Epist Impia est promissio quae scelere adimpletur Rener de jurand cap. 3. The safety of the People is the Paramount Law this therefore takes the first place in the Covenant as most necessary for the King and other Officers are but Servants of the Common-wealth and have their rise from it and their maintenance by it and although there were no Parliament as there is no King nor House of Peers yet every one were bound by that Law to use his best endeavour to seek the welfare of the State In a Ship put case the Master and Mariners were drunk or out of the Vessel so as the Ship were in danger to suffer shipwrack in such a case Passengers might by the same rule endeavour the safety of it and certainly much more in the Common-wealth and if any such Article could be supposed to be in our Solemn League and Covenant which should oppose this Maxim we ought rather to repent of our rashness then persist in it Quest 2 The second thing objected is That there is not a full and free Parliament and therefore I may not do it at their Command To which I Answer 1. If by a full Parliament be meant the whole definite number Elected and Chosen such a number is very seldom to be found wherein there is the integral number of all the Members the Parliament was a true Parliament when many of such as were Members of it fled to Oxford and sate in a Junto there therefore though a Parliament have not all its Members yet it may be a true Parliament now as then it was 2. The Question is not whether it be such and such In rebus dubiis ac periculosis imminentibus eae conditiones accipiendae quae aliquid spei certè relinquunt but whether it be one if it be one though not in all points as it has been and hereafter it may be yet it may challenge obedience a Father has lost one of his armes and therefore imperfect is also in prison and therefore not free yet his child stands bound to obey him as if he were both perfect and free if you could assimulate the case of the Parliament to this case which in my apprehension you cannot yet the Parliament commanding right things it ought to be obeyed 3. In such a turn of time as this has been men cannot go by those common principles as when a State shall be settled every Article in our Solemn Covenant cannot be justified by the Laws of this Nation but yet it was very necessary and equitable to the rules of common safety it should be taken even so we may say that though there may be supposed defects in the Parliament and a want of some of her integral parts and withall not in that constitution and condition it were to be wished yet at such a time as this wherein God has chalked out his own way we are rather to stand adoring his work then make head against it Quest 3 But are we not bound to an old Government by our Oath of Allegeance to be true to the King and his Posterity Answ 1 We are to suppose in every Oath and Engagement which men take there are some conditions either to be supposed Aquin. Tanner 22. quest 89. or expressed I am bound to obey the King so long and so far as he is true to his Trust but if he prove unfaithful and be thought unfit to Reign my obligation ceaseth and it is agreed by the School men no man stands engaged in any matter of which he can have no certain knowledge further then when he took that Engagement he thought it would be in case it fall out otherwise he cannot be said to be bound the change of the thing intended changeth the Engagement And for his Posterity as in the election of a King the Posterity of the King is elected so in the deposition of a King his Posterity ceaseth as to right King Saul being deposed his Posterity lost their Title to the Kingdom 2. Rex est singulis major universis minor It has often been observed that the King is invested with power above any particular Subject but yet he is inferiour to them all and that he is as far below a Common-wealth as any particular person is below him or else there had been no difference between a King of England and Cambises the Persian Emperour that by a Law might do what he list therefore if the power of the Representatives of the Common-wealth be above a King then certainly our obedience to them must take place above any other Power binding us 3. If providence do hold out another way of administration in the Government of this Common-wealth who are we that we should let God And certainly God that changes times and Governments would rather have us soberly to follow his providence then to think we by our opposition can cross him in his way 4. Suppose a Government in all points were not right yet in case it be all the visible Authority that is then in being and withall command right things I see not why it may not be obeyed without the crossing of any former Oath as it may appear in Christs paying the Didrachma to Caesar unto which children were not bound but strangers and the Apostle exhorts them obedience to Caligula and Nero then Usurpers Rom. 13. 5. If such Oaths were in all points binding that a King and his Posterity in no case might be laid aside then a Government upon never such immergencies misdemeanors or necessities of state might not be altered which were to cross the way that God hath taken from the beginning of the world in the changing of humane Titles and times object Again if it be further said what say you then to the Oath which Joshua made to the Gibeonites upon a mistake which yet having made it he thought he was bound not to recede it from it by the same reason in the case we have sworn although upon some mistakes yet our Oath must be kept unviolable Answ To which I Answer It seems to me apparent that Joshua by the command of God should have destroyed the Gibeonites for no Oath of ours can disoblige us from our obedience to God yet it doth not hinder but God may dispence with his own Law as I think he did in this though it be not expressed in the Text Josh 9. as he did in Abrahams case commanding him to kill his son contrary to a moral precept and then if he dispence with it it is sufficient warrant for us to rest satisfied and this seems to be Joshuahs case but now for us we are to hold to such principles as Gods ordinary providence holds forth Again Joshuahs Oath was only as a Magistrate to suffer poor men to live under him as vassals and slaves which is far different from ours in having men to rule over us as Tyrants for in case Joshua should have sworn obedience to the Gibeonites it
