Invading the legal Rights Properties Liberties and Priviledges of the Subject and Subversion of the established Religion and Tolleration yea Introduction of Idolatrous Worship c. As every English Man knows who is but competently instructed in the pretended Motives of that Rebellion to which these Laws directly refer but 't is further said for the countenancing of this apocryphal Sense of the Declaration aforesaid That when there seems to be a Contradiction betwixt two Artioles in our Constitution as there seems to be betwixt the publick Liberty of the Nation and the renouncing of all Resistance in case it be invaded we are to examine which of the two is most evident and most important and to fix upon that and the publick Liberty of the Nation being the most Plain and most Important of the two the Article against Resistance ought to be softned that it do not destroy the other But to the States of England who certainly are the most Competent Judges in this case there seemed no contradiction but a very fair consistency betwixt these two Articles and to every unprejudiced Man who is not captivated to an Hypothesis from Passion and Interest The Renunciation of resistance upon any pretence whatsoever is as evident an Article in our Constitution as can be expressed in Words and being directly designed for the Preservation of publick Order and Peace and the Security of the Government it is not easily imaginable how any Article should exceed the Importance of it Yes but that of the Publick Liberty may because the Chief Design of our whole Law and of all the several Rules of our Constitution is to secure and maintain it This passage sounds like the Shibboleth of the Scotish Kirk for so it is translated in the Third Article of the solemn League and Covenant We shall endeavour with our Estates and Lives mutually to preserve the Rights and Priviledges of the Parliament and the Liberties of the Kingdoms and to preserve and defend the King's Maiesty's Person and Authority in the Preservation and Defence of the true Religion and Liberties of the Kingdoms Where the Preservation and Defence of the King's Majesty's Person and Authority is not only limited to the Preservation and Defence of the true Religion and Liberâ—ies of the Kingdoms but sate in order after the Rights and Priviledges of Parliament and Liberties of the Kingdoms as the less evident and less important Matter to be attend and â—ndeavoured This is rare Policy Men of a lower Elavation in that Science which we â—all plain meaning Men do ordinarily believe that the Chief Design of our whole Law â—nd all the several Rules of our Constitution is to secure and maintain the Ends of Government Order and Peace and consequently the Government it self and how Order and â—eace can be preserved and maintained and the Government secured when the Subjects â—e authorized and allowed in cases which they being Judges seem evident and â—â—portant â—â—ough to them to disturb the one and resist the other with force of Arms I â—â—nnot apâ—â—ehend because ordinarily the Majority of Subjects have not that veneration fâ—â— their Goâ—â—rnours and respect for the public Welfare becomes them but are suspicious and creduâ—â—â—s and led more by rash Passions and feigned Interests than by wise Judgment and the â—â—blick Safety But suppose the Liberties of the Nation must be acquitted or the Command of God violated what is the Subjects Duty then And therefore as I do not believe that the Terms King Sovereign Supreme so frequently used in our Laws are equivocal Ones so neither do I believe that the Law which requires a Renunciation of Resistance upon any pretence whatsoever is of an equivocal signification but intends that the Subject mean honestly when he declares against Resistance without exceptions or reserves because 't is a Thing unworthy of the Wisdom and Honour of our Government to impose a Law of an equivocal signification and such an Interpretation can serve no good end Sect. 97. 5. Another Objection against Non-resistance and to warrant and encourage the taking of Arms against the Kings of England in case they exceed their limited bounds is this The Supreme Power must still be supposed to be lodged with the legislative Power and not with the executive Power when that is appropriated to a distinct Subject from the Legislative Now 't is certain that the executive Part of the English Government is lodged singly in the King so that the whole Administration of that is in him but the Legislative is lodged between him and the Two Houses of Parliament so that the Power of making and repealing Laws is not singly in the King but only so far as the Two Houses concur with him Wherefore the Power of the King is fiduciary only nothing but a Trust and all Trusts saith this Author by their nature import that those to whom they are given are accountable and consequently censurable and punishable and therefore the Kings of England may be resisted with force of Arms and deposed and then dealt withal if under equal guilt as other Criminals guilty of the most Capital Offences Ans That a distinction is to be made between the Legislative and Executive part of Power is not to be doubted but whether this Author have rightly applied it is to be questioned and from as plain evidence as any in the World to be denied for the Legislative Authority of the English Government is not divided into distinct hands from the Executive but lodged in the same Subject even in the King of England only Sect. 98. 