bosomes I tremble to think that this Consequence is unavoidable That he may vanquish and overcome All his Enemies Prayer for the King We beseech thee c. to give him Victory over All his Enemies Lit. Save and deliver us that is the whole Government as now Established from the hands of our ENEMIES who so much an ENEMY to an Usurper as the Rightful King Abate their Pride Asswage their Malice and CONFOVND their Devices Prayer in time of War and Tumults The Solemn Recognitions too are not easie to be overlook'd where the King de facto is called our most Religious and Gracious King Prayer for the Parliament and own'd as God's chosen Servant and having his Authority from Him Coll. after the Com. Lastly in that most solemn part of all our Devotion the Communion we pray for a continuance of the Usurpation when we beseech God to save and defend in an especial manner above all other Christian Kings and Princes our Possessing King that under him we may continue to be Govern'd Prayer for the whole state of Christs Church Had the Prayers for the Fast been Publisht when these Papers were writ they had deserv'd a Paragraph by themselves since they are so warily contriv'd that there is no room left for any tolerable Evasion The Composer of them being resolv'd that whoever made use of that Form of Prayer should level them particularly against him which is here suppos'd the King de Jure and that we are by this means reduced to such straights that we must either absent our selves from the Publick Prayers of the Church or become hearers if not partakers of such bitter Curses against the Lord 's Anointed The force of all this is little abated by bringing in the Examples of those Miserable Wretches who live in the Frontiers upon the Continent What Allowances God will make to invincible Necessity in their Case I dare not determine But I think all Casuists agree that not only the Necessity must be apparently invincible but the means which lead to it must be unavoidable before we can lay hold of this Excuse or venture to do a thing otherwise unlawful and call upon Necessity to plead our Innocence Your Lordship would account it a very frivolous Argument against the Divine Institution of your Holy Order and would certainly laugh at a Conclusion against Episcopal Ordination where it may be had drawn from the Practice of the Reformed Gallic Churches whose Ordinations by the Presbytery alone are allow'd Good by some amongst us Page 6. §. 4 tho disputed by others where a fatal Necessity renders it
but Eternal Ruin So that I hope we shall agree in this Conclusion that as the apparent Blessings to be enjoy'd and the frightful Dangers to be avoided are sufficient Inducements to Swear Allegiance to the present Government if this Oath shall appear to be Lawful so if otherwise the Curse from God against wilful Sin is a reasonabl Consideration to deter us from it and that we must not be warp'd with the Alurements of Prosperity or the Fears of Adversity 't is an ill Cause a Good Man will be afraid to suffer for but that we must impartially consider the true state of the Controversie which I take to be this viz. Whether the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy be Lawful as they are now imposed on the Clergy at the Peril of Suspension ab Officio Beneficio Censures by the way not generally own'd within the Power of Temporal Judges under these our present Circumstances viz. Of knowing that King James the Second is our Rightful King till it be otherwise made appear that he has ceased to be King that he is endeavouring to be Restor'd to his Throne and Kingdoms and that he expects our Allegiance and is soliciting Assistance in order to it This is the true state of the Question And till the Affirmative be well prov'd all that can be said besides is only raising of a dust and as your Lordship well expresses it Page 4. a Pathetical aggravating of the matter This your Lordship has undertaken and accordngly offer'd these three Arguments drawn Page 4. S. 2. Page 16. S. 10. Page 19. S. 11. 1. From Possession of the Throne 2. From the Decision and Declaration of the Convention 3. From Conquest All which seem to me ineffectual Page 4. S. 2. 1. Possession of the Throne is indeed a sufficient Title to our Allegiance under these and such like Restrictions where 1. The Title of Right is disputable or 2. The Rightful Prince declines his Claim of Right or 3. Where the Throne is Vacant in an Hereditary Kingdom by the total failure of the Royal Line The Reasons whereof are plain 1. Because for the sake of Peace and Order we may be excus'd from paying Allegiance to the Rightful Prince if disputably such by a commendable Ignorance and Incuriousness of inquiring too nicely into those things that are so far above us 2. But tho the Rightful Prince be known if he declines or absolutely refuses to undertake the Government we are excus'd by this universally received Maxim that Volenti non fit injuria or rather by an impossibility of paying it to one who will not be brought to admit of it 3. Where the Throne is vacant by a total Failure of the Royal Line this Law of Nature is our Guide viz. That Possession gives a Right where none is dispossess'd of a preceeding Right And upon this Law it is that the original Right