';.: -- v.:. 
 

 
 fc-6~" 
 
 IRSITY OF CALIFOI
 
 j 062
 
 'it/toft U(u.^cc^ t CaJtoJ(_ v~a\4j OiA^/x^c-i t+n*t~fci^ ~ttt^j to
 
 05I0 
 
 The | J U D G M E N T of 
 
 Whole Kingdoms and Nations, 
 
 Concerning the 
 Rights, Power, and Prerogative 
 
 KINGS, 
 
 AND THE 
 
 Rights, Priviledges, and Properties 
 
 OF THE 
 
 PEOPLE: 
 
 SHEWING, 
 
 The Nature of GOVERNMENT ia general, both from 
 GO D and M A N. An Account of the BRITISH Go- 
 vernment ; and the RIGHTS and PR I V I LEDG E S of 
 the People in the Time of the S A XO N S, and fmce the Con- 
 queft. The Government which God ordain'd over the Children 
 of Ijrael; and that all Magiftrates and Governors proceed from 
 the People, by many Examples in Scripture and Hiftory; and the 
 Duty of Magiftrates from Scripture and Reafon. An Account 
 of Eleven Emperors, and above P ifty Kings depriv'd for their 
 evil Government. The Right of the People and Parliament of 
 Britain, to RESIST and DEPRIVE their Kings for evil 
 Government, by King Henrys Charter; and likewife in Scotland,, 
 by many Examples. 
 
 The Prophets and ancient Jews were Strangers to abfolute P AS- 
 SIC E-OBEDIENC E. Refilling of Arbitrary Government 
 is allow'd by many Examples in Scripture; by molt Nations; and 
 by undeniable Reafon. 
 
 A large Account of the REVOLUTION; with feveral 
 Speeches, Declarations, and Addrefles; and the Names and 
 Proceedings of Ten Bifhops, and above Sixty Peers, concerned 
 in the Revolution before King James went out of England. 
 
 Several Declarations in Queen Elizabeth's Time of the C L ERG Y 
 in CONVOCATION, and the PARLIAMENT 
 who aflifted, and juuified the Scotch, French, and Dntch, in Re- 
 filling of their Evil and Deftrudtivc Princes. 
 
 By LORD S O M M E R S. 
 
 The Tenth Edition Corrected. 
 
 London : Reprinted, and fold by J. Williams, No. 38. in Fleet 
 Street, and the Bookfellci s of Uondtn and Wtjlminjltr. 177 1 .
 
 
 Ifif
 
 "T 
 
 76 
 
 -r 
 
 sa 
 
 THE 
 
 CONTENTS, 
 
 us 
 
 ,> 
 
 < 
 
 CD 
 
 C3 
 
 a 
 
 =r: 
 
 Paragraph TT H E Nature 
 to 6. *- of Govern- 
 
 ment in General both from 
 God and Man. 
 
 6. An Account of the Brj- fl, 
 tijb Government, and of the 
 Rights and Privileges of the 
 People, in the Time of the 
 Saxons, and fince the Con- 
 queft. 
 
 j. Italy, Germany, Switzcr- ^. 
 land, England, and the 
 Jews, have been under di- 
 vers Forms of Government. 
 8, to 17. Included. 1[. 19, 
 21. to 38. Included. True 
 Maxims of Government. 
 18. The Power of the Crown 
 only a Truft. <T. 
 
 20. Britain, a mixed limited 
 Monarchy. 
 
 39, to 46. included. De- 
 scribing the Government 
 which God ordained over 
 the Children of Ifrael. f . 
 
 46, 47. The Fundamental 
 
 Right of all Nations aflerf- 
 ed in the Choice of their 
 Governors, or Forms of 
 Government. 
 
 48. Ctefar and Tacitus' % 
 Defcription of the Liberty 
 and Cuftoms of the An- 
 cient Britains, that they 
 had no Monarchs, but 
 Councils and Magiftrates. 
 
 49. Monfieur Mezeray'% 
 Account of the Manners 
 of the ancient Germans; 
 His mournful Speech to a 
 Gentleman in King Wil~ 
 Ham's Reign, of the mi- 
 ferable Condition of the 
 French. 
 
 50. 51, 52. The Election 
 of Magiftrates and Kings, 
 prov'd to be in the People : 
 But more particular in 
 Great Britain, before and 
 fmce the Conqueft. 
 
 53. The Right of the 
 
 People and Parliament of 
 
 A t Britain 
 
 :$>i.*ii s
 
 IV 
 
 The CONTENTS. 
 
 Britain to refift and depofe f . 
 their Kings for Evil Go- 
 vernment ; prov'd from 
 King Henry's Charter, 
 and from an Act of the f . 
 1 2th of Richard the Se- 
 cond, and by many Ex- 
 amples. 
 
 fl 54> 55 5 6 - The Power 
 of our Parliaments, by the 
 25th and 28th of Henry 1[. 
 the VHIth, and by the 
 1 3th of Elizabeth. 
 
 f . 57. By a Law, An. 787. fl. 
 Kings were to be elected 
 by the Parliament, or 
 States. 
 
 H. 58. IVilliam the Fhft was, U. 
 admitted, upon Conditions 
 by the People. 
 
 <T. 59, 60. The Law fu- fl". 
 perior to the King, from 
 Braclon, a famous Lav^er 
 in Henry the Third's 
 Reign. 1F. 
 
 ff. 61. The Power of the 
 King, by the Laws of Ed- 
 ward the ConfeJJor. 
 
 ?[ 62. William Rufus, Henry 
 the Firft, and Stephen, 
 were chofen by the People ; f , 
 and Henry the Fourth, 
 . Fifth and Sixth, were 
 Kings (only) by Act of 
 Parliament. 
 
 q[. 63, 64. The Compact 
 with William, call'd the 
 Conqueror, //iewry the Firft, 
 and Stephen. 
 
 $. 65. The Original Com- ^[. 
 pact with our Kings. 
 
 66. Succeffion gives no 
 Right to Kings, but ac- 
 cording to the Original 
 Compact. 
 
 67. The Excommunicati- 
 on and Curfe, made by 
 King Henry the Third, 
 the Nobility, &c. upon all 
 the Infringers of Magna 
 Charta* 
 
 68. Magna Charta only 
 an Abridgement of our an- 
 cient Laws and Cuftoms. 
 69,70,71. The Nobility 
 and Parliament of Eng- 
 land, afiert the Laws and 
 Liberties of England. 
 
 72. King jfames's Speech, 
 A. D. 1609. declaring the 
 Obligation of a King. 
 
 73, 74. The common 
 Right of the Subject, de- 
 clared by feveral ancient 
 Lawyers. 
 
 75 7 6 > 7 8 > 79- ur 
 Kings, and their Power 
 
 from the Laws, declared 
 
 by feveral famous Lawyers, 
 
 and by feveral Acts of 
 
 Parliament. 
 
 77. Six Judges, with the 
 
 King's Serjeant at Law, 
 
 and one of the King's 
 
 Council at Law, were con- 
 
 demn'd by Parliament, and 
 
 executed for giving their 
 
 Opinions contrary to Law, 
 
 in Richard the Second's 
 
 Time. 
 
 80. King //#zry the VII Ith 
 
 acknowledges the Power 
 
 of
 
 The CONTENTS. 
 
 of the Parliament. 
 U. 8 1. The Judges of the 
 Land, not to obey the 
 King contrary to Law, 
 under the Penalty of Trea- 
 fon. 
 11. 82. The Rights and Li- 
 berties of the Subject from 
 the Act of the ift of Wil- 
 liam and Mary, in 13 Ar- 
 ticles, with a Claufe ex- 
 cluding a Popijh Prince, or 
 any marrying a Papijl, 
 from the Throne. 
 %. 83, 84. All Government, 
 Authority, and Magiftracy 
 proceeds from the People, 
 and they have Authority 
 to difpofTefs them, or alter 
 the Succeffion upon very 
 urgent Caufes, of which 
 fome Scripture Initances. 
 1f. 85, to ico, included. A- 
 bove Fifty Kings, and 
 Eleven Emperors, deprived 
 for their Evil Government, 
 in France, Spain, Holland, 
 Portugal, Denmark^ Po- 
 land, Rome, Germany, Scot- 
 land, and England. 
 11. 101, to 107. included. All 
 Ma gift rates aod Gover- 
 nors proceed from the 
 People, by many Examples 
 of Scripture. 
 If. jc8, j 09, 11. Reafons 
 
 for Rcfiitance. 
 %. in. The Duty of all 
 Magiflrates, from Scrip- 
 ture and Reafon. 
 
 11. 112. St. ChryfoJlom\ Ex- 
 pofition on the 13th of Ro* 
 mans ; Pindar, Orpheus, 
 Plato, Arijhtle, and Ci- 
 cero, their Defcription of 
 juft Government, and o 
 Obedience to the Laws. 
 IT. 113. No abfolute Authori- 
 ty allovv'd by Scripture. 
 H. 114. The Laws were 
 made by the People, in 
 the Reign of Darius. 
 11. 115, to 122. included. 
 Reafons againft abfolute 
 Paflive- Obedience. 
 H. 123. The Bifliops refufe 
 to difown to King 'James., 
 their inviting over the P. 
 of Orange. 
 H. 124. The Arch-Bifhop 
 of Canterbury, and eight 
 Bifhops, prefent King 
 James ten Articles, very- 
 near the fame with that of 
 the Prince of Orange's, 
 Declaration. 
 1T. 125. The Bifhops refufe 
 to fign an Abhorrence of 
 the P. of Orange's intend- 
 ed Invafion. 
 1i. 126. The Prince of 
 Orange's Speech to the 
 Gentry of Somerfetjhire 
 and Dorfetjhire. 
 11. 127. The Bifhop of Can- 
 terbury went to the Tower , 
 and demanded the Keys 
 of the Lieutenant, and de- 
 livered thein to the Lord 
 Lucas. 
 
 f. 128.
 
 vi 
 
 The CONTENTS. 
 