1. All the Laws of England are the King's Laws receive their denomination from him only and therefore all offences committed against them are principally and ultimately said to be committed against the King and his Crown and Dignity for although the Matter perhaps of all Laws in some latter Ages is prepared by the Two Houses of Parliament and no Law is or can be enacted without their concurrent Approbation and Consent yet every Law receives its formal Being and Obligation from the Authority of the King only and no Law is repealed but by his Authority only The Authority of the Two Houses is the Authority of Councellors and not of Legislators as Judge Jenkins saith and Sir W. Rawleigh tells us That that which is done in Parliament is done by the Kings absolute Authority The Three Estates do but advise as the Privy Council doth which advice if the King embrace it becomes the King 's own Act in the one and the King's Law in the other And therefore when they have addressed themselves to the King in order to the enacting or abrogating of a Law they have prefaced it in a petitionary Stile as acting in the capacity of Loving and Loyal Subjects Sir Edward Coke tells us 4 Inst p. 25. That in Ancient time all Acts of Parliament were in form of Petitions For instances thus 't was in 1 Edw. 3. When Magna Charta was confirmed there you shall find
Obedience and Sufferings Rom. 8.29 So St. Peter 1 E. c. 2.20 21. and if when we do well and suffer for it we take it patiently we do that which is acceptable to God for even hereunto are we called chosen and appointed by the Decree and Constitution of God because Christ also suffered for us leaving us an Example that we should follow his steps That is Christ by his patient Sufferings of unjust Funishment from the Higher Powers without resistance hath left us a Pattern for our Imitation And therefore though such actual sufferings be not the Portion of every Christian yet they are the Condition of his Discipleship to Christ and he cannot be worthy of his calling if he be not prevalently disposed to an imitation of Jesus Christ therein For his Kingdom is to be asserted and maintained by active and Passive Obedience and not by fighting You are not to embrace and defend Religion as a Matter of worldly Interest but as a Matter of Conscience whose advantages are purely spiritual primarily relating to our State in another World and which can subsist by vertue of its own essential strength and goodness not only without the Assistance but in Defiance to all the Contradictions and Oppositions of worldly Powers Sect. 42. 'T is true Religion being the best Thing we are capable of enjoying because the Welfare of our immortal Souls depends upon it which are to be dearer to us than all the World we are to prize it above all endearments whatsoever and consequently must be chiefly careful to preserve and defend it and to use all lawful means to that purpose and therefore may in some cases apply our selves to the Use of armed Force for Religions sake when Established by Law and made a Propriety which can only be done by a Commission derived from the Sovereign Power and never in a Way of Resistance to it A Good is only to be obtained and pursued by agreeable means because the End is virtually in the means And therefore as an Evil Tree doth not bring forth Good Fruit Mat. 7.18 So neither can sinful means produce good Ends. Hence that of the Apostle Rom. 3.8 They that say let us do evil that good may come their damnation is just Sect. 43. The Kingdom of Christ is a Kingdom within his Subjects Luke 17.21 essentially consists in Righteousness and peace and joy in the holy Ghost Rom. 14.17 which are things immediately seated in Mens Hearts and can hold a Supremacy and exercise Dominion and rule there in despight of the strongest and most malicious Enemies in the World which set themselves up in opposition thereunto Indeed the Emanations of Religion in bodily exercises are capable of restraints from external Force but as Religion is a vital Principle of Action and consists in the Resignation of our selves to God with the Expectation of Acceptance and a Reward from him cannot be oppressed or constrained from outward Force and Violence and therefore needs not the Auxiliary Power of military Forces to support and defend it self much less doth it need Assistance from Temporary Power to Assault and Invade others for its Preservation A Man may be as eminently Religious and the Power of Christ's Kingdom as highly advanced by him under the most slavish Constraints Human Nature is capable of as when he is preferred to the greatest Preheminences the whole World can Accommodate him withal Sect. 44. This is a certain Truth that external Advantages of Honour Profit Power and other Appurtenances