s a great question whether then God would have dispenced with his own law and therefore it doth evidently appear that men are not bound to all such unjust Oaths as out of rashness or ignorance they may upon some occasions be brought to take for then Jephtas rash vow and Herods wicked and sinful Oath might not have been broken the which I think no serious or sober man will affirm Quest 4 But does not this subscription justifie whatsoever has been the progress that has been made for the erecting of this Common-wealth Answ There is a double justification of the fact and of their persons Sublata religione corruere rempublicam oporlet quoniam sublato Dei timore sequitur impietas ruina imperiorum Lopez pag. 573. Grande quidem est procerem esse sed multò grandius est de proceribus judicare Cas Ep. now the fact may be lawful in it self considered as now to instance in the Kings case his taxations of the people unjustly his introducing of Popery into the Kingdom making wars against his Parliament and shedding of the blood of many of his subjects by his Agents in the three Kingdoms were so great and so manifest that I suppose few will deny but that there was such a guilt on him as that both in the eye of the Law of God and man he justly deserved that which is now fallen on him and if so no man can deny the lawfulness of the thing but as to the persons that did it whether they should have done it and at that time and what intentions they had in so doing none of these questions reach us because there is not the least hint of them in the Engagement Quest 5 Is there any probability of the reformation of Church by this Engagement which we have covenanted for Answ 1 The Parliament has taken the Covenant also and if they fail in their trust it will be their sin for our parts we can do no more in our places but endeavour it and pray for it 2. No man is further bound to any person Omnes tyranni conflati sunt perfidia crudelitate Lopez p. 3. Fulcrum imperiorum est servare religionem Lips Turbata religio politiam turbat ibid. or persons invested with power then they are true to their trust and if they prove otherwise then they may be as justly deposed as the late King was 3. They that are true to a Christian Common-wealth as such those cannot but be true and faithful to the Church for the ruine of States begins at the Church and if the Church be opposed God will not bless that State the reason is because a well-reformed Church is the greatest preservative of a Common-wealth Quest 6 Was it the intention in the least either of the Scots or English when they entred into this solemn Covenant to alter the Government Answ 1 It seems to me that that limitation which is made of the preservation of the Kings person upon such terms as was before mentioned was put in by way of caution supposing that there might such emergencies come to pass as might occasion such a thing otherwise why would they have put in that limitation of preservation of just Laws but that it limits out that in case the King should seek the destruction of just Laws that our Covenant did not then oblige us 2. For our intentions they are to be considered either as general or special now in any humane thing it is not possible for men to foresee all the special consequences which may fall out upon any engagement which shall be made it is sufficient that the general ends of it be kept firm at the entrance into the Covenant no man would have imagined so much blood should have been shed or that the Kings heart would have been so hardned as it was and therefore in special I believe a change of Government was not intended by any saving as I have said in general terms 3. I do not see but the Covenant we have taken and the Engagement now required may well stand together our Covenant as has been said binds with a limitation to preserve the Kings person but it binds without any limitation to bring Delinquents to punishment and therefore in case it may appear that the King was the greatest Delinquent then the latter Article which is without any limitation ought either to be expunged or of necessity to take place perhaps some would seek to blind our eyes with that old maxim of slavery viz. That the Kings of Engl. can do no wrong whereas indeed such a Principle puts them in a capacity of doing wrong and the greatest Tyranny without controule which were to make the King an absolute Tyrant and the people absolute slaves again if the King can do no wrong that commands why then should his Officers that are put upon unjust actings by his instigation and Authority be accounted guilty and to suffer for their obedience and why should the Capital Offender escape the sword of Justice as guiltless and poor underlings suffer at the Bar of Justice as guilty It is said of David that he had slain Vriah by the sword of the children of Ammon and in another place David confessed I have sinned but what have these sheep done therefore a King may do wrong as well as others Quest 7 But will not this Engagement divide between the two Nations Answ 1 They have no reason that it should for what has any Nation to do with those affairs that are proper and intrinsecal to themselves Multi sibi aliis calamitates accersunt qui primas occasiones lapsuum non vitant Lop. pag. 377. Vide Ruther Lexet Rex quest 31. and peculiarly concern its own preservation we were not only less then men but worse then Beasts if we should not do it for what offence can this be to them to hear that we engage our selves to preserve our own Common-wealth so long as our Engagement binds us not to act any thing prejudicial to them unless they have some envious affection to us hoping by our divisions to make us a prey unto them otherwise it may be an offence taken but not given 2. There is no such great difference between the transactions of the Scottish affairs and ours that should make such a division for what great difference is there between binding a King hand and foot whom they dare not otherwise trust or else by force and Arms to keep him out and between his total ejection as a man perilous to sit in so high a place of Trust Surely to me there doth appear no great difference between their change of Government and our Government changed unless it be in this that in the one the Tyrant is unhorst and in the other he is bound legs and arms in the Saddle 3. Falsus amor plus nocet quam professum odium Lip Vt malum cibum nec retinere possis sine noxa nec rejicere sine molestia
