VINDICATION OF THE Parliamentary Proceedings Against the Late KING JAMES II PROVING That the Right of Succession to Government by Nearness of Blood is not by the Law of God or Nature but by Politick Institution WITH Several Instances of Deposing Evil Princes Shewing That no Prince hath any Title Originally but by the Consent of the People Ad generum Cereris sine caede aut sanguine pauci Descendunt Reges sicca morte Tyranni Licensed July 20. 1689. J. Fraser LONDON Printed and Sold by Randall Taylor at Stationers-Hâ—â—â— 1689. THE PREFACE TO THE READER I Should not think it necessary to prefix a Preface before this small Treatise especially since it handles only Matters of Fact such as the Judicial Acts of Commonwealths did I not suspect that some Malicious Persons whose Inclinations and Opinions are hereby thwarted would brand it with the Name of Seditious and Antimonarchical therefore I shall here enter my Protestation against such malicieus Aspersions by declaring That nothing herein mentioned has the least design to lessen the Duty and Obedience of Subjects toward their Princes And I do sincerely abhor the Principles of those Men who make so little account of their Duty that upon the least private Disgust or Discontent do invent a thousand Calumnies to the discredit of their Prince without Conscience or Reason intending only the revenge of private Injuries and not the publick Good as they would plausibly insinuate These men I take to be such as the Apostles S. Peter and S. Jude spake of when they said God knoweth how to reserve the Wicked unto the day of Judgment to be there tormented but yet much more those which do contemn Domination or Government and are bold and liking of themselves Nay further I am of Opinion That whatsoever a Princes Title be if once he is setled in the Crown and admitted by the Commonwealth every man is bound to settle his Conscience to obey him in whatsoever he lawfully Commands without examination of his Title or Interest For God disposes of Kingdoms and brings many things to pass in the Affairs of Princes by great and extraordinary means so that if we should examine the Titles at this day of all the Princes in Christendom by the ordinary Rule of private Mens Rights Successions or Tenures we should find so many knots and dissiculties with which they are perplext that it would be impossible to reconcile them And this is my Opinion for true and quiet Obedience dand yet on the other side I am as far off from the abject and wicked Flatteries of such as affirm Princes to be subject to no Law or Limitation either in Authority Government or Succession as thô by Nature they had been created Kings from the beginning of the World or as thô the Commonwealth bad been made for them and not they for the Commonwealth or as thô they had begotten or purchased or given life to the Publick and not that the Publick had exalted them or given them their Authority Honours and Dignity These and such like are the absurd Paradoxes which some Men have writ in flattery of Princes who in my Opinion deserve no Commendation or Reward since such Assertions destroy all Law Reason Conscience and Commonwealths and do bring all to such an absolute Tyranny as no Realm ever did or could suffer no not under the Dominion of the Turk himself at this day where some proportion of Equity is held between the Prince and People both in Government and Succession thô nothing near so much as in Christian Kingdoms It is therefore the intent of the ensuing Treatise to evince that our Predecessors have not been such Slaves to their Kings as some men would perswade us and that the Deposition of King James granting it to be so and waving the advantage of the Abdication is no new and unheard of thing as we hope to make appear beyond all doubt or exception For if we can prove that most Christian Common-wealths have upon just and reasonable Causes and to prevent Tyranny and Oppression excluded Princes from Reigning when their Title by Succession was apparent and also Deposed Evil Princes when they had lawful possession of the Crown If common-wealths I say have in all former Ages exerted this ample and transcendent Jurisdiction what Reason imaginable is there why they should not do so still and save themselves from Publick ruin and desolation by resisting and removing their evil Heads whensoever they are able so to do since God hath wonderfully concurred for the most part with such Judicial Acts of the Commonwealths against their Evil Kings not only in prospering the same but by giving them also some notable Successor in place of the Deposed thereby both to justifie the Fact and remedy the Fault of the Predecessor as is evident by the following Examples and also by this last of our own Country where in place of a King that endeavored nothing so much as the utter subversion of our ancient and fundamental Laws and Liberties the extirpation of our Religion and the subjecting us to the unsufferable Toke of the See of Rome our Old and Capital Enemies Instead of such a King I say it has pleased God to bless us with one as it were in token of his approbation of our late Proceedings who designs nothing but the universal Interest and Welfare of the Nation as is apparent since in six Months he has confirm'd and establish'd those Laws and Constitutions which his Predecessors have been 60 years undermining who instead of suspending Laws has only suspended his Negative Voice And we may send the same Message to the late King James which the States of France sent unto Charles of Lorain after their Election of Hugh Capet â—ard lib. 6. and his Exclusion which Gerard the French