 ^T. 1 2 8 . Prince George of Dm- 
 mark, Duke of Grcfton, 
 Duke of Ormond, Lord 
 Churchill^ &c. went ever 
 to the Prince at Sherborn- 
 Caftle. 
 
 f . 129. The Princefs ^, 
 (our moft gracious and 
 good Queen) with the La- fT. 
 dy Churchill, Lady Berkley, 
 and the Bifhop of London,. 
 went to the Forces in the 
 North, Who declared for 
 the Prince of Orange. The 
 Declaration of thirty Lords 
 Spiritual and Temporal,, 
 which they made at Guild- 
 Hall, Dec. 11. 1688. to- 
 gether with their Names, 
 which they fent to the 
 Prince of Orange. 
 
 f . 130. The Addrefs of the 
 Lieutenancy of London, to 
 the Prince, Dec. 11. 1688. 
 
 tf. 131. The Lord Mayor, 
 Aldermen, and Common- 
 Council's Addrefs to the 
 Prince. 1T. 
 
 %. 132. The Names of ten 
 of the Privy-Council and 
 Peers who made an Order, 
 on the 14th of Dec. 1688. 
 for all Irijh Soldiers to de- 
 liver up their Arms. 
 
 f. 133, 134. The Duke of 
 Grafton, by Order of the 
 Lords, went with a Regi- 
 ment of Foot on the 14th 
 of Dec. to take Tilbury 
 Fort, from K. James's 
 
 Jrijh Soldiers. On the 
 17th, K. James difchargecf 
 a Popijh Bifhop out of 
 Newgate. Sir George Ire* 
 by, Recorder of Londtn'& 
 Speech in the Name of the 
 City, to the Prince, Dec. 
 20. 168$. 
 
 135, to 149A included. 
 About fixty Peers fign an 
 Aflbciation to the Prince. 
 Fifty four Lords Spiritual 
 and Temporal, made an 
 Order, Dec. the 22d, for 
 Squire Gwin to fign fuch 
 Orders as they fhould, from 
 time to time make. On 
 the 23d of Dec. K. James 
 went from Rochejler. The 
 Addreis of the aforefaid 
 Peers to the P. of Orange y 
 on the 25th of Dec. On 
 theo,thofytfw. following, 
 about thirty Lords, and 80 
 Gentlemen ofScotlandfign* 
 ed a Paper to the fame 
 Purpofe. 
 
 140, 141, 142. The Con- 
 vention order'd the Thanks 
 of both Houfes fhould be 
 returned to his Highnefs, 
 in the Behalf of the whole 
 Nation, &c. and order'd a 
 Day of Thankfgiving for 
 the great Deliverance, &c. 
 On the 28th of Jan. the 
 Commonsvoted theThrone 
 vacant; and on the 6th,. 
 the Lords confented to the 
 faid Vote.
 
 The CONTENTS. 
 
 vu 
 
 f . 143. The Word Abdi-. 
 cated explained. 
 
 fl. 144., 145. The Lords 
 Spiritual and Temporal, 
 and Commons, order'd the 
 Prince and Princefs of 
 Orange to be proclaimed 
 King and Queen. 
 
 [. 146. The Declaration of 
 the Nobility and Gentry, 
 and Commonalty at Not- 
 tingham. 
 
 <tf. 147. Our Bifhops, Clergy, 
 Nobility, iffc. are damn'd, 
 who had a Hand in the 
 Revolution, according to 
 the Doctrine of Abfoiute 
 Pa (five Obedience. 
 
 J. 148. The Doctrine of 
 'Jure Divino, never heard 
 of 'till James the Firft's 
 Reign. 
 
 H. 149. No Abfoiute Paffive- 
 Obedience in the Time of 
 the Children of Ifrael, 
 prov'd by many Examples 
 of their Refilling their 
 Kings. 
 
 ^. 15c. The Primitive Chris- 
 tians, and others, refift 
 their Emperors for their 
 Tyranny. 
 
 %. J 51. including 151. Se- 
 veral Declarations inQueen 
 Elizabeth's Time, of the 
 Convocation of the Clergy, 
 and the Parliamentof Eng- 
 land wbojuflify the Pro- 
 tedants in their refilling of 
 their Evil Princes, who 
 
 gave her Money to aflSft 
 the Scotch, French, and 
 Dutch Protectants. And 
 the Bifhops and Clergy of 
 England affilted the Pro- 
 teftants of France in K. 
 Charles the Firft's Reign. 
 
 ff. 155. The Proteftar.t Prin- 
 ces of Germany refift their 
 Emperors, 
 
 $. 156, including 162. Bifhop 
 Jewel, Luther, Melanlon y 
 St. Chryfojlome, &c. allow 
 of Refiftance. 
 
 qj. 157, 158. Bifhop Bilfin 
 and Bifhop Abbot allow of 
 Refiftance. 
 
 ^[. 160, 16 r. Seven Princes 
 and Twenty Four Pro- 
 teftant Cities refift their 
 Emperor. 
 
 f . 164, 165, 166. Zuinglius, 
 one of the firft Reformers, 
 Lucifer de Cagliari, St. 
 Athanafius, and St. Aujlin 
 for Refiftance, 
 
 fl, 167, 168. TheSuccefsand 
 good Confequence of Re- 
 fiftance in ieveral Coun- 
 tries. 
 
 cr. 167. The Difference be- 
 tween our Cafe and that 
 of the firft primitive Chrif- 
 tians. 
 
 r. 169. The Prophets and 
 ancient Jews, as well at 
 the primitive Chriftians, 
 Strangers to the Doctrine 
 of abfoiute Pajfive-Obedi* 
 encc.
 
 Vlll 
 
 The CONTENTS. 
 
 f. 170. If all Refiftance be 1T. 
 unlawful, then both Jews 
 and the primitive Chri- 
 ftians are guilty of Rebel- 
 lion. 
 %, 171. Abfohite Obedience f. 
 due only to our Laws. 
 To allow Pajfive-Obe- 
 diettce to-- be reviv'd in any 
 other Senfe, is to fuffer the ff. 
 Queen and both the Con- 
 vention-Houfes of Parlia- 
 ment to be call'd Rebels 
 and Traitors. 
 
 ST.. 172. Juft Refiftance 
 founded in Self- Defence, 
 abfolute Submiflion a kind 
 of Self- Murder. 
 
 fl. 173. To Paragraph 179. 
 included. Several Reafons *ff, 
 againft the Paflive Doc- 
 trine. 
 
 J. 180. The Legislature, the 
 Ordinance of God in Bri- 
 tain, and the executive 
 Power in our Kings, &c. 
 181. The Doctrine of 
 abfolute PaJJive-Obedience 
 difprov'd by contradicting 
 the glorious Attributes of 
 God, sV. 
 
 ^. 182, to 185. included. 
 The Patriarchal Scheme 
 confider'd and refuted. 
 
 186. An Objeaion (That 
 if Government be difturb'd 
 for unlawful Proceedings, 
 &c. how can it be fafe) 
 anfwer'd. 
 
 187. Rulers or Subjects, 
 overturning the Conftitu- 
 tion by Force, refift the 
 Ordinance of God, &c. 
 
 188. 189. An Account 
 of the Government of 
 King Charles the Firft, 
 taken out of Lord Claren- 
 don's Hiftory. ift. Vol. 
 Fol. Rufiworth's Collect. 
 
 1 ft. Vol. Fol. and JVhite- 
 lock's Memorials, Fol. &c. 
 without any Obfervation 
 or Reflexion* 
 
 190. Dr. Sacbever ell's 
 AfTertion that the P. of 
 Orange difclaim'd all Re- 
 fiftance, confuted from the 
 25th Paragraph of His De- 
 claration, and his other 
 falfe AfTertion, that the 
 Parliament declared that 
 they fet the Crown on his 
 Head, upon no other Title, 
 but that of the Vacancy of 
 the Throne, difprov'd by 
 the Vote of both Houfes 
 of Parliament, in the 123d 
 Page of this Book. 
 
 THE
 
 [ i I 
 
 THE 
 
 J UDGM ENT 
 
 OF WHOLE 
 
 Kingdoms and Nations, ^e\ 
 
 *[ i. f^\ Ovemment in general, as ordained 
 1 "y and inflituted by God, is circum- 
 fcribed and limired by him to be 
 exercifed according to the Laws of Nature, in 
 Subferviency to his own Glory, and the Benefit 
 of Mankind. All Rulers are confin'd by the 
 Almighty and fupreme Sovereign, to exert 
 
 B their
 
 F. * ] 
 
 their governing Power, for the promoting his 
 Service and Honour, and to exercife their Au- 
 thority for the Safety, Welfare, and Profperity 
 of thofe over whom they are eftablilhed. Tho' 
 there were no previous Compacts and Agree- 
 ments between Princes and People as to thefe, 
 yet Princes wou'd be -obliged to obferve them, 
 forafmuch as they are fettled and determined 
 by the Law and Appointment of the divine 
 Legiflator, and of the univerfal Sovereign. 
 "Whofoever therefore refufeth to govern, in Sub- 
 ordination unto, and for God, and in order to 
 the Protection and Benefit of the Community, 
 ceafeth to anfwer the Ends unto which Magi- 
 ftracy was inftituted, and for which rectoral Au- 
 thority is eftablilhed over, and among Men. 
 Nor is it in the Choice or Power of any Soci- 
 ety, at their erecting the Forms of Government 
 under which they are contented to live, and 
 at their nominating the Perfons to whom they 
 commit the Right of adminiftring Juftice to- 
 wards", and over themfelves, and of withstand- 
 ing and avenging Injuries offered them by o- 
 thers, to enlarge and extend the Power of thofe, 
 whom they conftitute their Rulers, beyond the 
 Limits -and Boundaries by which God hath Ha- 
 ted and confined Magiftrates in the Charter of 
 Nature and Revelation. Tho* People both may 
 then, and afterwards abridge themfelves, as 
 they think meet, in Things under their own Dif- 
 
 pofol,
 
 [ 3 ] 
 
 pofal, and either contract or enlarge the Ruler's 
 Power, in reference to whac they have a Right 
 to retain or depart from, for the real or ima- 
 gined Benefit of the Community , yet they can 
 no ways interpofe in the Difpofal of the Rights 
 which belong unto God, and which he hath 
 incommunicably referved to himfelf; nor can 
 they confer thofe Meafures and Degrees of Au- 
 thority upon thofe whom they elect and ad- 
 vance to Magiftracy, which God hath antece- 
 dently precluded the one from beftowing, and 
 the other from receiving. For Example, no 
 Body, or Society of Men, can transfer a Power 
 unto thofe whom they felect and fet apart from 
 among themielves to be Rulers over tfre Com- 
 munity *, by virtue whereof thofe veiled with 
 Magiftratical Authority, can withdraw their 
 Subjects from their Allegiance to God, or act 
 arbitrarily in prefcribing and imp'ofing what Re- 
 ligion they pleafe, or deirroy the meanefl Per- 
 fon, faving upon a previous Crime, and ajuft 
 Demerit. 
 