ita nec malum Principem Plut. That which is pretended to bring division between the two Nations may happily prove the cause of divisions amongst the Scots that desire so much a King and say as they in Sauls nay but we will have a King to raign over us for if he get into the Saddle he may possibly get some to loose him and then he will play the Rex and as Sampson did lay about him I say no more I wish for the sakes of many honest Presbyterians amongst them my words may not prove a true prophesie for if it do our brethren perhaps may repent when it is too late Quest Whether this last Expedition of our English Army into Scotland be lawful Answ To which I Answer First Aug. cont Faust Bella suscepta caeca cupiditate ira plerumque procedunt desinunt infaeliciter Petr. ad Can. There are some causes which render a War to be unlawful 1. If it be undertaken from height of pride and a desire of Rule and tyrannizing over a Nation and therefore if a War be taken ex libidine dominandi it cannot be good the reason is because every people should be content with their present lot this hath not been the ground of our motion which may appear by our often tenders of terms of peace which they have as often rejected 2. John Stow Chron. of England If it be undertaken for hopes of gain the Spaniards encouraged their Souldiers to come to the Conquest of England from the plentiful things in this Land but this was confuted by Gods immediate hand against them this could not be our ground of marching into Scotland for it is a poor Countrey and the charge to Conquer and keep it would in no wise prove advantagious 3. Tunc solum utile est concurrere ad arma cum justitia apud hostem non potest invenire locum If it be undertaken to revenge a private quarrel a publike State stands not engaged to revenge private quarrels but there are other private Courts appointed for the ending of such as the Court of Admiralty which is common to several Nations Notwithstanding in case such Courts should be patronized by the Supream Authority thereof Casiad l. 3. Ep. 1. either not to act or to do injustice then the quarrel may become National this is not our case as shall appear because the same Courts are continued and strict justice executed on offenders unless in the case named Secondly Vbi justus exercitus deest qui hostibus opponi satis nostra curare possit tunc injuriis hostium patemus deinque bellum latrocinium potius quam bellum Polyb. lib. 5. There are some just causes why a War way be undertaken 1. When publique injuries are done by one Nation against another There were injuries done by Amaleck against Israel and thereupon Israel had a command from God to smite Amaleck 1 Sam. 15.2 I suppose no knowing man will excuse Scotland of acting publique injuries against England I shall silently pass over what injuries were done us while they pretended to be our friends which were many and unsufferable and onely pitch upon their Invasion by Duke Hamilton and that by Authority of their Parliament whose carriage was so exceeding base and cruel that many in Westmerland Cumberland and Lancashire were forced to leave their own homes to live in Woods and Mountains and such as stayed behind were beaten and had their houses rifled their houshold-stuffe carryed away and their Cattle driven away and sold before their eyes of which injustice no recompence hath been made unto this day nay though the recompence hath been demanded in a fait way at their hands now whether this may not be a just cause of this Expedition let unprejudiced men judge for my part it is clear to me it is 2. Bellum in hostile solum transserre quantum possimus debemus nam ea ratione terretur hostis ad sua tutanda revocatur Polib ibid. Bellorum res bene disponuntur cum in pace tractantur Casiad Ep. Another just cause of War may be by way of prevention as in the former War against the King it was by way of prevention least when he had gathered thousands of armed men Papists and others the Parliament might have been surprised which undoubtedly was their plot It is evident that the Scots really intended to invade England had they not been prevented by our Armies seasonable marching in amongst them as may appear from Chancellor Londons Letter taken at Dunbar wherein it plainly appears that on their Kings signing that Declaration for the maintenance of the Covenant Religion and suppression of Malignants sent unto him the which hath since been broken by them all he should have the whole body of that Kingdom to assist him in his coming into England they say the way to conquer Rome is to fight in Italy and we are sure the way to keep Scotland quiet is to March in among them To conclude Bella nihil aliud sunt quam scopae asperrimae quibus mundus sordido excrementorū cumulo liberatur pet Can. p. 94. for my part for the sakes of many godly people of that Nation who in the simplicity of their hearts have espoused themselves in this quarrel as those did that went with Absolon not understanding the design that is now driving on I wish there might yet be a happy agreement but truly I fear that party are so over-powred that the Sword must end the controversie which happily may be better for them that are godly who peradventure may see something among them which is the cause of this misery The Lord makes War as a means to purge away dross and corruption out of a Nation Two things I have observed in that Nation The one is the great oppression of Landlords grinding the faces of the poor so as they live more like Turkish Slaves then Christians The other is their promiscuous admission of all to the Sacrament of the Lords Supper unless it be persons extreamly scandalous These two are so notoriously known and confessed by them as needs no further proof Whether this War may not fall heavie on the godly for these things I leave to themselves in this their day of affliction to examine Saepe fit in bellis ut victor fleat victus intereat id est ut bella sint penae tam victori quam victo Ibid. pag. 93. Now in the behalf of so many as are godly in England I dare say they have no joy in that any harm doth befall the Lords people if it could with their own safety be otherwise It is sad in War when the Conqueror weeps and the conquered are undone FINIS