to worldly Prosperity add of themselves nothing to the Strength and Goodness of Religion and therefore it can subsist as well without them as with them For let a Mans outward Condition be what it will he shall be as Religious as he is willing to be and shall do as much good as he is willing to do 2 Cor. 8.12 If there be first a willing Mind 't is accepted according to that a Man hath and not according to that he hath not God doth not measure the acceptability and rewardableness of a Christians Service from the outward means and opportunities thereof but from his integrity and readiness actually to perform his duty agreeably to his abilities and opportunities If therefore through the Tyrannical Persecution of Religious Exercises Christians want the external means and opportunities of Worshipping God solemnly and publickly yet if they have a preparedness of Heart thereunto and go so far as they can to express the seriousness of their veneration of God they are as well accepted with God and shall be as highly rewarded by him as if they had performed in the most compleat and solemn Manner It is then very clear and manifest that the suppression and extirpation of Religion is not within the reach of the Civil Powers they may restrain some outward expressions of it but they cannot destroy the Life and Power of it And therefore though the Persons and Properties of Christians may fare the worse because of the Persecuting Rage of the higher Powers yet their Christianity shall fare never the worse unless they themselves will Sect. 45. He then that thinks that he can love and honour God more by fighting for his Religion than by suffering for it doth not understand the Nature of Christ's Kingdom nor the peculiar Design of the Christian Religion which is to govern all Christ's Subjects by the Spiritual Powers of Truth and Goodness without the Foreign Assistance of a material Sword 2 Cor. 10.3 4 5. for though we walk in the Flesh saith the Apostle wedo not war after the Flesh for the Weapons of our Warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong Holds casting down Imaginations and every high Thing that exalteth it self against the Knowledge of God and bringing into Captivity every Thought to the Obedience of Christ He therefore professeth a good Profession of Religion who faithfully dischargeth the Duties of his proper place and when he is persecuted by the higher Powers for so doing doth not by Resistance kill others to save himself alive but patiently loseth his Life to save his Soul For herein he walketh worthy of his Calling which obligeth him to take up his Cross but not a Sword and were it lawful for him when persecuted for Religions sake by the higher Powers to defend himself with armed Force 't would not be his Religion which obliged him to suffer patiently and quietly for well-doing but his weakness not his Christian call but his natural necessity And he could not be an imitator of Christ in the Submission and Patience of his Sufferings who would avoid them by Resistance if he could when Christ would not avoid his sufferings though he might The Cup which my Father hath given me shall I not drink Jo. 18.11 Sect. 46. He that professeth to fight for Religion by resisting the higher Powers may and doth too often whet his Sword with Malice Revenge Pride Ambition Discontent or a Thousand other conceited worldly interests which
Ground and manner of his sufferings who from a Principle of self-denial took up his Cross and meerly from a Conscientious Submission to the appointment of his Father gave himself into the Hands of the higher Powers to be dealt withal as they pleased When a Man suffers no more than what he deserves and common Justice requires there is nothing of commendation or gloriation in it but if when ye do well and suffer for it ye take it patiently this is acceptable with God And this is thank-worthy if a Man for Conscience towards God endure grief suffering wrongfully 1 Pet. 2.19 20. and ch 4.15 he suffers only as a Christian who suffers wrongfully for well-doing and then follows Christ's steps in conforming to the Manner of his sufferings when his sufferings are a probation to his patience but no provocation to his revenge will not defend himself from an unjust punishment by an undutiful Resistance Sect. 55. 'T is to be considered by every Christian That Jesus Christ was sent into the World and dwelt amongst us to be the Example of our Religion as well as the Teacher of it And there is such an exact concordance betwixt his Doctrine and Practice that the latter is a Practical Demonstration of God's determinate and unchangeable Method of dispensing eternal life and glory to the Children of Men. As Christ was brought to glory so must they and no otherwise Rom. 8.29 30. for whom he God did fore-know fore-approved and fore-acknowledged for his he also did predestinate fore-appointed according to the Purport of the Gospel to be conformed to the Image of his Son that he might be the first Born amongst many Brethren Moreover whom he did predestinate them he also called and whom he called them he also justified and whom he justified