 f[. 2. No Man of common Senfe can imagine, 
 that at the firil Propagation of Mankind, there 
 were luch Governments as are amopgfl; us at 
 this Time. But in thofe Times each Father, 
 without being fubject to any fuperior Power, 
 govern'd his Wife, Children, ar.d Servants, ac- 
 cording to his Will and Fleafure. Now it feems 
 very probable, that even a: the Time of the 
 
 B ?. Deluge^
 
 [ 4 ] 
 
 Deluge, there was no Magiftracy or civil Con- 
 ftitution, but that the Government was lodg'd 
 only in each Father of his Family : For it is 
 fcarce to be imagined, that fuch abominable 
 Diforders mould have been introduc'd, where 
 the Power of Magiftracy and Laws was exer- 
 cis'd -, and it is obfervable, that after once the 
 Rules of Government were conftituted, we do 
 not find Mankind in general, run into fuch E- 
 normities, of which God Almighty was oblig'd 
 to purge the World by an univerfal Punifhment. 
 Puffendorfs Introduction to the Hiftory of Eu- 
 rope, p. i . 
 
 ^f. 3. Now God having, in the Inftitution of 
 Magiftracy, confined fuch as fhall be chofen 
 Rulers, within no other Limits, in reference to 
 our civil Concerns, fave that they arc to govern 
 for the Good of thofe over whom they come 
 to be eftablifhed , it remains free and entire to 
 the People at their firft Erection of, and Sub- 
 mifiion to Government, to prefcribe and define 
 what fhall be the Meafures and Boundaries of 
 the publick Good, pnd unto what Rules and 
 Standard the Magiftrate mail be reftramed, in 
 order to his defending and promoting the Bene- 
 fit of the Society of which he is created the 
 civil and political Head. And every one being 
 equally Matter of his own Property and Li- 
 berty, antecedently to their Agreement with one 
 another, and to the Compact of the Univerfa- 
 
 Jity,
 
 L 5 3 
 
 Jity, or at lead of the Majority with him, or 
 thofe whom they call to rule over them , it e- 
 vidently follows, that thofe who come to be 
 clothed with Magiftracy, can lay claim to no 
 more Authority over the Liberty, or pretend to 
 no more Right in and over the Property of that 
 Body Politick, than what the Community con- 
 ferred upon them, and doth voluntarily dived 
 themfelves of, upon 'he Profpect of the Ad- 
 vantages arifing to them from the ; r living in 
 Societies, and under Magiftrates. We muft fup- 
 pofe all Mankind to have been infatuated, if 
 they mould have fubmitted themfelves to the Ju- 
 rifdiction of on? who hud no antecedent Right 
 to command them, meerly in order to their 
 being in a worfe Condition than they previouQy 
 were. And therefore feeing the Power, Extent 
 and Latitude of the Magistrate's Power mult 
 o^e its Original to fome grant of the People, 
 it is incumbent upon him to prove and juftify 
 the feveral Degrees and Meafures of Authority, 
 and Prerogative which he pretends to claim. 
 And what he cannot derive from fome Concef- 
 fi'Hi of the Society, muft be acknowledged to 
 re;rain fti'i veiled in the People,' as their refer- 
 ved Privdedge and Right. And whatever inju- 
 rious Power he a flumes and exerci.es over 'em, 
 which he ca; not prove thfir Surrefidcr of from 
 themfeiv-s unto him, argues not only his de 
 parting from the Compact betwixt him and the
 
 [ 6 } 
 
 Community, by Virtue whereof he was ordain- 
 ed and created their Ruler, but it renders him 
 guilty of an Invalion upon the Rights of the 
 whole Society, and upon every individual Mem- 
 ber of it. Force or Conqueft give nojuft nor 
 legal Title over a People, by which the Con- 
 queror becomes their Magiftrate, until they, by 
 fome Confenr, either tacit or explicit, declare 
 their Submiffion to, and Acquiefcence in hin\ 
 upon the beft Terms which they can obtain, and 
 that he is willing to grant. And as no civil 
 Government is lawful, but what is founded upon 
 Compact and Agreement between thofe chofen 
 to govern, and them who condescended to be 
 govern'd ; fo the Articles upon which they (irft 
 fripulate the one with the other, become the 
 Fundamentals of the refpective Conftitutions of 
 Nations, and together with fuperadded pofitive 
 Laws, are bjth the Limits of the Ruler's Au- 
 thority, and the Meafures of the Subjects Obe- 
 dience. To extend the Governor's Right to 
 command, and Subject's Duty to obey, beyond 
 the Laws of ones Country, is Treafon againft 
 the Constitution, and Treachery to the Society 
 whereof we are Members : And to difTolve the 
 Ties by which Princes Rand confined, and o- 
 verthrow the Hedges by which the referved 
 Rights, Privileges and Properties of the Sub- 
 jects are fenced about, tempts every Pi i ce to 
 become a Tyrant, and to make all his Subjects 
 
 Slav es.
 
 [ 7 I 
 
 Slaves. All previous Agreements, Stipulation* 
 and Laws, are made infignificant by that pernio 
 cious and adulatory Doctrine of Non-reftjlance, 
 when our Rights are arbitrarily invaded, and 
 the Constitution and Government openly at- 
 tacked : Such a Doctrine tricks and cheats thofe 
 that were antecedently free, into a Noole, and 
 State of Thraldom and Bondage, under the fpe- 
 cious and gilded Pretence of the divine Rights 
 of Princes. 
 
 ^. 4. As it is by Virtue of Compacts, Stipu* 
 lations, Compromiies and Agreements, that all 
 legal Governments have the ir Original and Efta* 
 blifhment, mat various and diftinct Forms olv 
 tain in different Countries, and that a Title and 
 Right to exerciie Authority, and the Method of 
 arriving at it, is provided for and procur'd, fo 
 every Subjects Allegiance is firft owing to the 
 Conftitution, and to the Ruler only, in the 
 Force and Virtue of what every Member of tha 
 pol : al Society is bound unto, by the Terms 
 o. r.he original Pact and Settlement. Abftract- 
 i from the Conftitution, and the Obligations 
 wh 'h it lays us under, no Man can challenge a 
 R:g ; t of commanding u% nor do we owe him 
 anv Duty of Subjection and Obedience. Who- 
 mever he be that, under a Pretence of beino- 
 
 o 
 
 conitituteo .Sovereign, does invade and fubvert 
 ti.e fundamental Laws ot the Society, he does 
 thereby, ipfo ftitlo, annul all the frgal Right he 
 
 B -1 > ha-!
 
 [ . J 
 
 had to govern, and abfolves all, who were be-, 
 fore his Subjects, from the legal Engagements 
 they were under of yielding him Obedience) fo 
 that the immediate and natural Effect of a 
 Prince's claiming what the Rules of the Consti- 
 tution are fo far from entitling him unto, that 
 they preclude him from it, is the depriving him- 
 felf of all right to claim any thing, and a re- 
 ftoring of the People to their State and Con- 
 dition of primitive Freedom ; of which, as they 
 only diverted themfelves by and upon the Terms 
 of the Conftitution, . fo they did not depart 
 from it any longer than that mould be kept fa- 
 cred and inviolable, nor any further than was 
 covenanted and ftipulated in, and by the Terms 
 and Agreements therein fpecified and contained : 
 And feeing it proceeds from the Efficacy of the 
 forementioned Contracts, that one Perlbn be- 
 comes advanced from the common Level lo the 
 sTitle and Authority of a Sovereign, and that 
 all others are, by their own Confent, put into 
 the Condition of Subjects, there doth arife from 
 thence, noc only a mutual Relation betwixt him 
 that governs, and them that are governed ; but 
 the firft and highe.il Treafon is that which is 
 committed againft the Conftitution, and fuch 
 Crimes againit the Perfon and Dignity of the 
 fupreme Magistrate, are only made and declared 
 to be fo, by Reafon of the Capacity he is 
 put into by the Conititution, of preferring and 
 
 de.
 
 t 9 3 
 
 defending the Society, and becaufe it is needful, 
 in order to the Peace, Welfare, and Safety of 
 the Community, that he mould be covered 
 from all Danger, and rendered facred in his 
 Perfon, and inviolable in his regal Honour, 
 while he anfwereth the Truft which the People, 
 upon their afTembling and uniting into a Body 
 Politick, committed unto him, and does nei- 
 ther depart from the effential and fundamental 
 Terms of the original Compact, nor from their 
 necefiary Provifions afterwards added, and en^ 
 acted for preferving the Government in its pri- 
 mitive State and Frame. So that they neither 
 are, nor can be Tray tors, v/ho endeavour to pre- 
 ferve and maintain the Constitution ; but they 
 are the Traitors, who defign and purfue the Sub- 
 verfton of it , they are the Rebels that go a- 
 bout to overthrow the Government of their 
 Country, whereas fuch as feek to fuppor-t and 
 defend it, are the truly loyal Perfons, and do 
 act conformable to the Ties and Obligations of 
 Fealty. Nor is it merely the firft and higheft 
 Treafon in itfelf, that a Member of a politi- 
 cal Society is capable of committing, to go a- 
 bout to fubvert the Constitution , but it is alfo 
 the greater! Treafon he can perpetrate againft the 
 Perlon, Crown, and Dignity of the King; for 
 iuch an endeavour both annuls and vacates all 
 his Title to Superiority over thofe above whom 
 he was exalted from the common Level, by 
 
 Virtue
 
 [ io ] 
 
 Virtue of the Constitution, and deprives him <*f 
 all rightful and legal Claim of rectoral Autho- 
 rity over the Society, by deftroying the alone 
 Foundation upon which it was erected, and by 
 which he became veiled with it. By cancelling 
 the Charter from which he deriveth and holdcth, 
 his governing Power, he not only makes his 
 Title to Sovereignty precarious, but renders e- 
 very Claim of that Kind, and every Challenge 
 of governing the Community, to be an Invafion 
 and Ufurpation. 
 
