it in such works which are contrary to the world use it rightly and enjoy it as he that hath it not live a temperate life and beware of all sin otherwise my friend you Genius will forsake you and you shall be deprived of happiness for know this of a truth whosoever abuseth this Genius and lives not exemplarily purely and devoutly before men he shall lose this benefit and scarce any hope will there be left ever to recover it afterwards These Genii teach and give Laws to the Servants of God for to deliver to the people These Genii command us to forgive our Enemies and regard not any that speak evil against us for what hath a good man to do with the dull approbation of the vulgar Fame like a River bears up all light things and swolne but drowns things weighty and solid I see the lowest vertues draw praise from the common people the middle vertues work in them Astonishment but of the highest vertues they have no sence or perceivance at all Regard not therefore vaine praises for praise proceeds more out of bravery then out of merit and happiness rather to vain and windy Persons then to persons substantial and solid My Genius hath had some contest with mee in the disposal of The Idea of the Law the subject being cross to the deceit of the times which is both malicious corrupt and spleenatick it was my desire to keep it within doors but the relation it bears to my former discourses and my practice hath forced it to the Press it is the last glass of my thoughts and their first reflex being not compleat I have added this to perfect their Image and simmetry hoping it will be profitable The Genius of the Law of England and of the City of London is naturally the same that King Charles hath who is called King of Scots and there is no Government that will be established with good and wholsome Laws but Monarchy who can incorporate Fire and Water The people will not be happy without the King And it is esteemed more Honour Excellency and Majesty amongst the Legitimate Nobility and Gentry of the world for a General to restore or make a King then to be a King c. My humble and hearty desire is that the Laws of England the Priviledges of Parliament the Liberty of the Subject and the property of all things may be asserted according to the first Declarations of the King and Parliament in the begining of the unfortunate Warr. That the true Protestant Religion in the best sence of the Church of England may be professed and defended all Heresies Sects and Schismes discountenanced and suppressed a lawfull succession of godly and able Ministers continued and encouraged and the two Universities Oxford and Cambridge and all Colleges in both of them may be preserved and countenanced And this is for the prosperity of the Nation I have now done Gentlemen but how much to my own prejudice I cannot tell I hope I have offended no man yet I am confident this shall not pass without noise but if I have err'd in any thing and yet I have followed the best presidents of Lawyers in the World I expose it not to the mercy of man but of God who as he is most able so also he is most willing to forgive in the day of our account And if any more zealous Pretenders to Prudence Policy and Piety shall oppose the Idea of the Law I shall expect from them these following performances 1. A plain positive Exposition of all the passages in this Book without any injury to the sence of their Authour for if they interpret them otherwise then they ought they but create Errors of their own and then overthrow them 2. To prove their Familiarity with the Genius of the Idea of the Law and Knowledge in these Divine and Natural Statutes let them give the Reader a punctual discovery of all the secrets thereof If this be more then they can do it is argument enough that they know not what they oppose and if they do not know how can they Judg or if they judge where is their Evidence to Condemn 3. Let them not mangle and discompose my Book with a scatter of observations but proceed Methodically to the censure of Appologue Book and the account at the end expounding what is obscure and discovering the very intents of my Book in promoting the practice of good Laws for the benefit of my Country that the reader may find if I write for any other end then to disabuse the Nation my positions to be false not only in their Theory but if he will assay it by his own particular experience I intreat all Ingenuous Gentlemen that they will not slight my Endeavours because of my years which are but few it is the custome of most men to measure knowledg by the Beard but look rather on the Soul an Essence of that Nature quae ad perfectionem suam curricula temporis non desiderat and that they would not conclude any thing rashly against me Thus have I Published that knowledg which God gave me Ad fructum bonae Conscientiae I have not bushell'd my Light nor buried my Talent in the ground I will now whilst the poor Communalty are Plaintiffs and Exrcise-men Defendants humbly move for the Plaintiffs and put up my Idea of the Law to the Judg and so let the Attorney and his Counsel on the other side shew cause why we may not have judgment against them the Devil being Nonsuited and my Council hath put all his enemies under his feet Sentence being given I humbly pray the Execution may be served upon the last Enemy that my Counsellor Judg Prince and King may deliver up the Kingdom to his Father For now is nothing covered that shall not be revealed and hid that shall not be known From my House in the East-side Spitle Fields next door to the Red Lion without Bishops-gate neer London April 27. 