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
as in me lies to support an Establishment whose Foundation is Rebellion I must either be Convinc'd that the Doctrine of these Homilies is not what I have subscrib'd GOOD and WHOLESOME or else I must have this DOCTRINE and these OATHS Reconcil'd 2. The Vniversity of Oxford in a full Convocation have given their Opinion that there cannot be any Power LAWFULLY Exercised within this Kingdom which is not SUBORDINATE to that of the King How then Profiteamur non neutiquam intelligere posse qui possit in hoc regno Potestas aliqua legitime exerceri quae non sit Regiae Potestati Subordinat Jud. Acad. Ox. 1. 1 Jun. 1647. §. viii I beseech your Lordship can the King be accountable to any For to be oblig'd to give an account is the greatest Instance of Subordination Imaginable But the same Vniversity has since given their Judgment more distinctly and definitively and Decreed Judg'd and Declar'd Jud. Acad. Ox. 21. Jul. 1683. all and every of these and some other there mentioned Propositions to be FALSE SEDITIOUS and IMPIOUS and most of them to be also HERETICAL and BLASPHEMOUS INFAMOUS to Christian Religion and Destructive of All Government in CHURCH and STATE viz. Prop. I. All Civil Authority is derived Originally from the People Prop. II. There is a mutual Compact Tacit or Express between a Prince and his Subjects and that if he perform not his Duty they are Discharg'd from theirs Prop. III. That if lawful Governors become Tyrants or govern otherwise then by the â—…aws of God and Man they ought to do they forfeit the Right they had unto their Government Prop. IV. The Soveraignty of England is in the three Estates viz. King Lords and Commons The King has but a co-ordinate Power and may be over ruled by the other two Prop. V. Birthright and Proximity of Blood give no Title to Rule or Government and it is lawful to preclude the next Heir from his Right of Succession is the Crown Prop. VI. It is lawful for Subjects without the consent and against the Command of the Supreme Magistrate to enter into Leagues Covenants and Associations for Defence of themselves and their Religion Prop. VIII The Doctrine of the Gospel concerning patient suffering of Injuries is not inconsistent with violent resisting of the higher Powers in case of Persecution for Religion Prop. IX There lies no Obligation upon Christians to Passive Obedience when the Prince commands any thing against the Laws of our Countrey and the Primitive Christians chose rather to die then resist because Christianity was not yet settled by the Laws of the Empire Prop. X. Possession and Strength give a right to Govern and Success in a Cause or Enterprize proclaims it to be lawful and just to pursue it is to comply with the will of God because it is to follow the conduct of his Providence Prop. XV. If a People that by Oath and Duty are oblig'd to a Soveraign shall sinfully dispossess him and contrary to their Covenants chuse and Covenant with another they may be obliged by their latter Covenant notwithstanding their former Prop. XVII An Oath obliges not in the sense of the Imposer but the Takers Prop. XVIII Dominion is founded in Grace Prop. XXVII K. Charles the First made War upon his Parliament and in such a case the King may not only be Resisted but he ceaseth to be King These and some other Democratical Propositions being thus Condemn'd by such Authority and in such Terms I do not envy your Lordship the Honour of maintaining them 3. Lastly The Doctrine of Non-Resistance against our Kings tho' Tyrants and of their Exemption from Account to any Power on Earth is Asserted by a far greater and more Convincing Authority the Injunctions of the King 1 Inj Ed. 6. 1 Inj. Eliz. Bp. Sparrow's Col. P. 2 67. and the Canons and Constitutions of the Church ever since the Reformation In the Injunctions we find that all Ecclesiastics should Preach four times every Year that the King's Power c. is the HIGHEST POWER under God to whom ALL Men by GOD 's LAWS owe MOST Loyalty and Obedience afore and ABOVE ALL Other Powers and Potentates on Earth Cranm. Art ib. P. 23. Rid. Art ib. P. 36. The observance whereof is made an Article of Enquiry by A. B. Cranmer in his Visitations distinct from that about the Popes Supremacy And Bishop Ridley Enquires further whether any Preach that private Persons MAY make Insurrections But if your Lordship will not Acquiesce in the Authority and Decision of these Injunctions and Articles of Enquiry Syn. Lond. An. 1603. can 1. ib. p. 271. I hope you will have some Respect to a Provincial Synod Yet that in the First Year of K. James I. Constitutes and Ordains the same thing with these Injunctions and in the same words The Nine and Thirty Articles of Religion are of a yet greater Authority For they were agreed upon by the Clergy of both Provinces An. 1562 and were afterward Ratify'd and Confirm'd by a Provincial Synod An. 1571. Rat. 39. Art ib p. 107 222 These Articles all we of the Clergy are oblig'd to subscribe and to acknowledge that all and every single Article therein contained is agreeable to the Word of God Syn. Lond. An And so much Care is taken to discover any Change of our Opinion 1603. can 36. ib. p. 287. Ib. can 37. Syn. Lond. An. 1571. can de Ep. ib. p. 223. with Relation to any of them that as oft as we remove from one Diocess to another we are oblig'd to Repeat the same Subscriptions A preceeding Synod is yet stricter for it requires us not only to subscribe our Assent but to give our Solemn Promise that we will Maintain and Defend the Doctrine contained in them as most Agreeable to the Truth of the Divine Word But besides this Particular Obligation us of our Repeated Assent 13 Eliz. c. 12. 14 C. 2. c. 4. two Parliaments have also Confirm'd these Articles After which we are to look upon them as transfer'd from the Ecclesiastical to the Civil State and Incorporated with the Laws and Constitutions of this Government So that every Lawyer as well as Divine is oblig'd to submit to their Authority and to be concluded by them and therefore to own with them Art Rel. An. 1562. n. 37. Spar Col. p. 105. that the Queens Majesty hath the CHIEF POWER in this Realm of England c. unto whom the CHIEF GOVERNMENT of ALL Estates of this Realm whether they be Ecclesiastical or Civil in all Causes doth Appertain But to prevent all Exceptions and Evasions hereof and for ever to Silence those Democratical Principles that begun to be Industriously maintained and instill'd into the People about the year 1640 in order to hasten that Wonderful Rebellion which soon after broak out the Church took care to Decree Syn. Lond. An 1640. can 1. ib. p. 346. that the Most High and Sacred
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