 ^[. 5. To all which I will only further add 
 under this Head, that as all legal Government 
 is founded upon a mutual Stipulation and Com- 
 pact, fo the firft and mod abfolute Obligation 
 arifing from this Agreement, lies upon the 
 Prince towards the People ; whereas the Fealty 
 and Duty, which by the faid Contract and Co- 
 venant they bind and engage themfelves unta 
 towards him, is in order but feccndary and 
 condi r ional. Whenever any Perfon is chofen 
 from the reft of the Society, and railed to King- 
 fhip upon a foregoing and previous Contract 
 with the Community, he becomes upon the very 
 accepting it bound abfolutely, and without Re- 
 ferve, to govern them according to the Terms and 
 Meafures which they have agreed and ftipulat- 
 ed, and to rule them by the Tenor of the Laws, 
 unto which they havecircumfcribed and confined 
 him.' Whereas all the Obedience and Fealty which 
 they, who by that Agreement have render'd them- 
 felves
 
 r " ] 
 
 felves Subjects, owe unro their ordained and 
 created Sovereign, do derive their obligatory 
 Power over then], and become due unto him, 
 upon his governing them according to the con* 
 certed and (frpuiated Conditions, and his prefer- 
 ving unto them their rtferved Privileges, Liberties 
 and Rights. 
 
 0[. 6. As Great Britain has been the mod pro- 
 vident and careful of all Countries in reierving 
 to itfclf, upon the firit Inftitution of, and 
 SubmiiTion to Regal Government, all fuch Rights, 
 Privileges, snd Liberties, as were neceflary to ren- 
 der it either renown'd, and honourable abroad, or 
 fafe, happy, and profperous at home ; fo it hath, 
 with a Courage and Magnanimity peculiar unto 
 it, maintained its Privileges and Liberties, thro' 
 a long Series of Ages, and either re-afTured 
 and fecur'd them by new and fuperadded Laws, 
 when there were Endeavours to undermine and 
 fupplant them, or elfe hath vindicated them 
 with a generous Courage, even to the Depo- 
 fition and Abdication of treacherous, ufurping 
 and tyrannical Princes, when more gentle, mild 
 
 J ' O ' 
 
 an i Senatorian Methods were found weak, and 
 ineffectual to cover and protect them to them- 
 felves, and to convey and tranfmit them to fuch 
 as were to come after. The People of Britain 
 have the fame Tide to, and Security for the 
 Enjoyment of their Liberties and Properties, 
 that our Kings have to their Crowns, or for 
 
 De-
 
 L i2 ] 
 
 Defence of the Regal Dignity. For as they 
 can plead nothing for what they enjoy or claim 
 as Kings, but fundamental and pofitive Laws ; 
 fo the Subject's Intereft in his Liberty and 
 Property is convey'd unto him, by the fame 
 Terms and Channels, and fenced about widi the 
 fame Hedges and Pales. Horn tells us in his 
 Mirror ; Chap. t. "That the Saxons having put 
 an End to the Heptarchy, by Rcafon of the con- 
 tinual Wars that attended the Reigning of Jo many 
 Kings in fo narrow a Compafs of Land, they 
 cbofe themfehes one King to maintain and defend 
 their Perfons and Goods in Peace, by Rules of 
 Law, and made him fwear, that he fhould be 
 obedient tofuffer Right as well as his People fhould 
 be. For according to Braclon, Lib. 3. C. 9. 
 The whole Power of the King 0/ England, is to 
 do Gcod, and not to do Hurt ; nor can he do any 
 thing as a King, but what he can legally do. And 
 as we know no King, but a King by Law , fo 
 we are affured by Fortefcuc, Lib. 1. c. 8. and 
 1. c. 9. That he governs not his People by a 
 Regal and an Abfclute Power, but by a Politick^ 
 i. e. by a Limited Legal Power. Hence our 
 Princes were, and are bound to fwear at their 
 Coronation, That they would govern according 
 to Law , and prefer ve unto them all their Cuflcms, 
 and Franchifes, (Stat, of Provif. 25. Ed. 3.) 
 Nor can we have a clearer Evidence of the 
 legal Extent of the King's Authority, and 
 
 of
 
 t 13 ] 
 
 of rhe Dhnenfion of rhe Obedience which the 
 Subject is bound unco, than that which we have 
 in the Oath of Fealty, formerly taken by the 
 Subject , namely, That he frouldbe obedient to all 
 the King*: Laws, and to every Precept and Procefs 
 proceeding from the fame. (Wilkins*% Treat. Coron. 
 &c. Court-Leet, &c. p. 140.) Nor is that 
 unworthy our Obfervation, which Hen. I. writ 
 to the Pope, when attack'd by him about the 
 Matter of Inveftitures, viz. That he could not 
 diminijh the Rights either of the Crown or of the 
 Kingdom , and that if he fhould be fo abjett and 
 mean as to attempt it, the Barons and People of 
 England reprefented in Parliament, would not 
 allow or permit it. 'Tis upon this Azcount 
 affirm'd of an Englifh King, That he can do no 
 Wrong, lecaufe he can do nothing but what the 
 Law impowers him. For tho' he hath all Tilings 
 fubjected to his Authority, whiie he acts ac- 
 cording to Law, yet there is nothing left to 
 his arbitrary Will. The feveral Charters, ei pe- 
 nally that Itiled The Great Charter, in and by 
 which our Rights ftand fecured, fworn and 
 entaiPd unto us, and to our Pofterity ; were 
 not the Grants and ConcefTions of our Princes, 
 but Recognitions of what we have referv'd unto 
 ourfelves in the original Inftitution of our Go- 
 vernment, and ot what had always appertain'd 
 unto us by common Law and immemorial 
 Cufloms. And tho' thefe Privileges and Li- 
 
 bert 
 
 les
 
 t n 3 
 
 bertics came to be more diftinctly expreflecJ 
 and fignally ratify'd in the Great Charter, than 
 they had been before ; yet they had not only 
 been acknowledg'd and tranfmitted down in 
 the Laws of Edward the Confejfor, as the Birth- 
 right of every Englijhman ; which alfo, William^ 
 the firft Norman King ratified as fuch : But they 
 had long before been collected into a Body 
 by King Edgar the Saxon, and were only re- 
 vis'd, repeated and confirm'd by the Ccnfejfor. 
 But amongft all the Rights and Privileges ap- 
 pertaining unto us, that of having a Share 
 in the Legiflation, and being to be govern'd 
 by fuch Laws as we ourfelves mail chufe, 
 is the moft fundamental and effential, as well 
 as the moft advantageous and beneficial ; For 
 thereby we are enabled to make fuch fucceffive 
 and continual Provifions, as to the Prefervation 
 of the Society, and the promoting either the 
 temporal or eternal Welfare of the Subject* 
 mall be found needful or expedient. And as 
 by our being poflefied of fo great a Portion 
 of the LegiQative Power, and by our having 
 a Right by feveral pofitive Laws to annual 
 Parliaments, we can both relieve ourfelves 
 from and againft every thing that threatneth, 
 endangereth, or oppreffeth us, and furnim, and 
 accommodate the whole Community with all 
 le^al Succours and Means that are necefTary 
 for Peace, Prefervation and Profperity; fo 
 
 herein
 
 C *5 3 
 
 herein lies our fignal Advantage and Felicity, 
 lhat what we become interefted in by a pofitive 
 and Statute Law, it doth thereby and from 
 thence, become a Part of our Right and Pro^ 
 perty, and not to be wrefted again from us 
 but by our own Confent, For as Brafion faith, 
 Lib. u C. 2. (tho' it be alfo one of the firft 
 Dictates of Reafon and common Senfe) Laws 
 can neither be altered nor vacated, fave by the 
 Confent and Concurrence of the fame Authori- 
 ty by which they were made and enacted. "Tis 
 true that the executive Part of the Government 
 is, both by our Common and Statute Laws 
 convey'd unto, and vetted in the King, but 
 at the fame time there is fufficient Provifion 
 made, both in the Terms of our Constitution, 
 and in our Parliamentary Acts, to prevent this 
 from being hurtful unto us, unlefs our Sovereigns 
 become guilty both of the higheft Treachery, 
 and withal make an Invafion upon, and en- 
 deavour the Subverfion of the whole Govern- 
 ment. A Right of overfedng the Execution 
 of the Laws, being Prerogative infeparable from 
 the Office of the fupreme Magi (Irate, becaufe 
 the very Ends to which he is c'oarhed with 
 rectoral Authority, and for which he is defigned 
 and eftablifhed, are the Confervation of the 
 publick Peace, and the Adminiftration of Juf- 
 tice towards and among the Members of the 
 Body Politick. All that cou'd be expected 
 
 from
 
 t .6 ] 
 