them he also glorified In which Words is represented the Method Order and Degrees of God's Decrees Dispensations and Transactions for the Effecting of our Salvation according to the Terms of the Gospel and they shew the inviolable connexion betwixt God's acceptance of us as objects of his special love and our conformity unto Christ and that according to the immutable ordination of God whosoever answers the Call of the Gospel and obtains justification and glorification according to the Purport and Tenour of it he must resemble Christ in his doings and sufferings And this is likewise the express Doctrine of Christ himself Mat. 16.24 If any Man will come after me let him take up his Cross and follow me No wearing of a Crown with him but by bearing his Cross after him Luke 26.16 ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter so and upon such Terms into his glory And our way of enterance thereinto is the same Luke 22.29 therefore I appoint unto you a Kingdom after the same manner and upon the same Terms as my Father hath appointed unto me And is it not enough for the Disciple to be as his Master and for the Servant as his Lord Mat. 10.15 can we reasonably expect greater honours exemptions and priviledges than our Lord and Master had And may we not be well enough contented to be allowed admittance into the Kingdom of Heaven the same way with him This is the Evangelical stated way of Salvation and to a Conformity hereunto are all Christians called because Christ also suffered for them leaving them an example that they should follow his steps 1 Pet. 2.21 who when he was oppressed and afflicted opened not his Mouth when he was reviled reviled not again but was brought as a Lamb to the Slaughter and as a Sheep before her Sharers is dumb so open'd he not his Mouth Isa 53.7 Acts. 8.32 1 Pet. 21.23 and as he restrained himself from evil words as well as blows against the higher Powers so must we and however Tyrannically the higher Powers abuse their Office and Authority acknowledge with him that their Power is given them from above Joh. 19.11 and submit thereunto without Resistance as to the Appointment of God saying with him the Cup which my Father hath given me shall I not drink it Joh. 18.11 Who calleth the most harmless Christians sometimes thus to suffer for well doing from the higher Powers but never to a violent Resistance of them Sect. 56. You cannot but well know and I would also have you to consider well the Case of Shadrach Meshach Abednego and Daniel who when they were prohibited to pray to the living God and commanded to Worship dead Idols by the Heathenish Persecutors of God's Church though they utterly refused to yield an Active Obedience to their commands yet they yielded a Passive Obedience to their Sovereign Powers without repining reviling or opposing yea they prayed for them and blessed them Dan. 6.21 Which is an Argument that they did not believe that any persecutions injurious usages or oppressions from the Sovereign Powers could exempt or discharge them from subjection to them and warrant a destructive Resistance of them and though their sufferings were in their Circumstances unavoidable and they really wanted sufficient Strength to redress and help themselves against the overpowering Force of their Persecutors and Oppressors yet the manner of their submission thereunto plainly declared that they accounted themselves as appointed and called of God by a suffering Condition to bear witness to his Truth and to demonstrate to the World that suffering was better and more eligible than sining and to give a Proof that they did not believe that God did authorize and allow any of his Servants to threaten reproach revile or resist their Rulers how hardly injuriously and cruelly soever they are treated by them but requires them to reverence their Persons acknowledge their Authority and patiently to submit to their Power when 't is exercised to the utmost Evil to them Sect. 57. And this Gospel-Call to a quiet and patient Submission to the injurious infliction of punishment from the Higher Powers is was and ever will be a Vindication of the Christian Religion from the false and scandalous Imputations charged on it by its Enemies and Persecutors who do did and will reproach it as an Engine contrived and designed for the Disturbance and Subversion of Civil Empires and Dominions Both Jews and Gentiles traduced Jesus Christ as no Friend to Caesar represented his Doctrine as dangerous to the State Joh 19.12 and reputed the Gathering of Churches the Dissolution of Kingdoms or in their own Words a turning of the World upside down Acts 17.6 That is an inversion of Order a pulling down of Rulers and the setting up of Subjects in their room which Stratagem was and may be marvellously successful to bring the Christian Religion into disgrace with the Civil Powers who are ever very watchful to endeavour to their utmost to reject and suppress all those Doctrines which they suspect to be prejudicial and destructive to their Authority and Government and how can this slanderous Imputation to the Christian Religion be more effectually confuted than by