1660. JOHN HEYDON In Honorem viri verè eruditi Domini Johannis Heydon generosi in operam suam elaboratissimam Legis Ideam Praeteritum tempus scribis scribisque futurum Illustras radiis tempus utrumque tuis Praeteritum praesens red dis praesensque futurum Nulla tuis oculis non patefacta latent Si tibi praeteritum praesens notumque futurum Inter coelicolas tu quoque caelicola The past and future time thy pregnant qui◠Illustrate 'bove the reach of humane skill Future and past both present are with thee There 's nothing hid from thy perspicacie The present Future past to him 's all one Who in the heavens hath his Station Thomas Revel Arm. To the truly Ingenious his highly deserving Friend John Heydon On his Learned Work Entituled The IDEA of the LAW COuld I of our Antipodes but give A true Description Tell how Those persons live That there Inhabit Acquaint the World how all Things stated are on that side of Earth's Ball Relate the curious Customs that
unto them even for conscience sake and for the Lords sake and to make prayers supplications and intercession for them that under them we may lead a peaceable and quiet life in all godliness and honesty for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour not to despose or shead their blood for which their is no precept nor president in the Gospel but only of the bloody Jews who with wicked hands crucified Jesus Christ the King of the Jews by birth-right and Lord of glory whom they rejected and disclaimed for their King before they crucified him which brought speedy and exemplary desolation upon their whole Nation ever since till now And is not this plain way of God the safest for you and the Army and Cromwels bloody Saints and Jesuites to follow yea the short cut to peace and settlement ruminate upon it and then be wise and bring the Kingdomes also c. Thus from my heart I wish England may Flourish in the Protestant Religion in peace and plenty under the Government of the King and Parliament The Major Aldermen Merchants Tradesmen and Common people in general will never bee happy until King Charles be Crowned King of England and if you erect a figure of Astrology and project a figure of Geomancy in a Telesme you shall find five Angels of God Commissionated to fight for the King against those that oppose him and these are their names Michael Gabriel Phebus Hamaliel Muriel and these command two Genij Teriel and Elim to preserve him against one enemy and his two servants Pallas and Barchiel but the Genij keep him in the Protestant Religion against all Sects in Charity and Prayer Now it is a vaine thing to fight against God turn him a Papist or an Anabaptist c. and these Angels will forsake him and he shall lose his life or all that belong to his happiness in this world c. He that desires to know more of what shall come to pass in England Scotland France and Ireland Spaine Italy Sweden Poland c. let him read my Book of Geomancy entituled by the Rosie Crucians The Temple of wisdome and he shall find what he desires and the Spirits that signifie these things and what strange things will happen in London before 1665. God bless the City from destruction the Devill is willing to make war between the King and Parliament that Popery may be built upon their ruine I desire mercy and truth may meet together Righteousness and peace kiss each other then will England be happy From my house in Spittle-feilds next dore to the red Lion on the east side London near Bishopgate this 27. of April 1660. John Heydon On the Idea of the Law retrived by his Ingenious Friend Mr. Jo. Heydon APélles view'd the Beauties of all Greece That he by them might limb a curious piece Resembling Venus Heydon surely saw As many wits to Ideize the Law In its perfection so sublime a tract As this appeares may legally exact A subsidie of praises to usher't forth By vertue of its own inherent worth Great volumes are but the periphrasis Of what you have epitomiz'd in this Plato's Licurgus Laws et Cetera Are summ'd up by you in this Algebra On this your Specilagium when I look Each Paragraph presents me with a Book And with an Idea thâ— nâ—r was known To any age or person but this one The Macrocosm may be by this Law freed From the Convultions Tyranny did breed Platonick Laws shall be no more Divine Reputed since we have these Laws of thine Tho. Fige 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A