 From the Wifdom of our Anceftors, or rjractt^ 
 cable by them, either upon the firft Inftitution 
 of civil Government, or upon their after Im- 
 provements, and farther Regulations of it, was 
 to direct* limit, and reftrain his executive 
 Power committed unto the Sovereign, and to 
 make him and his fubordinate Minifters ac- 
 countable, in cafe they mould deny, delay, or 
 pervert Juftice, or be found chargeable with 
 Male- Adminiftration of the Laws. Now, never 
 were a People more provident as to all thefe, 
 than our PredecefTors and Anceftors have been. 
 For as they have left nothing to the King's 
 private Difcretion, much lefs to his arbitrary 
 Will, but have aflign'd him the Laws as the 
 Rules and Meafures he is to govern by , fo 
 they not only delegated it unto him, as a Truft 
 which he is to fwear faithfully to perform, but 
 they always refervM a Liberty, Right and 
 Power unto themfelves of infpecting his Admini- 
 ftration, making him refponfable for it, and 
 of abdicating him from the Sovereignty upon 
 imiverfal and egregious Failures in the Truft 
 that had been credited and confign'd unto 
 him. Of this we have indifputable Evidence 
 in the Articles advanc'd in Parliament againft 
 R. IL when he was depos'd from the Throne, 
 and had the Scepter taken out of his Hand. 
 Yea, to prevent all Dangers which might be* 
 fall the Subject thro' the King's being trufted 
 
 with
 
 [ '7 1 
 
 <vith the executive Power of the Go^ernmehti 
 he is not by our Conftitutibn and Laws allowed 
 to do any thing in his own Perfon ; nay, no: fo 
 much as to draw and Teal the Commiflion of 
 t'iofe that are to aft in his Name, and under 
 him. And as nothing if? accounted in our Go- 
 vernment a Corn million, but what the Law 
 authorizes and warrants; fo he is liable to be 
 proceeded againft as the higheft Criminal, that 
 prefumeth to act in the Virtue of any other. 
 An illegal Commiflion is fo far from convey- 
 ing a Power unto any Man to aci, that it is 
 a greater Crime to do any thing upon the ima- 
 ginary Authority of it, than it would be to 
 commit the fame Fact, without all Colour and 
 Pretence of Power and Warrant. Seeing the 
 Injury or the one Cafe doth not aiTet and termi- 
 nate in him that receives it; whereas in the 
 other it affects both the King, the Government, 
 and the whole Body of the People. And as 
 it it were not enough to fecure us from an ill 
 Ufe of the executive Power lodged in the King, 
 that all the CommifTions iffuable from him are 
 to be legal, or otherwife to be accounted null ; 
 even they who ftand warranted and irnpower'd 
 to ad by legal Commifiions are not only to 
 be fworn to execute them legally, but are ob- 
 noxious to be punifhed for every thing they do 
 upon them that deviates from the Meafures of 
 the Law. And as 'tis the Duty, and hath beep. 
 
 C the
 
 t 18 ] 
 
 the Practice of thofe Princes who have been 
 faithful to the Truft repofed in them, regardful 
 of their own Honour, and juft to the Kingdom, 
 to punifh their Officers and Minhters for Mal- 
 verfation, and for departing in their Adminiftra- 
 tion from the Rules of our Common and Sta- 
 tute Laws i witnefs King Alfred, who caufed 
 forty-four Juftices to be hanged in one Year, 
 for illegal, falfe and corrupt Judgments : So 
 it belongeth to our Parliaments, as being one 
 of the great Ends, as well as Reafons, for which 
 they ought to be frequently called and affcm- 
 bled, to enquire into, and to punifh the Crimes 
 of Judges, and all others employed by, and 
 under the King, in the executive Part of the 
 Government. From hence it is, that as the 
 Houfe of Commons, among other Capacities in 
 which they fit and aft, are by the Conftitution to 
 be the great Inaueft of the Kingdom, to fearch 
 into all the Oppre'ffions and Injuftices of the 
 King's Minifters ; fo the Houfe of Lords, among 
 their feveral other Rights and Privileges, (land 
 clothed with the Power and Authority of the 
 High Court of Judicature of the Nation, who 
 are to punifh thofe who have mifbehaved them- 
 felves in all Courts, as well as thofe whom in- 
 ferior Courts have either connived at, or have 
 been fo wicked, asunrighttoufly tojuitify. Of 
 this all Ages afford us Precedents, and nothing 
 but the Neglect of this, in not making fo fre- 
 quent
 
 { 4 ] 
 
 quent and fignal Examples of Parliamentary 
 Juftice, among the Minifterial Difpenfers of our 
 Laws, and the Officers of our late Kings, as 
 our Anceftors ufed to do, hath been the En- 
 couragement and Cauie of fo many Ufurpations 
 and Invafions of the Laws, Immunities, Rights 
 and Privileges of the Nation. 
 
 %. 7. There being no natural or divine Law 
 for any Form of Government, or that one Per- 
 fon rather than another mould have the fo 
 vercign Adminiftration of Affairs, or have Power 
 over many Thcufand different Families, who are 
 by Nature all equal, being of the fame Rank,, 
 promifcuoufly born to the fame Advantages of 
 Nature, and to the Ufe of the fame common 
 Faculties; therefore Mankind is at Liberty to 
 chufe what Form of Government they like bed. 
 Can any Man fuppofe that God was not as much 
 concern'd for Italy, when it had but one Prince^ 
 as now when it has fo many ? and the like with 
 Germany, and alfo with Switzerland, which was 
 once one Commonwealth, under the Dukes 
 and MarquefTes of Anfiria, and now divided 
 into thirteen Cantons, or Commonwealths, un- 
 der popular Magiftiares of their own ? England 
 was firft a Monarchy under the Britains, and 
 then a Province under the Romans, and after 
 that divided into feven King 'oms at once, un- 
 der the Saxons, and after them of the Danes, 
 und then the Normans, and now a Monarchy 
 C 2 aszain
 
 [ *o 1 
 
 again under the Englijh, and all this by God's 
 Providence, or Permiffion, who fufFered his own 
 peculiar People, the Jews, to be under divers 
 Manner of Governments at diners Times; at 
 firft under Patriarchs, Abraham^ Jfaac and Jacob ; 
 then under Captains, Mofcs, Jojhua, &c. then 
 under Judges, Othoniel, Ehud and Gideon -, then 
 under High-Priefts, Eli and Samuel ; then un- 
 der Kings, Saul, David, and the reft ; then un- 
 der Captains and High-Priefts again, as Zero- 
 babel, Judas Maccabeus, and his Brethren, until 
 the Government was laftly taken from them, 
 and they brought under the Power of the Re- 
 mans. And that God does approve of, or per- 
 mit fuch Magiftrate or Magiftratcs, the Com* 
 munity thinks fit to appoint, is plain by the 
 Teflimony of holy Scriptures , when God faid 
 to Solomon, By me Kings rule, and Nobles, 'even 
 oil the Judges of the Earth, Prov. viii. 16. that 
 is, by his Permiffion they govern, tho' chofen by 
 the People. 
 
 %, 8. All politick Societies began from a 
 voluntary Union and mutual Agreement of Men; 
 freely acting in the Choice of the Governors, and 
 Forms of Government. 
 
 q, 9. The Safety of the People is the fu- 
 preme Law, and what they by common Con- 
 sent have enacted only for the publick Safe- 
 ty, thev may without any Obftacle, alter, 
 
 when
 
 [ 21 1 
 
 when Things require ir, by the like common 
 Confent. 
 
 f o. The rightful Power of making Laws 
 to command whole politick Societies of Men be- 
 longeth fo properly unto the fame entire Socie- 
 ties, that for any Prince, or Potentate, of what 
 kind foever upon Earth, to exercife the fame 
 of himielf, and not by exprefs Commiflion im- 
 mediately and perfonally received from God, 
 or elle by Authority derived at fir ft by their 
 Confent, upon whofe Perfons they impofe Laws, 
 it is no better than meer Tyranny. Laws they 
 are not therefore which public k Approbation 
 hath not made fo. Hooker's Eccl. Pel. 1. i. 
 S. io. 
 
 f. n. Whofoever (fays Ariflotle) is governed by 
 a Man without a Law, is governed by a Man and 
 by a Beaji. 
 
 *[. 12. Arifiotle faith, That the whole King- 
 dom, City or Family, is more excellent^ and to 
 be -preferred before any Part or Member there- 
 of. 
 
 <;. 13. By the Law cf Nature, Salus Populi, 
 the Welfare of the People is both the fupreme 
 and firfl: Law in Government, and the Scope 
 and End of all other Laws, and of Government 
 itfelf, becaufe the Safety of the Body Politick 
 is ever to re preferr'd before any one Perfpn 
 v' hatloever. 
 
 V 14- N r human Law is binding which is 
 C ; co.-i-
 
 I 3 
 
 contrary to Scripture, or the. general Laws of 
 Nature. 
 
 ^[. 15. Religion doth not overthrow Na- 
 ture, whofe chiefeft Principle is to preferve her- 
 felf. 
 
 ^f. 16. As Magistrates were defigned for 
 the publick Good, fo the Obligation to them, 
 mud be underftood fo, as to be (till in Sub- 
 ordination to the main End , for the Reafort 
 of all Law and Government is the publick 
 Good. 
 
 ^f. 17. Ajufl: Governor, for the Benefit of s 
 the People, is more careful of the publick Good 
 and Welfare, than of his own private Ad- 
 vantage. 
 
 ^f. 1 8. The Power that is lodged in the Crown 
 is only a Trull, and nothing more-, for no 
 Prince has any other Right to the Throne, than 
 what the Laws of the Land, or Voice of the 
 People gives him; for he cannot have a Right 
 by Nature, he has no more Power or Authoiity 
 from God, before he is a Magittrate, than ano- 
 ther Man ; all Men are ordain'd of God, and 
 have Power or Strength from him, either to 
 do Good or. Evil, and God Almighty permits 
 them to do either. The Prince has his Autho- 
 rity from the People, or the Law, which chufes 
 or appoints him to be fupreme, of which he 
 is only Executor, during the Intervals of Par- 
 liament. The Law is the Rule and Power of 
 
 his
 
 *3 } 
 
 his Government, (and the Meafure of the Peoples 
 Submiffion and Obedience) beyond which he 
 hath no juft or rightful Power in his politick 
 Capacity. 
 
 4[. 19. The fupreme Authority of a Nation 
 belongs to thofe who have the legislative Autho- 
 rity referv'd to them, and not only to thofe 
 who have the executive, which is plainly a Truft 
 when it is feparated from the legiflative Pow- 
 er , and all Trufts, by their Nature, import 
 that thofe to whom they are given, are ac- 
 countable, tho' no fuch Condition is fpe* 
 cified. 
 
