A Letter of Remarkes upon Jovian by a Person of Quality By William Atwood UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES LETTER OF Remarkes UPON JOVIAN. ' By a Perfon of Q.UALITT. LONDON, Printed for H. Jones. M.DC.LXXXIII. '?] ^^ .3 IT A , . Hs^vZ.^ LETT E'k O F Remarkes TO V.I AN. ** Muft quarrel you For the Promife you extort- ed from me of giving a fhort account in writ - I ing of my free and Impartial Thoughts of the long expected Jovian. You know we arc now under fuch unhappy Circum{tances,that vhatfoever is {aid or done againft any falfe Preten- der to the Service of the Crown, is look't upon as an Abof Difloyalty. And I may by fome be thought an Enemy to the toper ixt Crown, if I go to fhew wherein one who talks high for it, has really di ferv'd it ; But fmce I am fatisfied, that whatfoever mifchief is in this, lyes only in the Opinion of tjiofe Metj, whom I need not value ^ I fhall not for their fakes, deny my Promife, or my Friend. [4] I fhali not concern my felf in the Merits of the Caufe between him and his Adverfary. I fhall only fhew wherein it has fiifTer'd for want of a better Advocate. But thus much is obvious, that if the Prince makes no claim to his Power, in fuch manner as he afcribes it to him ; this Author is guilty of a foul mifreprefenta- tion of him, in putting out (uch a labor'd Piece, as it , were, on purpofe to promote Fears and Jealoufies,. But then, if he both is Ib Invented with his Power, and will have it known that he will ufe it accord- ingly, as he fees Occafion, a weak and partial proof of it ought to be punifh't as treacherous. For this Minijler of London ^ as he {tiles himfelf^ who will not allow the Church of Jov* Pref. England to be a true Church, un- lefs we own the Church of Rome to be fb too. I fhall in fbort make it appear, that he has in this Book of his, fhewnhimfelf neither, 1. Logitian, Nor 2. Good Hiftormn, Nor 3. Fair and Equal Writer ; 4. Befides that , he Vndermines the force of all that .he would ieem to fay, by his Conceffions and Contradictions. And then judge what Reward he deferves for his very great pains. i/?. Not Logitian^ becaufe he doth not, as he fhould, {tate theCjueftion. The Paralelifm in JW/- an y is not, between the State and Condition QfChriflL *ns under Pagan Emperours, who Governed difpoti- cally while the Chrijtians lived precarioufly , and were always under the Bow-firing Law, as now in Turkey ; and thole ^Communities of Chriftians, who upon mutual Stipulaflbn upon Oath, agree to keep foca m fuchLaws as v/er ; then made, or after fhould be ge- neralJy agreed unto, according to the Eftablifhed Le- gifiaiive. Neither Secondly, Was it the Queftion what was to be done to Crowned Heads, but what might have lawfully been done to prevent the Succeflion of one of dangerous or fiifpe&ed Principles : So that what followed was only Circumftantial. And if it did not fliew what might be done by Chrifttans in the like Cafe with thofe under Julian ; at the leaft, it fhewed what was the nature of thofe Prayers and Tears, the acceptablenefs of which, fome would think, God Evidenced by his miraculous Deftruftion of that Tyrant. He fhews himfelf no good H IS TO R 1- A N. For which I fhall take notice of but four Parti- culars. 1. ( In which he has likewife betrayed great Indi- fcretion) his producing the Scotch At of Parliament for the Sacrednefs and Unalterablenefs of the Succefft- on, without knowing any thing of that fcurvy Story of Elizabeth Mure, or offering at any Difproof of it. 2. His Vouching the Solemn Recog- nition of King James his Title in Par- Pref. liament, as an Argument that King Henry the Eigths Limitation of the Crown by the like Authority, was void : When if he had read the Hiftory of the Refer- Burnett Hifi. mation, he might have known that the ift. Part. Limitation he mentions, was by an In- authoritative Will, the direction of the Parliament not having been duly purfued, . His 3 . His carping at the Relation of Sir Simon Deives, in the buiinels ot the Queen of Scots. King James be- ing more concerned for the fame of his Mother, than of our glorious Queen, cauled Mr. Camdens Papers to be feized, and delivered into the hands of the then Earl of Northampton whoftruck out what he plea- fed in that Matter ; which made the Poor man lament with Tears, as can even at this Day be fufficiently proved. This and the Index Exfurgatoritts. Sir Si- mon might well know, who being a Man of, confum- mated Knowledge in all kind of Literature, and An* tiquity ought not to be controul'd by one, whofe ut- moft effort, after the Corrections and Helps of all his Friends, ends in this difpicable Trifle. 