Monsieur Monsieur Jean Heydonsur son admirable Idee des toâ—h emciennes et modernes LE grand flam beau du mond á toute sorte Des animaux par ses caions confoote Et toy moncher Heydon par ton espoit Ecllairs nostr ' ignoranle ton esloist Par la recherche de ta belle Industrie A tracé les tenebras et gueri Nostr ' avengless les choses plus chachcés Rendant tóut claires et tóut Illumintés Advance donc toutjours par ton geâ—a á sutmonter les assauts de l'annie LUIS FROISAND Eque Al molto Illustre amico mio honoratissimo Il Sigr Giovanni Heydon soprá l'opera sua accuratissima l' Idea delle Leggi IL Cielo e terra e tuâ—t ' i suoi se ereti Al tuo cercar ' non resteranno cheti Volgi e vivolgi tutto e non si trova Cosa ch' à tu ' Ingegno sia nova L' antico é novo à te e non v ' è cosa Nova à tiche paja tenebrosa E poiche tuito à tua vista appare Noll ' sdegniál Cieco se colo mostrare Castruccio Castracani Cavilero THE PROAEMIUM THE Idea of the Law you have read being the only way to establish a good Government and to Crown the Peoples desires with the King and happiness And this may be so strange and unexpected That the Defence it self which should cure and cease your amazement may not occasion in any passage thereof any further scruple or offence And this following shall strengthen the foregoing discourse And for my own part I cannot presage what may be in any shew of reason alledged by any man against me c. unless it be The Form of Government I would have and the King enthroned The Liberty welfare and prosperity of the people c. The Common Prayer c. In a word Episcopacie will warrant the easie and familiar sense that I shall set upon The Idea of the Law in the literal meaning thereof unto which if I advise reasons from the pious prudence of the holy Law-giver shewing how every passage makes for greater Faith in God and more affectionate obedience to his Law there will be nothing wanting I think though I shall sometimes cast in some notable advantages also from Critical Learning that may gain belief to the truth of the Kings Form of Government c. To prevent any further trouble in making good the sense I have put upon Monarchy being the best Form of Government in the world for the advantage of the people I shall here at once set down the Tyranny of the Times in one example of the Errors of the Laws of Oliver Cromwell and his fellows How much like the Popes their Laws and Statutes were The late King Charles his Law shewed the difference between true and false just and unjust honest and dishonest But the Pope and the Emperour boast that they have the Laws laid up in the chest of their breast to whom Will alone serveth for Law with the Arbitrement whereof they presume to judge and rule all Sciences Arts Scriptures Opinions and the works of men whatsoever they be For this cause Leo the Pope straightly commandeth all Christian people That no man in the Church should presume to judge any thing nor any man to justifie nor to discuss any matter but by the authority
men to a strict account for every violation of this Law 78. Which Law is so accurate as to oblige men not only ad actum but ad modum also it lookes as well to the inward form and manner as to the Materiality and bulk of outward Actions for every being owes thus much kindness and curtesie to it selfe not only to put forth such acts as are essential and intrinsecal to its own welfare but also to delight in them and to fulfil them with all possible freenesse and Alacrity with the greatest intensnesse and complacency selfe love alone might easily constraine men to this naturall obedience Humane Lawes indeed rest satisfied with a visible and externall obedience but natures Law darts it selfe into the most intimate Essentialls and lookes for entertainment there 79. You know that amongst the Moralists only such Acts are esteemed Actus Humani that are Actus voluntarii when my Natural Idea hath tuned a Rationall being she expects that every string every faculty should spontaneously sound forth his praise 80. And the Divine Jdea that hath not chain'd nor fetter'd nor enslaved my Naturall Jdea but has given it a competent liberty and enlargement the free diffusion and amplification of its own essence he lookes withall that it should willingly consent to its own happinesse and to all such means as are necessary for the accomplishment of its choycest end and that it should totally abhor whatsoever is prejudicial to its own being which if it do it will presently embrace The Jdea of the Law if it either love its God and King or it self and the welfare of the People The command of its God and the King or the good of it selfe and happinesse of the People 81. Nay the precepts of this Idea of the Law are so potent and triumphant as that some acts which rebel against it become not only illicit but irrite as both the Counsellors and Atturneys observe they are not only irregularities but meer nullities and that either ob defectum potestatis