 5[. 20. All that know any thing of Britain, 
 know that the Government of it is a mixed 
 limited Monarchy, where the fupreme Power is 
 divided between the King and People (/. e. the 
 Lords and Commons) fince he can neither raife 
 Mcney, r.or make, or annul Laws without 
 them; and thofe Laws are a Rule to both, a 
 common Meafure to him of his Power, and 
 to them of their Obedience ; the Government 
 is cail'd a Monarchy, becaufe that Kind is pre- 
 dominant in the Conflitution, the King having 
 his Share in the fupreme Power, and the chief 
 executive Part or Adminiftrauon is fingly in 
 him. 
 
 j. 21. There mud be in every Government 
 a Power to preferve itfelf, not only againft 
 force from without, but againll Violence, and 
 C 4 every
 
 t 24 ] 
 
 every Thing elfe that is deftru&ive from within,. 
 As a Man preferves his Perfon from Difeafes, 
 as well as defends it againft Violence. He can- 
 not renounce this Power, becaufe Self-Preier- 
 vation is, and will always be a Duty , neither 
 can a People united in Society, or Govern- 
 ment, renounce the Power of maintaining that 
 Society or Government, the Inftrument of their 
 Safety and Prefervation ; for the Condition of 
 all Subjects would be alike, whether under 
 abfolute or limited Government, if it were not 
 lawful to maintain and preferve thofe Limita- 
 tions, fince Will and Pleafure, and not Law, 
 would be alike in both the Meafure of Obe- 
 dience*, for to have Liberties and Privileges, 
 unlefs they may be defended, and to have none 
 at all, is the fame thing as to be govern'd by meer 
 Will and Pkafure, or by Laws fubjecl; to that 
 Will and Pleafure. 
 
 ^. 22. Laws and Oaths in limited Govern- 
 ments are Ties upon King and People, and mull: 
 be interpreted according to. the Nature of the 
 Government, fo as to prove Fences for the 
 Conftitution, and not to fervc for handles to o- 
 verthrow it ; as the Coronation Oath, and Oath 
 of Allegiance are, in effect, but fwearing to the 
 Conftitution, in one to govern, and in the o- 
 ther to be govern*d, according to it. But if a 
 Coronation Oath b- a Tie upon a King only 
 to God, and the Oath of Allegiance be cxtencV 
 
 ed
 
 [ *5 ] 
 
 ed to an abfolutc Subjection, then both King and 
 People fwear againft the Conftirution, inftead 
 of fwearing to ma ntain it, as they ought to 
 do. 
 
 ^[.23 The Laws are the Nerves and Si- 
 news ot Societies - y and as the Magiftrate is a- 
 bove the People in his legal Capacity, fo is the 
 Law above the Magiftrate, or elfe there cou'd be 
 no Safety to the Conftitution. 
 
 ^. 24. He who makes himfelf above all Law, 
 is no Member of a Common-wealth, but a meer 
 Tyrant whenever he plealcs. 
 
 C. 25. He who is for deftroying the Being 
 of another, hath quitted (or has not) the Rea- 
 fon which God hath given to be the Rule (be- 
 twixt Man and Man) of Juftice and Equity, and 
 hath put himfelf into the State of War with the 
 other, and is as noxious as any fava^e Bead: 
 that feeks his Deftruftion. 
 
 5[. 26. No Man in Civil Society can be ex- 
 empted from the Laws of it : For if there be no 
 Appeal on Earth, for Redrefs or Security againft: 
 the greateft Mifchief the Prince may do, or 
 caufe to be done by others, then every Man in 
 that Society is in a State of Nature, with refpect 
 to him, or thofe others. 
 
 *[. 27. The Principles of natural Religion 
 give thofe who are in Authority no Power at 
 all, but only fccures them in the Poueflion of 
 
 that
 
 I *6 ] 
 
 that which is theirs by the Laws of the Coun- 
 try. 
 
 if. 28. Abfolute Monarchy is inconfiftent with 
 civil Society ; and therefore can be no form of 
 civil Government, which is to remedy the Incon- 
 veniencies of the State of Nature. 
 
 f . 29. No Man or Society of Men have 
 Power to deliver up their Prefervation, or the 
 Means of it, to the abfolute Will of any Man, 
 and they will have always a Right to preferve 
 what they have not Power to part with. 
 
 if. 30. No Power can exempt Princes from 
 the Obligation to the eternal Laws of God and 
 Nature. In all Difputes between Power and 
 Liberty, Power muft always be proved, but 
 Liberty proves itfelf ; the one being founded 
 upon pofitive Law, the other upon the Law of 
 Nature. 
 
 if. 31. If a Magiftrate, notwithstanding all 
 Laws made for the well governing a Commu- 
 nity, will act deftru&ive to that Community, 
 they are difcharged, either from active or paf- 
 five Obedience, and indifpenfibly obliged by the 
 Law of Nature to Refiftance. 
 
 if. 32. If a Man be a Wolf to a Man, no- 
 thing forbids but that a Man may be a God to, 
 a Man. Therefore Antiquity hath enrolled Her- 
 cules amongft the Number of the Gods, becaufe 
 he punifhed Bujiris^ Diomedes y and other Ty- 
 rants,
 
 [ 7 1 
 
 rants, the Pefts of Mankind and Monfters of 
 the World. The Roman Empire, as long as 
 it flood free, was (bled Patrociriium Orbis tferrciy 
 &c. by Cicero, becaufe the Senate was the Ha- 
 ven and Refuge of Kings, and of oppreifed 
 Kingdoms and Nations. 
 
 ^f. 2,1' 1 he fame Reafon that obliges People 
 to fubmit to Governors and Magistrates, when 
 they govern according to the Laws and Confti- 
 tution of the Country, and act for the Good of 
 the Society, does as much oblige the People to 
 oppofe them, if they defign their Ruin or De- 
 struction : It cannot be fuppofed that God, who 
 has obliged Mankind to preferve their Lives, 
 and confequently to ufe the Means that are ne- 
 ceifary for that End, mould require People to 
 fufTer themfelves to be destroyed, or made Slaves, 
 to gratify the Lull or Barbarity of any fin- 
 gle Perlbn, or a few who are by Nature their 
 Equals, and only above them by being in an 
 Office which the People erected for their own 
 Convenience. 
 
 ^[. 34. "When the Chriftian Religion is become 
 a Part of the Subjects Property, by the Laws and 
 Constitution of the Country ; then it is to be 
 confidered as one of their principal Rights: And 
 fo may be defended as well as any other civil 
 Right. 
 
 1f. 35. That Caufe is juft which defends the 
 Laws-, which protects the common Good , which 
 
 pre-
 
 [ * ] 
 
 prcferves the State : And that Caufe is unjuft 
 which violates the Laws ; defends the Breakers 
 of the Laws j protects the Subverters of the 
 Conftitution. That is juft which doth deftroy 
 tyrannical Government: That unjuft which would 
 abolim juft Government. 
 
 ^J". 36. What can be more abfurd than to 
 fay, That there is an abjolute Subjection due to a 
 Prince^ to whom the Laws of God, Nature, and 
 the Country, have not given Authority ? As if fuch 
 Men were as fo many Herds of Cattle, or Beafts 
 of Burden, made for the Prince's life. 
 
 ^[. 37. The Reign of a good King refemble* 
 that of Heaven, over which there is but one 
 God , for he is no lefs beloved of the virtuous, 
 than feared of the bad : And if human Frailty 
 could admit a Succefiion of good Kings, their 
 Government would be preferable to all o- 
 thers. 
 
 f . 38. 'Tis not the Title of a King, but the 
 Power (derived from the Laws) wherewith he 
 is invefted, which makes the Difference betwixt 
 him and" other Men. His Perfon is facred, and 
 not to be refilled, he being above every Mem- 
 ber contained in the fame Society, and there- 
 fore cannot be refified or deprived of his Office, 
 without the greateft Sin of Robbery and Inju- 
 ftice imaginable, whillt he continues the King* 
 and becomes not the Enemy of his Kingdom. 
 
 *39-
 
 [ *9 ] 
 
 <[. 59. The Government which God ordained 
 over the Children of Ifrael confided of three 
 Parts, befides the Magiftrates of the feverai 
 Tribes and Cities. They had a chief Magiftrate, 
 who was called Judge or Captain, as Jojhua, G* 
 deon -and others, a Council of 70 chofen Men, 
 and the general Afiemblies of the People, and 
 thefe Judges or Captains had not the Name or 
 Power of Kings, neither was their Power trans- 
 mitted to their Children, but made occafionally 
 as need required. Thus were Ehud, Gideon^ 
 Jepbtbab, and others fet up: Whofoever will give 
 Battle (fay the People and Princes of Gilead) 
 to the Children of Ammon, Jhall be Head over all 
 the Inhabitants of Gilead, Judges x. 18. And 
 knowing Jephthah to be a mighty Man of Valour^ 
 tho* he was the Son of a Harlot, the People made 
 him Head and Captain over them, Judges xi. f, 11. 
 When the Tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half that 
 of Manafjeb, had built an Altar by Jordan, the 
 whole Congregation of the Children of Ifrael ga- 
 thered together at Shiloh, to go up to War a- 
 gainft them, and fent Phineas the Pried, and ten 
 Princes of the Congregation, of each chief Houfe 
 a Prince thoughout all the Tribes of ifrael, who 
 were Pleads of Thoufhnds, and tins Meflage 
 was not directed to one Man, but to all the 
 Children of Reuben, Gad, and Manafjeb. And 
 the Anfwer was fent them by all, and Phincas 
 a,-d the ten Princes made their Report to the 
 
 Peo-
 
 r 3 ] 
 
 People of IJrael, and all was quiet, Jojh. xxii. 
 And the like Aflembly Jofhua called to Sechem^ 
 compofed of all the People or Tribes of Ifrae!, 
 and he called for their Eiders* their Heads of 
 Families, their Judges and other Officers, and 
 Jojhua fpake unto all the People, and they a- 
 greeing to what he propofed, he made a Cove- 
 nant and Law with them before the Lord, 
 which was written in the Book of the Lav/, 
 Jofo. xxiv. 
 
 4f . 40. After Jojhua' & Death the Proceedings 
 of every Tribe were grounded upon Counfels, 
 taken at fuch AfTemblies among themfelvcs for 
 their own Concernments as appears by the Ac- 
 tions of Jndah and Simeon, &c. againft the Cd- 
 naanites. 
 