to all our Estates and Possessions is founded For every part of the World remaining under the Dispensation of the Laws of Nature is common to all all have an equal Right to it But when any Man takes the pains to possess it she allots it to him excluding all others for a Reward to his Industry Under these then and some other like Restrictions I may allow your Argument to be good But none of these Instances will reach us We know the Rightful King and we are assur'd notwithstanding all those Monstrous Insinuations to the contrary that he Claims his Right that he expects our actual Allegiance be paid him and is endeavouring to return to us to give us an opportunity for the performance of this Duty to him But if he were dead the Succession does not terminate in him We know he has Heirs and we know those Heirs Besides this Assertion taken at large as your Lordship delivers it lays a Foundation for this unavoidable Consequence as Mean and Ungenerous as it is Absurd that we at least thus far must turn Persians always to Worship the Rising Sun we must swim safely down the stream always adhere to those that are Fortunately however Unjustly uppermost and pay our Allegiance to all Prosperous Rebels and Usurpers This is indeed so harsh to any Man of Honour or Integrity that it needs to be supported by far better Arguments than those you have here produced For the next Paragraph is so weak that I much wonder how it could fall from your Lordship's Pen. You first suppose that all allow it Lawful to Obey a Possessing King without taking notice of any Restrictions and then you confound the words and make Allegiance and Obedience to be the same thing 'T is true Self-preservation and common Prudence as well as a Duty in all to study Peaee may be granted does oblige us to such an Obedience as we owe to Foreign Princes whilst we Travail or otherwise remain not Naturalized in their Dominions That is All such Obedience as is consistent with that which is by Nature indispensibly due to our own Soveraign And I think no Man of Sense who makes a difficulty of Swearing the required Oaths can ever be thought to allow any other For my own part I profess if nothing more than such an Obedience as this be meant by the Obeence which is expected and the True Faith and Allegiance we are to Swear so soon as this Interpretation shall receive the sufficient Approbation of Publick Authority I will satisfie all my other Scruples without further Assistance But your Lordship must not take it ill if I add withal that should this Explanation be given by you it would be of very small moment with me Because all Laws are only to be Interpreted by the Legislators or such as are appointed by them to do it And all Oaths according to the common Acceptation of the Words and the known meaning of the Imposers Your Lordship therefore has no Right to do it Since you were not then a Bishop and had no share in the framing of them I do not say this with any disrespect to your Ability or Integrity Nor do I think you will ever enter upon this Province My design is hereby to shut the door against such Fallacies of a Temporary Allegiance to be revok'd at pleasure as I find the generality of Men that they may secure their Interest are tempted to admit Whereby they cheat themselves into great straits to their Consciences and Swear with Reservation they know not what I have this Exception further to make against this wandering Interpretation of the Words I was told by one of the Right Reverend the Bishops at the time when the Oaths were brought into the Convention of Lords and therefore while the Debates were fresh in Memory that it was moved among other things to have the word Allegiance Explain'd N. B. Since the writing of these Papers the Parliament hath put this Matter beyond Dispute For in their late Act of Recognition they declare King William and Queen Mary are and of
Master before his Death or swore the Military Oath to an Vsurper against Him Yet this is the Circumstance which alone concludes in favour of the Opinion here in question But the truth is my Lord St. Paul's Doctrine of Obedience to Caligula notwithstanding his black Vsurpations and Tyranny Page 1◠and his Attemtps upon all the remaining Freedoms of Rome as also the practice thereof by the Primitive Christians under many Emperours not only Tyrants and Vsurpers but even Apostates too are unanswerable Arguments for Non-Resistance to the Supream Magistrate And if so the Guilt of Treason and all those threats which God has denounc'd against it lye hard upon those who Rebell'd against their undoubted Rightful Soveraign and Advised and Procur'd this unparallell'd Revolution I shall only add for Conclusion to this whole Argument that if Rebellion be as the Sin of Witchcraft Rom. 13.2 and to Resist the Supream Magistrate without Repentance be to receive Damnation surely all such as have been Instrumentall in the unjust Exclusion of King James are bound in Conscience as they love themselves and their Eternal Happyness to return to their forsaken Allegiance and to make Restitution the one great part and instance of true Repentance in the Case of Injuries to the Injur'd King by Endeavouring to Restore him to the Possession of his own These returning Penitents if they would