incapacitatem materiae as if one should goe about to give the same thing to two severall persons the second Donation is a Morall non entity or else propter perpetuam rei indecentiam turpitudinem Durantem as in some an omalous and incestuous Marriage And this Idea of the Law is so exact that it is not Capable of an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with the Lawyers Emendatio legis but there is no mending of Essences nor of Essentiall Laws both which consist in puncto in indivisibili so cannot Recipere magis minus nor is there any need of it for in this Law there is no rigour at all it is a pure praetorian Court of equity and so nothing is to be abated of it neither doth it depend only a mente Legislatoris which is the usuall rise of mitigation but it is conversant about such acts as are per se tales most intrinsecally and inseparably 82. Yet Notwithstanding this Law doth not refuse an interpretation but the Naturall Idea doth glosse and Aspect upon her soul the Divine Idea as in what circumstances such an act is to be esteemed murder and when not and so in many other branches of the Idea of the Law if there be any appearance of intricacy any seeming knot and difficultly the King will give edge enough to cut it asunder There are many Lawes and statutes in England Scotland and Ireland bordering upon this Idea of the Law Jus gentium juri naturali propinquum consanguineum and it is medium quoddam inter jus naturale jus civile Now this Jus gentium is either per similitudinem concomitatiam when severall nations have yet some of the same positive Lawes or else which indeed is most properly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 per communicationem societatem which as Mr. Tho. Hobs describes ab omnium vel multarum gentium voluntate vim obligandi accipit i. e. when all or many of the most refined Nations bunching and clustring together do bind themselves by generall compact to the observation of such Laws as they judge to be for the good of them all As the Honourable entertainment of an Embassadour or such like 83. So that it is jus humanum non scriptum it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for as Theodosius tells me usu exigente humanis necessitatibus Gentes humanae quaedam sibijura constituerunt Whereas other humane Lawes have a narrower sphere and compasse and are limited to such a state as William Prinne Esq stiles leges populares the Hebrews call their positive Lawes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sometimes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Though the one do more properly point at Ceremonials the other at Judicials Plotinus renders them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Abaris calls them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as some call naturall Laws 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which the Mosaicall Philosophers render 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but according to the Greek Idiom these are termed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the others 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Now though the formality of Humane Lawes do flow immediately from the power of some particular men yet the strength and smew of these Lawes is founded in the Idea of the Law or Moral and Naturall Lawes for my Idea doth permissively give them leave to make such Lawes as are for their greater convenience and when they are made and whilest they are in their force and vigour it doth command and oblige them not to break or violate them for they are to esteem their owne consent as a sacred thing they are not to contradict their owne acts nor to oppose such commands as ex pacto were framed and constituted by themselves And thus much in defence of one hundred and thirty paragraphs of my Idea of the Law which I have explained and amplified by the Idea of Government which is the King FINIS THE IDEA OF TYRANNY OR ENGLANDS Mysterious Reformation FROM The beginning of the Wars to this time unridled to the dis-abuse of this long deluded NATION Made publick by John Heydon Gent. for Eugenius Theodidactus Gal. 1.10 If I yet pleased men I should not be the servant of Jesus Christ But I am a servant of God and Secretary of Nature LONDON Printed in the year 1660. AN EPILOGUE BEhold the King of Angels is angry because you will not crown his Messenger and servant KING Amongst all the Orders and Inhabitants of heavenly unbodied souls and immortal Genii there is one King and he is angry because you will not obey the Lawes of the Emperour and King of the whole world God Amongst the Stars the anger of God is transferred and you have made discord in the Court of heaven and his Messengers and Planets meet and oppose wonderfully In 1642. Saturn and Jupiter fell out about Subjects Rebellion against their King And it may be observed that since Church-men dabled in Politiques and States-men in Divinity Law and Religion have been still subjected to