 ^[. 41. When the Sons of Samuel were Judges 
 over Ifrael, they took Bribes and perverted 
 Judgment, therefore the Elders of Ifrael defired 
 Samuel to make them a King, and tho' the El- 
 ders are only mention'd to have afked a Kin"- 
 of Samuel, they fcem to have been deputed from 
 the whole Congregation, for God faid unto Sa- 
 muel, Hearken to the Voice of the People in all that 
 they Jay unto thee, 1 Sam. viii. 4, 7. The Jews 
 in their creating of Judges, Kings, or other 
 Magiftrates, had no regard to Paternity, or to 
 any who by extraction could in the leaft pretend 
 to the Right of Fathers : God did never direct 
 them to do it, nor reprove them for neglcdt- 
 
 ing
 
 I 3* 3 
 
 ing it ; if they would chufe a King, he com- 
 manded them to chufe one of their Brethren, 
 (not one who called himfelf Father) and to 
 chufe him by Lot, and caufed the Lot to fall 
 upon Saul, a young Man (who was the Keeper 
 of his Father's Afles) of the youngeft Tribe : 
 David and the other Kings of Ifrasl and Judab^ 
 had no more to fay for themfelves in that Point 
 than Saul: All the Kings of that Nation be- 
 fore and after the Captivity, ordinarily or ex- 
 traordinarily fet up, juftly or unjuftly, were 
 raifed without any Regard to any Prerogative 
 they could claim or arrogate to themfelves on 
 that Account. All that they had therefore was 
 from the People that elevated them. 'Twas 
 impofiible for them to confer any thing upon 
 thofe from whom they received all they had; or 
 for the People to give Power to Kings, if they 
 had it not in themfelves ; which Power univer- 
 fally refiding in every one, is that which we call 
 Liberty. When God gave Liberty to his Peo- 
 ple to make a King* he did neither conftitute 
 or elect any 'till they defired it, nor command- 
 ed them to do it themfelves, but left it to their 
 own free Will, whether they would have a King 
 or no King ; nor were they appointed to take 
 him out of any one Line : Every Ij'raelitc might 
 be chofen: None but Strangers were excluded*, 
 and the People were left to the Liberty of chu- 
 Hngand inftityting anyone of their Brethren, 
 
 who
 
 [ 3* ] 
 
 who was commanded not to multiply to himfelf 
 Horfes, nor Wives, nor greatly to multiply to 
 himfelf Silver and Gold ; and this Law he was 
 to keep in a Book, that his Heart might not be 
 lifted up above his Brethren, Deut. xvh. But the 
 whole Hiftory of the Jews mew, that the Pride, 
 Magnificence, Pomp and Glory ufurped by 
 their Kings, was utterly contrary to the Will of 
 God. They did lilt up their Hearts above their 
 Brethren, which was forbidden by the Law of 
 God. 
 
 f . 42. And Jofephus paraphrafmg upon that 
 Place, fays, They mall do nothing without 
 the Advice of the Sanhedrim* or if they do, they 
 fhall oppofe them, J of. Ant. Jud. This agrees 
 with the Gonfeflion of Zedekiah, to the Princes" 
 (which was the Stnbtdrim) ? he King can do no- 
 thing without you. Jer. xxxviii. which feems to 
 have been in purfuance of the Law of that King- 
 dom, which was written in a Book, and laid 
 up before the Lord , they were not to govern 
 by their own Will, but according to that Law 
 from which they might not recede. This was 
 the Law of God, not to be abrogated by Man ; 
 a Law of Liberty ; directly oppofite to the 
 iS'ecefiity of fubmitting to the Will of any one 
 Man. 
 
 . ^[. 43. 1 Sam. viii. q, 22. God bids Samuel 
 hearken to the Voice of the People, and make 
 them a King; and Samuel told the People the Manner 
 
 of
 
 [ 33 3 
 
 of the Kingdom, and wrote it in a Book, and laid 
 it up before the Lord, i Sam. x. 25. 'Tis 
 plain, the Manner of the Kingdom fignifies 
 the Conltitution of the Government, by which 
 was meant the Conditions on which Saul was 
 to be King, and they his Subjects; for tho* 
 God had given him the Crown, it was to rule 
 the People according to Juflice and Laws* and 
 this is meant in frequent ExprefTions, by going in 
 and out before tbtm\ refer ring to juftice being 
 executed in the Gates, and Peace, and War ; 
 the King was to lead them in one, and direct in 
 the other. This Manner of the Kingdom was 
 told to all the People ; that imply'd, the Con- 
 fent of the People was requir'd to make him Kingj 
 without which, tho* Samuel had anointed him, 
 he was not own'd by the Ifraclites, but went 
 about his private Affairs, 'till after the Victory 
 over the Ammonites. And this Compact between 
 Saul and the People, being wrote in a Book, and 
 laid up before the Lord, was a very good Equi- 
 valent to an Oath, recoided on both Sides, as 
 an Oath of Allegiance, and his Oath of Govern- 
 ment , yet they defpisVl him, and faid, Hoiv 
 /ball this Man fave us ? 1 Sam. x. 27. They 
 faw no Merit in the Man they expedled ; the 
 King that they would have had, fhould have 
 been a Man of fome Figure, whofe Conduct 
 had been tried, and Valour an \ Bravery had 
 made famous among the Tribes ; but when 
 
 D they
 
 I 34 ) 
 
 they faw a Youth, mean and dcipicable in his 
 Original, of the youngeft Tribe of Ifrael y zBen- 
 jatnite, they were difappointed, they went away 
 dejected, and refufed him, notwithftanding Samuel 
 had anointed him, and God had Tingled him out 
 by Lot. It feem'd as if God had own'd there 
 was fome Appearance of Reafon in the Peoples 
 diflike of their King, and therefore he was not 
 pleafed to exprefs any Anger at the Contempt 
 of their rejecting Saul, as it were owning, that 
 a King ought to have perfonai Merit to recom- 
 mend him; and therefore by his Providence 
 he works upon the Peoples Judgment, and by 
 a Miracle gives Saul the Merit which obtain'd 
 the Peoples good Liking -, for Nahafh the Am- 
 monite, came and encamped againji Jabeth-Gilead, 
 and the Elders thereof fent MeJJengers to Gibeah, 
 who told the Tidings in the Ears of the People -, 
 and they lift up their Voices and wept ; and Saul 
 faid, what aileth the People that they weep , and 
 they told him the Tidings of the Men of Jabifh. 
 And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he 
 heard thofe Tidings, and bis Anger was kindled 
 greatly, and the Fear of the Lord fell en the Peo- 
 ple, and they came out with one Confent and /lew 
 the Ammonites. After the Battle was over, 
 Samuel faid to the People, Come, and let us go 
 to Gilgal, and renew the Kingdom there. And 
 all the People went to Gilgal, and there they made 
 Saul King before the Lord ; that i?, they accepted 
 
 of
 
 t 35 1 
 
 or him, i Sam. xi. i, 5, 6j 7, 14, 15. Chap, 
 xii. 13. iWa; therefore, behold the King whom 
 ye have chofen, and whom ye have dtfired ; and 
 behold the Lord hath Jet a King over you. 
 
 f . 44. All that do afTert Unconditional Obe- 
 dience do afTert, that Kings derive their Au- 
 thority from God alone : I deny that there ever 
 was any King in the World that derived his 
 Authority from God alone. Saul, the firft 
 King of Ifrael, had never reign'd,, but the Peo- 
 ple defir'd a King, even againft the Will of 
 God ; and tho' he was proclaim'd King at Miz* 
 pah, yet after that, he lived a private Life, and 
 looked after his Father's Cattel, till he was crea- 
 ted fo the fecond Time by the People at Gilgal : 
 And David, tho' he had been anointed by the 
 Command of God, was anointed the fecond 
 Time in Hebron, by the Tribe ofjudah, and 
 after that by all the People of Ifrael, who after 
 that made a mutual Covenant betwixt him and 
 them, 2 Sam. v. i: Chap. xi. Now a Cove* 
 nant lays an Obligation upon Kings, and reftrains 
 them within Bounds, according to that Covenant 
 and Agreement, Jehoiada the Prieft, made Joajk 
 King in his (lead, after the People had enter'd 
 into Covenant one with another, 1 Kings xi. I 
 confefs that thefe Kings, and all that reign'd 
 of David's Pofterity, were appointed to the 
 Kingdom, both by God and the People ; but 
 all other Kings, of what Country foever, I affirm, 
 
 D 2 that
 
 [ 3 ] 
 
 that they are made by the People only ; nor 
 can it be made appear, that Kings are appointed 
 by God any otherwife, than as all other Things, 
 great or fmall, are appointed by him, becaufe 
 nothing comes to pafs without his Pcrmiflion, 
 or Providence, The Throne of David was in 
 a peculiar Manner call'd, The Throne of the Lord, 
 it being a Type of our Saviour's everlafting 
 Throne in the Kingdom of Heaven ; and from 
 which Line our Saviour proceeded. But the 
 Thrones of other Princes are no otherwife God's 
 than all other Things in the World are his, 
 Chron. xxix. it, !2. Thine, O Lord, is the 
 Greatnefs, die. for all that is in Heaven, and in the 
 Earth is thine. Both Riches and Honour come of thee, 
 and thou reigneft over alU 
 
 ^[.45. When Solomon was dead, the People 
 afiembled themfelves at Sichem to make Reho- 
 boam, the Son of Solomon, King, thither he 
 went, as one who flood for the Place. The People 
 propo'e Conditions, upon which they were will- 
 ing to admit him to the Government : He 
 defires three Days to advife-, he confults the 
 old Men , they perfwade him to comply with 
 the People, then he advifes with the young Men, 
 who perfwade him to threaten the People with 
 Whips and Scorpions ; and he anfvver'd the 
 People as they advifed him. When all Ifraet 
 faw that he hearken'd not to them, then they 
 openly profeffed againft him, and declared the 
 
 Pvigh^'
 
 [ 37 ] 
 
 Right of the People and their own Liberty, 
 faying, What Portion have we in David? To thy 
 Tents, Iirael ! Now look to thy own Houfc, David. 
 When the King fent Adoram to them, they 
 Honed him with Stones ; and when Rthoboam 
 had prepared a great Army to reduce the IfraeliteSy 
 he was forbidden by the Prophet, I Kings xii. 
 24. Thus faith the Lord, ye fh all not go up, ?ior 
 fight agairji your Brethren. He calls them not 
 Rebels, bu- their Brethren, Dent. xvii. 24. IVhen 
 thou art come into the Land, which the Lord thy 
 God giveth the:, and jh alt fay, I will fet a K.ng 
 ever me, like as all the Nations about me, &c. 
 Thefe Words confirm to us, that the Right of 
 chufmg, yea, of changing their own Govern- 
 ment Is by the Grant of God himfelf, in the 
 People. 
 