Unanimously Return joyn'd with those who were always ready to serve him as a KING tho not as a PAPIST would be of such force that a Forreign Army of Dutch and others should not be able to support the Usurpation against him alone without the further Assistance of French or Irish Page 14. § 9. The Succession to the High-Priesthood your Lordship owns to be Forreign to this matter but if not it Concludes very little for your Assertion For there was not an Absolute Necessity that the Eldest Son should Succeed his Father tho most usually he did since the Succession might be Interrupted by the King's Prerogative 1 Kings 2.27 Thus Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being Priest unto the Lord and although he had a Son 2 Sam. 15.36 1 Kings 2.35 yet the King put Zadok into his room * Atque ita Summum sacerdotium a familia Ithamaris ad familiam Eleazari rediit Usser An. ad an 2990. Page 16. §. 10 Since therefore the King had this Power to Depose the High-Priest and to change the Succession what could be objected against Caiaphas when call'd to the Priest-Hood by that Power which alone pretended to be the Supream 2. I have now My Lord gone through all the Arguments Your Lordship has produc'd for Possession only without Right And I think I have sufficiently Evinc'd that there is nothing therein Conclusive to us This Your Lordship seems to be sensible of when you advance the State of the Question a little further and throw it upon the Decision of a Convention which you say are the only proper Judges But here also I can find no Satisfaction for allowing your Difference to be good between all Speculative points of Opinion and all Questions that relate to matters of Fact Allowing also that in all Bodies who make Decisions the Minority is concluded by the Majority as if they had been Actually consenting to the Decision yet for all this there still remains insuperable difficulties in the present Case 1. You permit us to retain our former Opinions Page 18. Declaration to be Subscrib'd by all the Clergy 14 Car. 2. c. 4. to be sworn by all Mayors Aldermen c. St. 2. 13 C. 2. c. 1. 3,4 and by all Lords Lieutenants Deputy-Lieutenants c. 14 C. 2. c. 3. and therefore you give us leave to adhere to our Subscriptions that It is not Lawful to take up Arms against the King upon any pretence whatsoever even not upon the account of Religion and that the contrary Position is Trayterous How then can we who have Subscrib'd this Declaration and who are all of this Opinion or at least have profest our selves to be of it own those to be our Lawful Superiors who have been Instrumental contrary to this Declaration in Deposing the King till they are Absolv'd from their Treasonable Injustice against him by his most Gracious Pardon or have made him Restitution by endeavouring his Restauration much less as far as in us lies Aid and Support them in this which according to our declar'd Opinions is the highest Injury and Affront to Majesty yet these are the Chief and most considerable part of the Nation who are now set over us both in the Civil and Military State 2. But tho' the Business of Succession be allow'd a Matter of Fact as also the King 's Original Power Page 18. yet the late pretended Convention of Estates were not the Proper much less the Only competent Judges of it 1. Because most of the Members in both Houses were uncapable and unqualifi'd to sit there For 25 E. 3. c. 2. 1. It is Declar'd Treason to levy War against our Lord the King in his Realms or to be Adherent to the Kings Enemies giving to them Aid and Comfort in the Realm or Elsewhere It was also further Adjudg'd High Treason by the Lords in Parliament under K. Richard 2. To surrender from the King Homage and Allegiance and to PVRPOSE to Depose him Cott. Rec. p. 376 377 c. And as if to preclude that groundless Evasion hereof on the pretence of a Defensive War against the King a late Parliament has Declar'd 13. C. 2. c. 6. and 14 C. 2. c. 3. that The sole Supreme Government Command and Disposition of the Militia and of all Forces by Sea and Land and of All Forts and Places of Strength is and by the Laws of England Ever Was the Vndoubted Right of His Majesty c. and that both or either of the Houses of Parliament Cannot nor ought to Pretend to the same nor Can nor Lawfully may Raise or Levy any War Offensive or Defensive against His Majesty So that it is evident from hence that many of the Members in the late Convention were formally TRAYTORS Every Offendor shall lose and forfeit to the King c. all such Lands c. which any Offendor shall have c. at the TIME of any such Treason committed 5 6 Ed. 6. c. 11. 3 Eliz. c. 1. It may be urg'd indeed in their Defence that they were not legally Convict But since Treason ipso facto forfeits all Estates it is very reasonable to conclude that it also forfeits all other Rights and Priviledges of Free Subjects and since the matter of Fact was so Publick and Notorious it is a just Exception to the Legality of their whole Proceedings that such Members were suffer'd to Sit and Vote there For it is Ridiculous that those Men should Judge and Depose the King who had before forfeited their own Lives to him 2. They were incapacitated by express Acts of Parliament