Historian records in these Words Every Man knows Lord James that the Crown and Realm of England and Scotland belong'd unto you according to the ordinary Law of Succession but yet the very same Laws which gave unto you this Right of Dominion have judg'd you also unworthy of the same being you have not endeavour'd to frame your Life and govern your People according to the prescript of those Laws nor according to the use and custom of your Country of England but rather have allyed your self with the French Nation our old and inveterate Enemies and acquainted your self with their vile and base Manners Wherefore seeing you have forsaken and abandon'd the ancient Interest of England we have also abandon'd and left you and have chosen the Prince of Orange for our King and this without any scruple or prejudice of our Consciences at all esteeming it far better and more just to live under WILLIAM the present possessour of the Crown with enjoyment of our ancient Laws customs Priviledges and Liberties than under you the Inheritour by Propinquity of Blood in Oppression strange Customs and Cruelty This is the Speech made by Command of the States to Charles of
Lorain the Name and few other Circumstances only varied giving their Reasons why they had excluded him which in my Opinion are very weighty ones and such as ought to be considered by all Commonwealths before Admission of their Princes For as those who are to make a Voyage in a Ship upon a dangerous Sea do not so much respect whether the Pilot who is to guide the Stern be the Owner of the Ship or not but rather whether he 's skilful and likely to bring them safely to their desir'd Haven or to drown them amongst the Waves Even so our principal Care ought to be that we have a good Prince to lead and guide us happily in this way of Civil and Politick Life which is the end why Princes and Governours were appointed It was a wise Saying of the Emperour Valentinian viz. Digna vox est Majestate regnantis legibus se alligatum fateri It is a Speech worthy of the Majesty of him that Reigus to confess himself bound unto the Laws And the contrary Saying of the Tyrant Caius Caligula is justly detested by all Men who said unto one as Suetonius reports Memento mihi omnia in omnes licere Remember that all things are lawful unto me and against all men without exception Such a King as this is to be resisted in all his Illegal Commands as much as the former Ruling by Law and Equity ought with all due submission to be obey'd And this is sincerely my meaning in writing the ensuing Treatise so that by giving this Caution Thope it will not be perverted to any other sense A BRIEF VINDICATION OF THE Parliamentary Proceedings AGAINST The Late King JAMES the Second IT is certainly obvious to the meanest Capacity how various and different mens Sentiments are concerning this great and happy Revolution they who have been so injurious to their Country as to assist and further the pernicious Designs of the late King cannot but exclaim against those who have so timely frustrated their arbitrary and damnable Devices Others there are who have industriously labour'd to intimate to the late Government how subservient they would be to its ends when it would think fit to employ them as Actors in a National Tragedy It cannot therefore be expected that any thing imaginable can be sufficient to silence the Clamours of such Men whose Opinions are still broader or narrower than their Consciences but always squaring with their InteresTs who endeavour to destroy the Publick Peace by their opposition to the present Government as they did by their submission to the former For thô it hath been reputed as the Characteristick of a good Government Vbi quisquis quod vellet sentit quod sentit dicere licet yet it must be taken with due restrictions For as it is unreasonable and injurious to persecute Men to the utter loss of their lives and Fortunes for not obeying the Commands of a Prince which are notoriously repugnant to the known and approved Laws and Constitutions of the Nation they live in so it is not convenient for any Government thô acting by the foundest Rules of Policy and endeavouring to the utmost the Publick good and welfare to permit Incendiaries with an impetuous and unbridled Malice to misrepresent their Actions to the People who easily give Credit to the most absur'd Assertions if but plausibly insinuated And like Heresies in the Church thô built on the weakest Foundations notwithstanding the most solid Reasons imaginable are apply'd to suppress them often spread their Contagion so universally that they threaten the Peace of the whole Community and are very rarely supprest till the Authors are crusht by the weight of the Civil Power So dangerous a thing it is both to Church and State to permit Men to broach Opinions publickly which tend to alienate the Hearts of the Subjects from their Princes It was an usual thing in the last two Reigns either to ruine such as opposed the Court Intriegues by formal Tryals at Law for Sham plots and Conspiracies when the Treasonable Words or Pamphlets were for the most part so evidently true that it was pity to punish the Authors Another Project was frequently practis'd which was to buy off such Men who were more than ordindary bold in canvasing their Designs A thing necessary to be used by such Princes who would transgress the Legal limits which have been prefixt to prevent their Exorbitances and have resolv'd to acquire an absolute and despotick Power thô it be with the hazard of their own and the Nations downfal whose Designs only want discovery to be exploded But in this present Government where