4. But then without the leaft Judgment or Know- ledge of the various Acceptation of the Word. Eft ate both in Records and Hiftories, he falls foul up- on the Lord Hot/if, and would have it Treafbn, be- caufe he calls the King a Third Eft ate. This may be felfe, but furely no Treafbn, except he had laid, The KJ.ngbad.but a. Co-ordinate. Power, and,* might be over- rid d by tht other. He would fuggeft, as if the afcrib- ing that Letter about the Bifhops Voting in Capital Caufes to that Lord, were a wrorig Jov. p. 236. and fcandal to his Memory. That it was his is pait all doubt, he having own'd it in his Life time, and after continued the fame Subject, which was Printed afrer his death, with other Contracts to the fame purpofe by others : &c if the Dr.had been a man converfant in that Learn> ing, he could not but have found Jov. p. 185. by them, that the m)ft Learned and Worthy Author 'of the Qraud Qxftfon, is fb far from having made good any Impu- tation tation upon the Candor AndFerncity of that noble Lord, that how much fbever he may have Obliged the Age by hi* mtny Learned, Works, yet he may beconcern 7 d to vindicate himfelf againft the Covftderations upon his Book long fince Publifhed. ' 3. I fhall very briefly make good my Charge of his being no Fair nor Equal Writer : For this I might inftance in his partial Quotations of Bracton, fleta, and rortefcite\ concerning our English Government , which it lyes upon Mr. J: to tfiow more at large : but I belie Ve this Author would be loth to receive all their Sayings for Law,though back't with the Autho- rity of the olcl Mirror to boot. I Hull-only evince him to be guilty of a little Impiety in his Quotation s&Afts of Parliament , accord- p. 234. ing to his own acceptation of the word> when he would apply it to others. You muft under- ftand that he fplits the Hair very curioufly between ihtlmferial and Po////w/L^w of the Realm, by one of which, it leems, a man may be hanged, or loofe what he has, when he is Juftifiable by the other ; In all Sovvraign Government s, Sub* jefts* [ he -lays, ] rnaft be p. 245. 'Slaves, as to tbi* Particular ,- they muft truft their Lives and Liberties with their Soveraign. But the Eng- gliih Realm u a forfeit Soveraign^ ty or Empire, and the King ^/Eng- land, erial Laws p. 208. of it, is a compleat Impe- rial and Independent So- veraign, to whom the forefaid Plights of Soveraignty do infeperably belong, VIZ. As he had before enu- merated them. 1. To be accountable to none but God* 2. To have the fole Power and Dif- pofal of the Sword. 3. To be free from all Coercive and Indicative 'Power. P. 202. 4. To have the Legislative Power, or the Power that makes any Form of Words a Law. Now he choofes rather to prove that our King is an Abfalute Sovereign ; and therefore has thefe Incidents, than that he hath all thefe in an AbfoluteMa,nmr y and therefore is an Abfolute Soveraign. But it falls out unluckily, that when in fbme Cafes, the very Enading Parts of Statutes, (hall fignifie no- thing to Him ; yet the moft tolerable Proof that he brings, to fhew that all the Civil Rights of the Nati- on-are in theKings Hands^ to do as he pleafes with any particular Perfon, especially ( THOUGH THE [p] THE PERSONAL ORDERS BY WHICH HE TOUCHES THIS OR THAT, OR THESE OR THOSE MN, ARE NOT DRAWN INTO PRESIDENT, AND EFFECT NOT OTHERS:) ^.193. The- heft Proof of this ( I fay, ) is drawn from the Pream- bles of Ats of Parliament about Ecclefinfticd Affairs, moft of them againft the Usurpation of the Rom** See, upon this Imperial and Independent Crown ; and the ftrongeft of them very unfairly cited. Intending here but a taft of his Difingenuhy , I fhall give but two Examples, and that in 24. H. 8. c. 12. and 25. //.8. o 21. He tells us. P. 1 08. "By the whole Parliament, 24. ff. 8. " c. 12. it was Refblved, and Ib declared, that by " fiindry Authentick Hiflories and Chronicles^ it is ma- " nifeftly Declared and ExprefTed, that this Realm " of EngUnd is an Empire, and fb hath been accept- " ed in the World, Governed by one Supream Head "and King, having Dignity and Royal Eftate of the " Imperial Crown of the fame. P. 2 1 3 , " After the words before cited, it follows, " ( fays he ) unto whom a Body Politick been " bounden and owen to bear next unto God, a na- " tural and humble Obedience, he being inftituted " and furnlfh^d with plenary, whole and Entire Pow- " er, Preheminence, Authority, <&c. Thus far he. Bat methinks, if he had intended fair- nefs, he would at lea ft have Anfwered the Objection from the following words, which fbme may take as Refrffiive , Viz. Prerogative and JurifcJiHon to "RENDER and YIELD Jufttet tndfimalDe- " termination to all manner of Folk, Refialits,orSub- " je-5ls wkhin this his Realm ; in all Caufes, Matters, B " De- " Debates and Contentions, hapning to incur, iniurg p "or begin within the Limits thereof, without Re- " flraint or Provocation to any Forreign Princes or a Potentates of the World. 