Order of Kings is of DIVINE RIGHT being the ORDINANCE of GOD HIMSELF founded upon the PRIME LAWS of NATURE and clearly Established by EXPRESS Texts both of the Old and New Testaments A SUPREME POWER is given to this most Excellent Order by GOD HIMSELF in the Scriptures which is That Kings should Rule and Command in their several Dominions ALL Persons of what Rank or Estate soever whether Ecclesiastical or CIVIL That when Prelates used the Power of Calling and Dissolving Councils c. It was as in times of PERSECUTION with supposition in case it were required of submitting their very LIVES unto the very Laws and Commands even of those PAGAN Princes that they might not so much as SEEM to disturb their CIVIL Government which Christ came to Confirm but by No Means to Undermine For any Person or Persons to set up maintain or avow in any their said Realms c. under ANY PRETENCE whatsoever Any INDEPENDENT COACTIVE Power either Papal or POPULAR whether Directly or Indirectly is to UNDERMINE their great Royal Office and Cunningly to Overthrow that most Sacred ORDINANCE which GOD HIMSELF hath Established And so is TREASONABLE against GOD as well as against the King For Subjects to bear ARMS against their Kings Offensive or DEFENSIVE upon ANY PRETENCE whatsoever is at least to Resist the Powers which are ORDAINED of GOD And though they do not Invade but only RESIST St. Paul tells them plainly They shall receive to themselves DAMNATION Rom 13.2 This Extract from the Publique and Authentick Records of the Church of England will I hope Convince Your Lordship and the World that the Doctrine to which we have so often given our Assent is Evidently Repugnant to the Deposing our Kings by Any Povver on Earth And that therefore K. James II. according to our own Doctrine our Subscriptions have made it such is still our Lawful King notwithstanding his Failings in the Administration of the Government that we still owe him the Allegiance of Faithful Subjects and for that very Reason we cannot Swear the the New Oaths and thereby transfer it during his Life to any Other Whether it will prove Effectual to this end or no time will inform us But I think it cannot possibly fail of another which is this to Vindicate my self and my Brethren and Fellow-Sufferers from your Lordships severe and uncharitable Censure of Adhereing Obstinately to a preconceited groundless Opinion Page 28. since 't is Evident that we hold no more then is plainly Decree'd by so considerable a part of the Catholique Church and the only Support of the Reformation And we cannot but believe that should we Renounce this Truth to prevent a Persecution or to keep the Doors of our Churches shut against the Dissenters the Reproach and Scandal hereof would be indelible I cannot close this Letter Page 28. till I have given my Opinion of the Passage you cite out of the Magna Charta granted by K. John which you say is now with his Great Seal to it in your Lordship's hands An unfit Archive for Records of such Publique Concern Tho' I do not see that it Concludes very strongly in Favour of the Proceedings in this late Revolution An exact Judgement indeed cannot be given without a sight or a Copy of the rest of the Charter But by comparing and examining some Copies of Records relating to the Transactions of those Times which now happen to be in my hands I am induced to entertain this Opinion of it that that Charter has not the force of a perpetual Law in every Clause and Member of it But that it was only a Personal Treaty and Pacification between that King and his Rebellious Barons who overpower'd him And does no more Bind his Successors in this Part of it then his Surrender of the Crown into the hands of his Holiness and his receiving it again in Vassalage from him I am enclin'd to this Opinion by these following Considerations 1. That within the space of Nine Years this Charter was Ratifi'd at least four times For the doing whereof no tollerable Reason can be Assign'd if it had at first the Force and Continuance of a Law 1. The first Confirmation of it was granted in the First Year of the Reign of K. Henry 3. and probably at his Coronation for within four or five Months after the Death of his Father I find him granting to his Subjects of Ireland thus that You may enjoy the same Liberties Libertatibus Regno nostro Angliae a Patre Nostro NOBIS Concessis Dat. ap Glouc. 6 Feb. Rot. Pat. 1 H. 3. m. 13. as have been granted to our Kingdom of England by our Father and by Vs Which he could not have said had not he himself either Granted or at least Confirm'd them 2. A second Confirmation I meet with in the beginning of the Second Year of the same King's Reign For when he sent down his Charters into the several Counties he sent with them a Mandate to the Sheriffs to see them Proclaim'd in their full County Courts Rex c. Salutem Mittimus tibi Chartas de Libertatibus c. Mandantes quatenus eas legi facias publice in Pleno Comitatu tuo c. dat 22 Feb. Rot. Claus 2 H. 3 The Date of the Mandate is 22 Feb. and therefore a strong presumption that these Charters themselves were distinct from those above-mentioned Because it is very improbable that the former Grant and Ratification which he made above a Year before should lie so long conceal'd and should then want to be disperst and publisht But