we are blest with a King that designs to carry on the true Interest of the Nation which is apparent by his many large and advantageous Concessions to his People since His Accession to the Crown having in a manner suspended his Negative Voice there is no need to practise the aforesaid Stratagems seeing he will have as well the Natural as the Political Strength of the Kingdom and may safely bring such Male Contents to condign Punishment For those Men that either Lost any thing or expected to gain any thing by the former Government will in no wise be satisfied without having a share in this which I am perswaded the King does not intend to grant So that I direct not my Discourse to any of the fore mentioned Men knowing they will be against Reason as often as Reason is against them But there are another sort of Men who highly approve of our Deliverance but not of the Methods by which it was accomplish'd Which is implicitly thô not in direct Terms to desire Effects without their Causes for the Gordian Knot is to be Cut not untyed Now it is expedient to satisfie these Men because they are numerous and also because their Disgust springs from Conscience or Inadvertency and not from Prejudice First then it is observable that many were for making Terms with the late King and bringing him to a temper more suitable and agreeable to our Laws and Constitutions This would have been an admirable Project if we could have obliged our present King to return from whence he came and be always in a readiness with a sufficient Fleet and Army to come and assist us when the late King should again invade our Properties Nay this would not serve our turn unless we could entreat the French King to lie still with his Fleet and not obstruct our Second Deliverance And herein consists the weakness of this Invention being it requires little less than Impossibilities to sustain it Now one would think that we above all other People had sufficiently experienc'd how uncapable the most exquisite Laws are to defend us from the encroachments of a Prince whose Inclinations perswade their violation and are absolutely inconsistent with his Religion So that if we consider how all the Laws were enacted against Papists that could be devis'd or thought necessary were with the greatest ease imaginable eluded and
and Marquesses of Austria and now are divided into Thirteen Cantons under Popular Magistrates of their own and its certain that God approves of our most Gracious Prince King WILLIAM since his Election by the People as he did of the former Princes while the Commonwealth were contented with them so as when Men talk of a Natural Prince or Natural Successor as many times I have heard the Word us'd if it be understood of one that is Born in the same Realm or Country and so of our own Natural Blood it hath some Sense thô he may be good or bad and none have been worse or more cruel many times than Home born Princes but if it be meant as thô any Prince had his particular Government or Interest to succeed by Institution of God or Nature its ridiculous for that God or Nature giveth it not as hath been declared but the particular Constitution of every Common-wealth within it self Now the Government of every Prince is to be respected according to the benefit that redounds to the Subject for whose good it was ordain'd and when the Subjects live well and prosperously are defended and maintained in Peace Safety and Wealth when Justice is done equally to all Men the Wicked punished and the Good rewarded when true Religion is maintain'd and Vertue promoted this is that which importeth the Realm and Subjects and not where or in what Country the Prince or his Officers were Born or of what Nation Language or Kindred they be for that as soon as he is placed in that Dignity he becometh a Stranger to me and it availeth me little whether he be of my Blood and Country or not And I may say as the People of Israel said to Rehoboam who being King Davids Grand-Son and of the House of Jesse thought his State assured and so might oppress the People at his pleasure Quae nobis pars in David vel quae haereditas in filio Jesse and so they left him and chose to be under Jeroboam a Stranger For what availed it them that lived in Spain under Peter the Cruel or in England under Richard the Third commonly call'd the Tyrant what did it import them that those Princes were of their own Country or Blood seeing they did that to them which a Stranger thô never so barbarous or cruel would scarce have done As in like manner What did it import those Noble Families of the De la Pools Staffords Plantagenets and others destroy'd by Henry the Eighth What avail'd it to them that the said King was not only their Country-man but their near Kinsman What profit or commodity was it to Thomas of Woodstock Duke of Gloucester that he lived under King Richard the Second who was his Nephew or to George Duke of Clarence that King Edward the Fourth was his Brother when both were disgrac'd and put to death by them and lost their Lands and Dignities which perhaps under a strange Prince they might have enjoyed many years And lastly what availeth it to Scotland or England that the late King James was descended of them and born with us or to the present Queen that he was her Father when he endeavour'd utterly to destroy the Peace and Tranquility of those Nations and unnaturally to exclude his Royal Daughter from the Inheritance of these Three Kingdoms to set up a suspected Child to finish the Game which he had begun so as we may say as before What part have we in James or what Inheritance in the Son of the Martyr And so much for this first