1 Then the Statute 2t;.H.8.c. 21. has no more Piou-s Treatment than the former. The words he has occa- lion for, are thefe. p. 212. that it is the nature of Birthright and Jov. p. 78, Ltheritange > rvkich u not founded upon the C j 1 the Statutes, bat upon the Original Cufrome &dConftitu~ tion of the Englif h Government, and, the Laws of the Go- vernment being Eftablifhed by the Laws of the Gojpel. Thence God alone is P. 20 J. the Author of this Hereditary Succeffion Pref. to the Crown, Whence ibme will argue, that if ac- cording to the Laws of the Government,the King may Adopt another in Parliament, Godhimfelf would be die Author of this Adoption. But the main Quefti- on is, hpw this London Minifter fhews this to have been the Original Cuftome and Conftittttion of the Go- vernment. IsitbecaufethisCuftome hath been de- rived down without Interruption ? That he doth not go about to prove : or doth he fhew how it comes to pafs, that Interruptions in the Succeflion to the Em- pire, are an Argument that that was not Hereditary, and yet are no Obftacles here ? Nay, doth he not own that this was not the Original Cuflgme and Conjlituti- on, in faying, that it firft came in with the Normans? Pref. 5. He undertakes to fhew that the Author of the Life of Julian js outin his Notion Q Pa/five Obedience ; and that it is as much aDuty when ever theKing exerts his Prerogative, or Imperial Law, as when he has declared any Law in Parliament, according totheP0////f Con- ftittition of the Nation : or to ufe this London Mini- fter'* s own Words, That PaJJive-Ofodi- erne is. due by the G off el to the Sower aign P. 1 64. Power, when the Soveraign Perfecutes contrary to Law. It is obfervable that his Antagonist never (peaks of the leaftrefiftancetobemade to the Sacred Perfon of the King, but tV-Mtnifhrt or Officers,, acting without, or contrary to the Authority of his Laws, by which he fpeakstohis Subjeds in a way 297594 not [ 14] not to bequeftioned,muchlefscontrord : and truly I. am much deceived, if this Man fays lefs inhisL^/W Lff&vaky after fome vain Ravings, he hath thefe words, If by AH inevitable neceffity ofde~ P 279. fending themfelves, he ftnderftandsfitdde n P. 2o. find private Defence .again ft An Affafftn fent by the Kjngs Order, as his Malice Jgems tofttggeft, then it is nothing to his Purpofe, becaufe the things Law, which is hu mo ft Authoritative Com- mand allows us (a* Ifu-ppofe) that benefit', and if it do, it, doth notintheleafl contradict the Doctrine of Pafc five Obedience, which allows a, Man to refift or ttfe the Sword to defend hit Life, when the Laws (from which I except all La.vs dtftrttffive of the Kjngs Crown -andRegA- lity ) Author if e him fo to do. This fort of Refinance, you fee, is not here except. ed as Deftructive of the Regality, but here he yields, i. That the King in his Parliament [peaks to us with greater Authority than out of it, or that the P^ liticd Law i* above the Imperial Law $ P. 242. for by the Imperial Law Subjects muft be fofar Slaves, they mufl trap taeir Lives and Liberties with their Soveraign-. Yet this, it feerns is wholly fruftrated by the Kings Laws for their Pre- fer vat hn, which may Authorile the ufing one that ah under, or by vertue of the Imperial Law, as an 2. By juft confequence from what is here granted, it follows, that if one acling barely under that Au- thority has no legal or fufficient 'Warrant, then he 13 guilty of a Breach of the Kjngs Ptace, and a Con/table, who by his Office is to keept he Peace nay aiTift the Party that is fet ugpn, find require N. '.hers to joyn \vithhim, and fo they may go from Pariih toParifh in frefh Purfuit. * . 7 hit c y ] . This doth toot in the lea ft contradtft the Dotfrine of ive Obedience. 4. To the three foregoing Heads, you may add a fourth from another place of his. P. 192. Even where an Emperour has ' Alfolute Power over bis Subjects Lives and Eftates, as to do what be pleajts with particular Ptrjons, he has not thereby right to ex/lave the whole Jfeople, by Altering the Confli- tution of the Government fr cm a Civil into & Tyrannical Dominion ; or from a Government wherein the Peobfe had Liberty and Property into fuch a Government as the Perfian was, and the Turkifh now u , where the Subjects are the Princes Family, and all that they have u his by Law. To tell you plainly, I am almolt. as lorry as the Au- thors own Friends can be, that he fhould raife all mens Expectations to fb little purpofe, as any one may obferve by this Juft, though General Cenfure. , s Tis a hard cafe that a man fhould run the hazard of a Judicial and w&Authoritative Cenfure, and yet do no Service to any Intereft, or to his own Reputation. But thus it often happens when Clergy-men will be hooking in Civil Rights in or dine ad Spirit ualia \ and if they meet with the Fates of their Predeceflbrs Syb- thorp and Mwrvaring, they can be but pityed at the moft by S I R, Your Humble Servant. ERR AT A. Page6.1. 14. r. Definable, ib. L . r. Tratfats* p. 8. 1. 12. r. Vindicative. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY This book is DUE on the last date stamped below DG 317 H52jZa 1683 Atwood - A letter remarkes Jovian. of DG 317 H52jZa 1683