the Collector of these Records says that in an Ancient MS. supposed to be Writ about the time of K. Edward 1. he finds the Date of these Charters to be 6 Nov. An. Reg. 2. which is a Demonstration of a second Grant 3. In the Year 1218 after Michaelmass and consequently either the latter end of the second Fox's Acts and Mon. ad an 12â—8 or beginning of the third Year of his Reign this King held a Parliament at Westminster wherein he Confirm'd and Ratify'd by his Charter all the Franchises which were made and given by King John his Father 4. In the Seventh Year of his Reign he was Adjudg'd of Age being sixteen Years Old to take the Government into his own Hands This he had no sooner done then the A. B. of Canterbury in open Parliament minds him of the Oath which was Sworn in his Name by the E. of Pembroke Rectore Regis Regni and others at the Pacification between Him and the Dauphin That he would restore and confirm those Liberties to his Subjects for which the War or rather Rebellion broke out between his Father and the Barons Upon this Admonition he owns the Obligation of the Oath and Issues out Writs into every County whereby Twelve Men were Chosen to make Enquiry upon Oath after such Liberties and Franchises as were not Granted by King John Per
and even by those the Dispensing wherewith was so warmly urg'd against the King For in the Fifth of Eliz. It is Enacted That every Person which hereafter shall be Elected or Appointed a Knight Citizen or Burgess or Baron for any of the five Ports for any Parliament or Parliaments hereafter to be holden shall from henceforth before he shall Enter into the Parliament House or have any Voice there openly receive and pronounce the said Oath of Supremacy before the Lord Steward c. and that he which shall Enter into the Parliament House without taking the said Oath shall be deemed no Knight Citizen or Burgess c. nor shall have any Voice but shall be to all Intents Constructions and Purposes as if he had never been Returned or Elected c. And shall suffer such Pains and Penalties as if he had presumed to sit in the same without any Election Return or Authority But this Oath appearing ineffectual to exclude the Presbyterians and other Dissenters The present Synod well knowing that there are other Sects which endeavour the Subversion both of the Doctrine and Discipline of the Church of England NO LEâ—S THEN PAPISTS DO although by another day Syn. Lond. 1640. can 5. the Seditious Sectaries c. do at their MEETINGS contrive INSURRECTIONS as late EXPERIENCE hath shewed 16 C. 2. c. 4. §. â— who by woful Experience have been since found equally dangerous to the Government both of Church and State * 25 C. 2. c. 2 it was of late further Enacted that All and every Person or Persons as well Peers as Commoners that shall bear any Office or Offices Civil or Military c. or shall have Command or Place of Trust c. shall take the Oaths of Supremacy and Allegiance c. and receive the Sacrament and that those who shall Refuse or Neglect the same shall be ipso facto adjuged uncapable and disabled in Law to enjoy the said Office c. And every such Office c. shall be void But if this will not be admitted to extend to all the Members of Parliament as such tho' I think the greatest Trusts of the Kingdom are reposed in them however by another Parliament it is more fully Enacted 30 Car. 2. that Every Peer and every Commoner shall take the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy and shall make subscribe and audibly Repeat this Declaration against Transubstantiation c. Before he take his Place in the House c. And where any Member of the House of Commons shall c. by the Neglect hereof be Disabled to Sit c. the Place or Places for which they c. were Elected is hereby Declared Void c. as if such Members were Naturally Dead All which Laws being interpreted according to the Reasons and Occasions of them reach a Convention as well as a Parliament For undoubtedly where any great Care is necessary to preserve the Superstructure it is much more to secure the Foundation If therefore such caution be necessary to prevent Corruption in a part of the Legislative Body surely it is no less necessary to prevent it in that which takes upon it to Constitute the Legislature it self Yet for all this no Member of either House as such had any regard to these Statutes 2. There is neither Authority in Law nor approvâ—d Precedent in History for such an Assembly 1. That it has no Authority in Law is evident for that so strictly requires the Royal Summons to all such like Assemblies that the greatest Exigencies of Publick Affairs do not excuse the neglect thereof And your Lordship has formerly own'd that the want of the Kings Writ was such an Essential Nullity Reflections on Parliamentum Pacificum §. 1 that no subsequent Ratification could take it away Thus the Second Parliament of King Charles II. found it necessary to confirm all the useful Laws of the former for this very Reason because they wanted a due Summons tho' they had the Royal Assent to Legitimate their Meeting and further declare that the Manner of the said Assembling c. is not to be drawn into Example Nay sometimes they will not allow it even the Name of a Parliament but call it only a late Assembly 13 C. 2. c. 15. 