Point which is the ground of all the rest I have to say Now since we have as I take it fully prov'd That no King or Goverour hath his Interest from God or Nature but from the particular Institutions of the Commonwealth I shall proceed to evince both by Reason and Example that they have Laws and Rules prescribed by the said Common-wealths by which they are bound to Rule and Govern their People Now I do really believe that of all other Governments Monarchy is the best and least subject to the Inconveniences that others are and that Popular Governments are the worst and have soonest come to ruine as may be shewed not only by old Examples of Greece Asia and Africa but also many Cities in Italy as Florence Bolonia Siena Pisa Arezzo Spóleto Perugia Padua and others which upon the fall or diminution of the Roman Empire under which they were before took unto themselves Popular Governments wherein they were tossed with continual Seditions Mutinies and banding of Factions and could have no end of their Miseries until after insinite Murthers and Massacres they came in the end under the Monarchy of one Prince as at this day they remain So where the Government of Aristocracy took place there were perpetual Divisions among the Senators as in Carthage which was the Reason that Succours were not sent to their Captain Hannibal in Italy after his so great and important Victory at Canna being the preservation of the Roman Empire and the loss of their own As also afterwards the Emulation and Disunion of the Roman Senators among themselves in the Contentions of Marius and Silla and of Pompey and Coesar was the occasion of all their Destruction and of the Commonwealth with them Now if the Prince who governeth alone and hath Supreme Authority to himself as he resembles God in this point of sole Command so could he resemble him also in wise discreet and just Government and in Ruling without Passion Nothing more excellent in the World could be desired for the perfect Felicity of his Subjects But because a King is a Man as others be and therefore not only subject to Errors in Judgment but also to passionate Assections in his Will therefore it was necessary that the Commonwealth as it gave him this great power over them so it should assign him the best Helps that might be for directing and rectifying both his Will and Judgment and make him as like in Government to God whom he representeth as mans Frailty can reach unto For this Consideration they assign'd to him the assistance and direction of Law Which Aristotle saith is a certain Mind disquieted with no disordinate Affection as mens Minds commonly be for that when a Law is made for the most part it s upon due consideration and without perturbation of evil Affections as Anger Envy Hatred Rashness or the like Passions and it is referred to some good End and Commodity of the Commonwealth which Law being once made remaineth still the same without alteration or partial Affection being indifferent to all speaking alike to every Man in which it resembles the Perfection of God himself For which cause the said Philosopher saith Aristot lib. 3. cap. 12. That he who joyneth a Law to govern with the Prince joyneth God to him but he that joyneth to the Prince his Affections joyneth a Beast So that a Prince Ruling by Law is more than a Man or a man Deified
be satisfied By all which and by much more that might be alledg's in this matter it is evident that this Agreement Bargain and Contract between the King and his Common wealth at his first Admission is as certain and firm notwithstanding any pretence or interest he hath by Succession as any Contract or Marriage in the World can be which is an act that lively expresseth the other so as we must condemn the Assertions of those Men as absurd base and impious who say That only Succession of Bloor is the thing without further Approbation which makes a King and that the Peoples Consent to him who is next by Birth is nothing at all needful be he what he will and that his Admission or Coronation is only a matter of external Ceremony without any effect for increase or confirmation of his Right having now proved by Examples of our own and neighbouring Nations That all their Kings have been Sworn to the observation of their Laws and Constitutions before their Coronation or Admittance by the Commonwealth I shall proceed to make it appear That Kings in all Christian Kingdoms have been Deposed for breach of the aforesaid Original Contract but with this Protestation before-mentioned that I do not intend any disrespect against the Sacred Authority of Princes and Governours but only to shew that as nothing under God is more honourable prositable or Sovereign than a good prince so nothing is more pestilent or bringeth so great destruction and desolation as an evil one And therefore as the whole Body is of more Authority than the Head and may cure it if discomposed if they infest the rest seeing that a Body Civil may have many heads by Succession and is not always bound to one as a Body Natural is which Body Natural if it had the same ability that when it hath an aking or sickly Head it could cut if off and take another I doubt not but it would do so and that all Men would confess that it had sufficient Authority and Reason to do the same rather than all the other Parts should perish or live in pain and continual torment But yet the matter is much clearer that we have in hand for easing our selves of wicked Princes as I shall now begin to declare First therefore I should alledge some Examples out of Scripture but that some Men may chance to object That those things recorded there of the Jews are not so much to be reputed for acts of the Commonwealth as for particular Ordinations of God himself Which yet is not any thing against me but rather makes much for our purpose by reason the matter is much more authorized hereby seeing whatsoever God did ordain and exercise in his Commonwealth may also be practis'd by others having Gods Authority and Approbation for it Wherefore I shall hasten to Examples nearer home and more proper to the particular purpose we treat of yet I cannot omit noting two or three out of the Bible that do appertain to this purpose also and these are the deprivations of two wicked Kings of Judah Saul and Amon thô both were lawfully placed in that Dignity and the bringing in of David and Josias in their rooms who were the two most excellent Princes that ever that Nation or any other ever had to govern them And first King Saul thô he was chosen by God to that Royal Throne yet he was slain by the Philistins by Gods Order as it was foretold him for his disobedience and not fulfilling the Law and living within the Limits prescribed unto him Amon was lawful King also and that by Natural descent and succession for he was Son and Heir to King Manasses whom he succeeded and yet he was slain by his own People because he walked not in the way prescribed unto him by God And unto these two Kings so deprived God gave two Successors the like whereof are not to be found in the whole Race of Kings for a thousand years together for of Josias it is written He did that which was right in the sight of god neither did he decline to the right hand nor to the left He reigned 32 years and Jeremiah the Prophet who lived in his time loved this good King so extremely as he never ceased to lament his Death As for King David it will be needless to report how excellent a King he was for as many Learned men do note he was a most perfect Pattern for all Kings that should follow in the World not only in matters of Religion Piety and Devotion but also of Chivalry Valour Wisdom and Policy neither is it true which Machiavel and some others of his School affirm for defacing of Christian Vertue That Religion and Piety are often Le ts to politick and wise government and do weaken the high Spirits of magnanimous Men to take in hand great Enterprizes for the Commonwealth This I say is extremely false for Grace doth not destroy or corrupt but perfecteth Nature so as he who by Nature is valiant wife liberal or politick shall be more if he 's also pious and religious Which is evident in King David who notwithstanding all his Piety omitted nothing belonging to the State and Government of a noble wife and politick Prince And now if we leave the Hebrews and come to the Romans we shall find many notable things in that State for our purpose For when Romulus their first King declin'd into Tyranny he was put by by the Senate and in his place was chosen Numa Pompilius a notable Prince who prescrib'd all their order of Religion and manner of Sacrifices imitating therein the Rites and Ceremonies of the Jews as Tertullian and other Fathers do note he began also the building of their Capitol and did other beneficial things for that Commonwealth Again when Tarquinus the Proud their 7th and last King was expell'd for his evil Government we see the success was prosperous for that not only no hurt came thereby to the State but exceeding benefit being their Government and increase of Empire was so prosperous under their Consuls that whereas at the end of their Kingly Government they had but 15 Miles Territory without their City it is well known that when the Consuls Government ended and was changed by Julius Caesar their Territory reached more than 15000 Miles in compass being they had not only Europe under their Dominion but the principal parts of Asia and Africa also so as this Chastisement so justly inflicted on Tarquin was profitable and beneficial to their Commonwealth also Moreover when Julius Caesar had broken all Law both human and divine and taken all Government into his own hands he was as the World knows slain by his Senators in the Senate-House and Octavianus Augustus prefer'd in his room who proved the most famous Emperour that ever was When Nero the 6th Emperour of Rome who succeeded lawfully his Uncle Claudius in the Empire was depos'd and sentenc'd to death by the Senate for his wicked
unperform'd to his Prince The first when the Prince observes not the Promise or Oath made to the Common-wealth at his Admission or Coronation the second when it should turn to the great damage of the Weal publick for whose sake only good Princes were ordain'd as often before hath been said and proved if the Subject should keep his Promise and Oath made unto him For if in my Opinion he is an Enemy to the Truth and that his Religion obliges him in Conscience to destroy and extirpate all that are not of it shall act against my Conscience and sin damnably in the sight of God if I do not endeavour to render him incapable of destroying others that are not of his own erroneous Opinion and of bringing their to perdition wherein I am perswaded he remains This Doctrin is founded upon the discourse of S. Paul to the Romans and Corinthians against such Christians as were invited to the Banquets and Tables of Gentiles 〈◊〉 14. Cor. 10.14 and finding Meats offered to Idols which they esteemed unlawful to eat did yet eat the same against their own Judgment and Conscience which the Apostle saith was a damnable Sin not because the thing it self was evil or unlawful but because they judg'd it so and yet did it And now to apply all this to our present purpose affirm and hold That for