2. It has no Approv'd Precedent in History For the Memory of that of Richard 3. which has a great resemblance to this in many Particulars is too black to be insisted on And all the Transactions of the several Parliaments or rather Conventions during the Vsurpations against the Royal Martyr and his Son were adjudg'd by all Lawyers as well as a Parliament to have been in themselves Null and Void Yet I think they had as good Foundation 13 C. 2. c. â—… §. 3. and as much Law for what they did as our late Convention can pretend to 3. They had no Power to Transact such Matters or make such Decisions as they have undertaken except it be made out that a larger Power was delegated to them then to a Parliament This more extensive Authority if any such they had they must of necessity derive either from those they represent or from him who Summon'd them But from neither of these could they derive it Not from the former because the Electors were the very same as to a Parliament and they always impower'd their Representatives with as large a Deputation as they could give to Consult about the great and weighty Concerns of the Publick and to give Assent accordingly in their Names nor from the later because if so the Prince of Orange had a greater Power devolv'd on him by those few Lords and Commons who desir'd him to take upon himself the Administration of Publick Affairs then he afterwards receiv'd from the Convention when they presented him the Crown and Regal Authority which is down-right Nonsence Besides my Lord there is no greater power imply'd by the word Convention For every Convention of the two Houses of Parliament is a true Convention of the three Estates This is fully declar'd to Q. Elizabeth thus We Your most Humble 1 Eliz. c. 3. Faithful and Obedient Subjects the Lords SPIRITUAL and TEMPORAL and COMMONS in Parliament Assembled c. Representing the THREE ESTATES of your Realm c. Humbly beseech c. So that I think we may from hence conclude that the late Convention had at most no more than an Equal Authority with the two Houses of Parliament without the King who is not to be included by the Three Estates It only remains then in the next place to show you that such a Parliament hath no such Power This is sufficiently declar'd by the Parliaments themselves When they call those that Proceeded against the Life of King Charles I. a TRAYTEROUS ASSEMBLY and the most Detestable Traytors that ever were they therefore Renounce 12 C. 2. c. 11. 14 C. 2. c. 29. 12 C. 2. c. 30. Abominate and Protest against that Impious Fact that Execrable Murther and
of like horrid Nature which were no less busily whisper'd through the whole Kingdom and with as great an Assurance of Truth as these your Lordship here insists on But why they should continue to be Secrets now is the greatest Secret Tho' I confess I am strongly enclin'd to believe that they were only invented to blacken the King and to Alienate the Affections of his Subjects from him so that since they have Answer'd the End of their Being in his Ruin there is no reason to publish the useful Malice of those who devis'd and dispers'd them by offering at Evidence where they know there is none The Committee of Noble Peers who made an Attempt towards some New Discoveries into the Unfortunate Death of the late E. of Essex had such ill Luck therein and their Creature the Witness was so shamefully baffled that we are left without all hopes of ever seeing further into those Mighty Mysteries of Iniquity charg'd upon the King But if these Crimes be indeed known to be true why are they not clear'd by some Solemn Testimony of credible Witnesses For if they be not known it can never be answer'd either to God or Man that a King should be thus Scandalously Defamed upon no sufficient Motives even of Credibility much less that the Justice of a War against him should be grounded on the pretence of a Common Fame then which nothing is more False and Malicious and to which I presume your Lordship has no great Temptation to Appeal No sufficient grounds therefore for the Justice of the War appears And if the War be unjust all the Acquisition is so too Page 21. But I will carry it one step further and in that as far as you your self can wish I will suppose the War just and therefore the Acquisition a Lawful Title yet the Prince of Orange is no more concern'd in it then every General in the case of Conquest The Honour is theirs But all the Benefit accrues to those only who had the Right to make the War So that whatever Obedience or Allegiance is due 't is not to the Prince but to the Princess in whose Right the War was begun and the Conquest if any made This is Evident and needs no more words for the confirmation of it Your Lordship I suppose never design'd that this next Fallacy should pass upon the World for an Argument You seem to be in the humour to make a Jest when you urge the King 's Deserting if forc'd as an Evidence of Conquest or if voluntary of a wilful Desertion forfeiting his Crown For was ever King thought to be Conquer'd only because he was Betray'd or lose his Right to his Dominions tho he lost the Possession because his Subjects prov'd Traytors and Deserted him All the Kings Actions and Councils have sufficiently shown that he did no more then what self-preservation and common Prudence oblig'd him to he gave way to a Torrent that would else have overwhelm'd him till he could gain time and strength to make head and Repel it which concludes no more against his Right then his Brothers Flight at Worcester did against His notwithstanding which his Restoring Parliament is said in the Title to be held in the twelfth Year of his Reign But this Reflection is forc'd and Malicious which you make upon his casting the Great Seals into the Thames From this Action which you call the unaccountable part of his withdrawing Page 22. you conclude that he had taken a Resolution of Perpetual Tyranny and that he would no more Govern by the shew of Law Whereas if your Lordship considers that the Broad Seal carries with it the Kings Authority as well as his Image you must own that he had great Reason to keep it from the hands of those who were so insolent to him least thereby they should get an opportunity to employ his Authority against his Person Lastly The Dilemma which your Lordship brings for the Conclusion of the whole is Defective in every part For when the King with-drew he left his Privy-Council who have Power of themselves and he soon after sent a Letter to them with his Directions to issue Orders for the due Administration of the Government All Towns Corporate were Restor'd to their Ancient Rules and Charters and there were Sheriffs and Justices of the Peace in most Counties for the Civil and Lord Lieutenants and their Deputies for the Military State So that we were not and therefore there was no necessity of Continuing in a State of Anarchy Page 22. If these did not Act according to their Commissions in their several Stations the fault was not the King 's but Theirs who so far over-aw'd them that they durst not Besides we must not lay too much stress upon this lest we find an Uparallell'd Neglect in the first beginnings of the Prince's Government For he apply'd no other Remedy to this intollerable Confusion during his Administration of Publique Affairs before he was Proclaim'd and some time after but to remove that Awe and Dread of his Displeasure they then Labour'd under and to give them new Life to Execute that Power they had received from the King by an encouraging Proclamation So that in whatever Anarchy the King Left us the Prince Continu'd us But I confess it was such that very few would have suffer'd by it tho He at the same time had Return'd into Holland The Necessity was not greater of Returning to that Misery Page 22. we so much dreaded a few Months before For our Case was so well amended before the Prince of Orange Landed that could we then have remain'd or now have leave to return to the same Condition we should have no just Cause of complaint or fear However I have above in some measure show'd Page 23. that the present Settlement has no Legall Foundation and therefore cannot likely long secure the Peace and Quiet of the Nation So that the same Misery and Confusion does still threaten us with this Addition that we cannot now have the comfort of suffering Innocently We have Plung'd our selves into the same sin of Faction and Conspiracy which we so Severely I had almost said Vncharitably â—…eigh'd against in others And therefore if the King should Return we must expect to be Chastis'd if not Punish'd but if not tho the Prince may serve himself of our supiness I cannot think he will ever forget or forgive the Treachery Peace of Conscience is all we can hope for and that we shall not find till we have made an Attonement for our Sin Page 23. The next thing Observable chills my Blood An English Bishop dogmatically Affirming that in all Extremities relating to the Government that is always best which is safest and every Resolution which is necessary to the Peace and Happiness of the Nation is upon that very account Just and Good because it is Necessary This had sounded much better in the Schooles of the Jesuits And is far more
is a known Maxim that the King of England never dies This Kingdom knows no interregnum But when the Predecessor Ceases Then the Successor begins to Reign And therefore in all the Revolutions which have happen'd in England it is remarkable that the Right of Inheritance was always the Claim tho' often unjustly apply'd to the Person Thus K. Henry the Fourth Cott. Rec. 1 H. 4. P. 388. so soon as the Resignation of K. Richard the Second was read and the Sentence of Deposition was pronounc'd immediately stood up and CLAIM'D the Kingdom and Crown of England c. as his INHERITANCE descending by RIGHT from K. Henry the Third Nay even the Election of that Bloody Vsurper K. Richard the Third See the Record at large Cot. Rec. 1. R. 3. Page 709. by the Three Estates out of Parliament the only Precedent for our late Convention which was also confirm'd by a succeeding Parliament was grounded upon his RIGHT TITLE and ESTATE c. to and in the Crown c. by the Laws of God and Nature and also by the ancient Laws c. of this Realm c. And therefore it was Decreed c. That he was the very undoubted King c. as well by RIGHT of Consanguinity and INHERITANCE as by Election The Recognition of the Parliament to K. James the First is yet more full For they acknowledge 1 Jac. 1. c. 1. That IMMEDIATELY upon the