any man to give his help consent or assistance to the making or upholding of a King whom he believes to be of a wrong Religion and obliged to root out and extirpate those he thinks Hereticks and who consequently will endeavour all he can to promote it and ruin ours our Liberties Propertie and what else is valuable to us is a most grievous and damnable Sin For if S. Paul has plainly and absolutely pronounc'd in the place before alledged that even in eating a piece of Meat that its damnable for a man to discern and yet eat What may we think will it be in so great and important matter as he making of King if for a man to dissemble or act against his own Conscience or Judgment that is to say to discern and judge that he 's a declared Enemy of our Religion and obliged t destroy the Professors oâ— it and yet to further or uphold his Authority and Government over Protestants where he may be able to ruin or pervert many and to obstruct all Honour and true Worship due to God and whether he does this or not yet I shall be guilty of it all for that knowing and perswading my self that he is like or disposed to do it by the Principles of his Religion yet for fear slattery carelesness emulation against others vain pretence of Title want oâ— Zeal to Gods true Religion and Worship or for such other passions or temporal respects I favour or further his Pretences or do not resist him when it 's in my power by which I do justly make my self guilty of all the Evils Miseries and Calamities both Temporal and Spiritual which afterwards by his evil Government do or may ensure for that I knowing him to be such an one did notwithstanding assist his promotion And thus much for matter of Conscience But if we respect Reason of State also and Worldly Policy it must be great folly and oversight for a man to promote to a Kingdom in which he must live one of so pernicious and destructive Religion to himself for let the Bargains and Agreements be what they will and fair Promises and vain Hopes never so great yet seeing the Prince once made and setled must needs proceed according to the Principles of that Religion and consequently must soon break with the other Party thô before he loved him never so well which perhaps is very hard if not impossible for two of so opposite Religions to love sincerely but if it were so many suspicions accusations calumniations and other aversions must needs light on the Party who is of so opposite and different Religion from his King as not only he cannot be capable of such preferments and honours which he may desire and deserve in his Country but also he shall be in continual danger and subject to a thousand Molestations and Injuries always incident to those men who are not currant with the course of their Prince in matters of Religion Which to remedy they must either dissemble deeply and against their own Conscience pretend to favour and forward the Designs of the Government how pernicious soever they may be to the welfare of the Kingdom or else to avoid this slavish dissimulation they must wave all the temporal Commodities of this life and leave the benefits which their Country might afford them and live Exiles in a forein Kingdom which has been the fate of many brave Men in our time So as of all the disabilities which serve to exclude or remove a Prince the adhering to so destructive and pernicious a Religion as Popery is is the principle and ought to be the first and chiefest thing consider'd by the Commonwealth especially he being of that Religion which denies all charity peace happiness or security of Life or Property to such as are not of its Communion whose growth and increase the State hath 〈…〉 〈…〉 â—â—â—nicious a Doctrin which notwithstanding 〈…〉 useless and ineffectual for our security when 〈…〉 James a protest Papist was admitted to 〈…〉 who with one breath suspended and annull'd 〈◊〉 the Laws of the Reformation And thô we have been â—uilty of great oversight and failure and been wanting to the security and support of the true Protestant Religion when he was but Heir apparent and as I said before a Spouse betrothed only and not married to the Common-wealth yet to pursue the Allegory we have made as good reparation as such an oversight could permit by divorcing him and taking a new Husband of our Perswasion Now S. Paul to the Corinthians determines plainly That if two Gentils married together in their Gentility which none can deny to be a true Marriage for so much as concerns the Civil Contract and after one is made a Christian the other will not live with him or her or if he do nor without blaspheming God and temptation to Sin In this case I say the Apostle teacheth and out of him the Canon Law decrees that this is sufficient to break and dissolve utterly this Heathen Marriage and that the Christian may marry again and this only for want of Religion in the other party which being so in an actual Marriage which is so much favoured by Christ when he said Whom God hath joyned let no man separate it is much cleaver in this Metaphorical Marriage of a King to the Common-wealth which may be dissolved for many more Reasons and with infinite less danger of incurring Gods Anger than the former So that I hope all ingenuous Readers who peruse this Treatise and throughly weigh and consider the Examples and Arguments herein mentioned will think themselves free from all obligations of Duty or Allegiance to the late King James being his Authority is expired to which Allegiance was inseparably incident and seated in the Royal Persons of Willian and Mary our most renowned King and Queen whom we are bound to obey without the least scruple FINIS