Dissolution and Decease of Elizabeth late Queen of England the Imperial Crown of the Realm c. did by INHERENT BIRTH-RIGHT and Lawful and Vndoubted SUCCESSION descend c. to his Majesty From which and many other Passages in our Laws and Histories it is Evident that by the Constitution of this Government the Crown immediately devolves to the Heir by a Lineal Haereditary Right of Succession So that there is no room for either a Convention or a Parliament to appoint or determine the Successour because he is actual King before they can even Assemble to proclaim him much less to make such a Decision as manifestly supposes or makes an Interregnum and breaks the Succession by excluding the known Rightful Heir But I perceive your Lordship is positively in the Right Page 26. and that you have Examin'd the Nature of Civil Societies in general according to the Roman Law and the Nature of the English Government from the Laws and History of England with so much Care that you understand our Constitution much better then our Legislators themselves and may therefore be allowed to Contradict them as oft as you please But methinks some maintainers of a contrary Opinion deserve more Consideration from an English Bishop then your Lordship here seems willing to afford them It is a very bold Censure that at once reaches the Compilers of the Homilies a whole Vniversity and the Repeated Convocations of the Clergy and that charges all these Ornaments of the Church of England with want of Learning or Care to understand the Constitution of our own Government and of the Necessary Knowledge of the Degrees of Submission which are due from the Subjects to our Kings for all these agree that a Supream Power is lodg'd with them which Exempts them from being call'd to an Account Page 26. or Resisted by their People 1. Your Lordship sometime ago thought it Answer sufficient to the Bishop of Oxford to show that his Assertions were repugnant to the Doctrine of this Church as Exprest in the Homilies And prest it justly enough upon him that he must either Renounce our Church Enquiry into the Reasons for Abrogating the Test Art 35. and all he Possest in Consequence of his having Sign'd her Articles wherein it is Declar'd that the Homilies contain a Godly and wholesome Doctrine or else that he must Answer his own Plea Your Lordship has Subscrib'd them as well as He And if you continue of the same Opinion you too must either Retract or Resign For they lay this down for an Universal Principle That Kings and Princes Hom. against Reb. Par. 1. as well the EVIL as the GOOD do Reign by GOD's ORDINANCE and a little lower declare their Original to be neither by Chance and Fortune nor by Ambition but that they are SPECIALLY appointed by the ORDINANCE of GOD. They hence Conclude that when God gives a People an EVIL Prince he does it for the punishment of their Sins and that we are therefore bound to Obey such least after we have provok'd God by our Wickedness to place them over us by Rebelling against them we be found to Rebel also against God And to shew the reasonableness of this Opinion they add What a Perilous thing were it to Commit unto the Subjects the Judgment which Prince is Wise and Godly and his Government Good and which is Otherwise As though the Foot must Judge the Head But they carry the Case further and suppose the Prince to be Evil indeed and also evident to all Mens Eyes that he is so What 's to be done to have such an Evil remov'd from us Their Answer is Let us take away our Wickedness which provok'd God to place such a one over us and God will either displace him or of an Evil Prince make him a Good Prince so that we first will change our Evil into Good But to obviate all Objections that can be rais'd they go on thus Ib. Par. 2. Shall not we especially being so Good Men as we are Rise and Rebel against a Prince HATED of GOD and GOD's ENEMY and therefore likely not to prosper either in Peace or War but to be Hurtful and PERNICIOUS to the COMMON-WEALTH No. What shall we then do to an EVIL to an UNKIND Prince our KNOWN MORTAL and DEADLY ENEMY HATED of GOD HURTFUL to the COMMON-WEALTH c Lay no VIOLENT HAND upon him saith good David but let him LIVE till GOD appoint and work his End either by NATURAL DEATH or in War by LAWFUL ENEMIES not by TRAITEROUS SUBJECTS Lastly since the Redress of the Common-Wealth and the Defence of Religion are the usual Pretences for all Insurrections Ib. Par. 4. they have carefully prepar'd fit Antidotes against these Pests Against the former this Rebellion is the greatest Ruin and Destruction of all Common-Wealths and against the later this The TRUTH of the Gospel though it cost them their LIVES that Teach it is able to maintain the True Religion In a word God alloweth neither the DIGNITY of any Person nor the MULTITUDE of any People nor the WEIGHT of ANY CAUSE as SUFFICIENT for the which the Subjects may move Rebellion against their Princes I shall only observe upon all this that let the Pretence of taking Arms against the King be what it will the Compilers of these Homilies call it in plain Terms nothing less then Rebellion And therefore since this Doctrine is Calculated for the Meridian of England before I can submit to Swear the New Oaths whereby I should be oblig'd as much