 %. 46. This was a Gift bellowed by God 
 upon his Children and People. Nay, David 
 himfelf was fo far from taking upon him to 
 be King, till the Tribe of Judah had chofen 
 him, that he often acknowledged Saul to be 
 his Lord. When Baanah and Re cab brought 
 the Head of Ifljbojketb to him, he commanded 
 them to be (lain; becaufe they had killed a 
 righteous Man in his own Houfe, 2 Sam. iv. 
 which he could not have faid, if Ifhbofheth had 
 unjuftly detained from him the ten Tribe:-, 
 and that he had a Right to reign over them 
 before they had chofen him. The Word of 
 
 D 1 God
 
 
 t 3 3 
 
 God did not make him King, but only fore- 
 told that he mould be King, and by fuch ways 
 as he pleafc 1, prepared the Hearts of the Peo- 
 ple to fet him up v and till the Time defigned 
 by God for that Work was accomplifhed, he 
 pretended to no other Authority, than what the 
 fix hundred Men, who firft followed him, and 
 afterwards the Tribe of Judab^ and at lad all 
 the reft of the People conferred upon him. 
 If David, tho' defign'd by God to be King, 
 and anointed by the Hand of the Prophet, 
 was not King till the People had chofen him, 
 and he had made a Covenant with them, it 
 will be hard to find a Man who can claim a 
 Right, which is not original from the People. 
 And if the People of Ifrael couid erecl and 
 pull down, inflitute and abrogate, or transfer 
 to other Perfons, or Families, Kingdoms more 
 firmly eftablifhed than any we know, or have 
 heird of; the fame Right cannot be denied 
 to any other Nations. And no other Reafon 
 can be given for the infinite Variety of Con- 
 ftitutions that have been, and are in the World, 
 than that the People who made them would 
 have them fo , which could not have been 
 if God and Nature had appointed one general 
 Rule for all Nations. And as the Rights and 
 Liberties of a Nation may be utterly fubvert- 
 ed and abcliihed, if the Power of the whole 
 People, or Nation may not be employ'd to 
 
 afiert
 
 [ 39 ] 
 
 aflert them, or punifh the Violation of them. 
 But as it is the fundamental Right of every 
 Nation to be govern'd by fuch Laws, in fuch 
 Manner, and by fuch Perfons as they think 
 moft conducing to their own Good, they cannot 
 be accountable to any but themfelves for what 
 they do in that moft important Affair. And 
 as the Safety of all Nations confifts in rightly 
 placing and meafuring of Power, fuch have been 
 found always to proiper, who have given it to 
 thofe from whom Ufurpations were leaft to 
 be feared ; who have been leaft fubject to be 
 awed, cheated, or corrupted , and who, having 
 the greateft Intereft in the Nation, were moft 
 concerned to preferve its Power, Lioerty and 
 Welfare. This is the greateft Truft that can 
 be repofed in Men. This Power was, by the 
 Spartans, given to the Ephrri, ant' 1 :he Senate of 
 twenty eieht> in Venice, to that which they call 
 Concilio de Pregadi ; in Germany, .-'^ain. France, 
 Siveedland, Denmark, Poland, Hungary, Bohemia, 
 Scotland, England \ and generally all the Nations 
 that have lived under the Gothick Polity, it has 
 been in their general Aflembli * j under the 
 Names of Diets, Cortex, Parliaments, Senates, 
 and the like. But in what Hands foever it is, 
 the Power of making, abrogating, changing, 
 correcting and interpreting laws, has Ken in 
 the fame ; Kings have been rejeclc-d or depofed ; 
 the Snccefiion of the Crown fettled, regulated, 
 D 4 or
 
 [ 40 ] 
 
 or changed. And I defy any Man to fhew me 
 one King amongft all the Nations aforementioned 
 that has any Right to the Crown he wears, unlefs 
 fuch A<5ts were good. 
 
 f . 47. Cicero de Offic. 1. 2. is thus tranfla- 
 ted b v Sir Roger U Ejlrcwn, p. 1 o f , 1 02 . Hero - 
 dotus tells us, 'That the Medians chofe their Kings 
 originally far the Probity of their Manners, and 
 in hopes 1 / enjoying the knefits of common Jujiice ; 
 which I am perfwaded was the End and Practice 
 likewife of our Predeceffors. For when in old 
 Time, the weaker were opprefTed by the ftronger, 
 the People prefently betook themfelves to one 
 more excellent than the reft for their Protetlor : 
 And it was his Part to relieve the diftreffed, 
 and to make fuch Provifions that common 
 Right might be done indifferently betwixt all 
 Parties. And in making of their Laws they 
 had the fame Profpecl, as in the Choice of their 
 Kings. The Thing propounded, was an equal 
 and a common Right, without being fo qua- 
 lified. If under the Adminiftration of fome 
 one Man that was jufb and good, they attained 
 that End, they were well contented there to reft : 
 But in Cafe of failing, there were Laws invent- 
 ed, which, to all under them, and at all Times, 
 fhould ftill pronounce one and the fame Sen- 
 tence This is clear, that in all Elections t^e 
 People have ftill had a Care to pitch upon him 
 for their Governour who was moft reverenced 
 
 for
 
 [ 41 ] 
 
 for his Juftice ; always provided that he 
 were a Man of Prudence too. And what is 
 it that a Nation would not believe itfelf a- 
 ble to compafs, under fo aufpicious a Con- 
 duel. 
 
 f. 48. Ccffar and Tacitus defcribe the ancient 
 Britalns to have been a fierce People-, zealous 
 for Liberty , a free People ; not like the Gauls, 
 govern'd by Laws made by the great Men, 
 but by the People. In C^efar's Time they chofc 
 Cajfrccllaunus, and afterwards Carajiacus, Arvi- 
 ragus^ Gagacus and others to command them 
 in their Wars, but. they retained the Govern- 
 ment in themfelves. That no Force might be 
 put upon them, they met arm'd in their gene- 
 ral Aflembties, and tho' the fmaller Matters 
 were left to the Determination of the chief 
 Men, chofen by themfelves for that Purpole, 
 they referved the moft important to themfelves. 
 When the Romans had brought them low, they 
 fet up certain Kings to govern fuch who were 
 in their Territories : But thofe who defended 
 themfelves by the natural Strength of their 
 Situation, or retired in'o the North, or the 
 lilands, were flill govern'd by their own Cuf- 
 toms, and were never acquainted \sith domefttck 
 or foreign Slavery. Inter injlrumenta. Servitutis 
 reges habuere, C. Tacit. Hie Saxons, or Angli, 
 were no lefs Lovers of Liberty, and under- 
 stood the Ways of defending it: They were cer- 
 tainly
 
 [ 4*. ] 
 
 tainly the mod powerful and valiant People 
 of Germany. C*far and Tacitus inform us, 
 that the ancient Briteins and Saxons had no Mo- 
 il arc hs *, and that our Anceltors had their 
 Councils and Magiftrates, as well here as in 
 Germany ; that as foon as the Saxons came into 
 this Country, they had their Micklegemsts, whicli 
 were general Afiemblies of the Noble and Free- 
 Men, who had in themfelves the Power of the 
 Nation : Sometimes they met by their Delegates 
 in the Wittcnagemots j in fome Ages they were 
 divided, in others united , fometimes under 
 Caprains, in other Times under Kings ; fome- 
 times meeting perfonally in the Micklegemots, 
 fometlnes by their Delegates in the Wittena- 
 gemot< 9 does evidently teftify that they ordered 
 all Things according to their own Pleafure; which 
 being the utmoft Act of Liberty, it remained 
 inviolable under all the foregoing Changes, as 
 appears by the Confeffion of Offa, ha, Alfred, 
 CarMus, Edward, and other Kings. And, we 
 may be fure, thofe of the Norman Race can 
 have no more Power, fmce they came in by 
 the fame Way, and fwore to govern by the 
 fame Laws. Thefe general Councils were called 
 in the Time of Ina, The general Council of the 
 Bijhops, Noblemen, Counts, all the wife Men, Elders, 
 and people of the whole Kingdom. Commune Con- 
 cilium Epifcoporum, Procerum, Comitum & om- 
 nium Sapientum, Seniorum fc? Populorum totius 
 
 regni,
 
 f 43 1 
 
 regni. Bed. Eccl. Hift. In the Time'of Edward 
 the Elder, they were called, The great Council 
 of the Bijhops, Abbots, Noblemen and People. Wil- 
 liam of Malmjbury calls them, The general Senate 
 andAffembly of the People. Senatum generalem & 
 populi Conventum. Sometimes they were (in fhort) 
 called, The Clergy end People; but all exprefs 
 the fame Power, neither received from, nor limit- 
 ed by Kings, who are always faid to be chofen, 
 or made, and fometimes depofed by them. The 
 Reafon of this is, that they who inftitute 
 Magiftracy, beft know whether the End of the 
 Inftitution be rightly purfucd or not , and their 
 Kings had no Power, but what was conferred 
 upon them by the People. And all juft Magi' 
 ftracies being the fame in EfTence, tho' differing 
 in Form, the fame Right muffc perpetually be- 
 long to thofe who put the fovereign Power 
 into the Hands of one, a few, or many Men. 
 Thus the Romans did, when they created Kings, 
 Confuls, Military Tribunes, Dictators, or De- 
 cemviri : And it is ridiculous to fay, that thofe 
 Officers gave Authority to the People to meet 
 and chufe them , for they who are chofen are 
 the Creatures of thofe who chufe, and are no- 
 thing more than others, 'till they are chofen: 
 This is as certain in relation to Kings, as any 
 other Magiftrates. This Power of conferring 
 the Sovereignty was likewife exercifed in France 
 by the People, who made Meroveus King, paf- 
 
 fing
 
 [ 44 1 
 
 fing by the two Grand-children of Pharatrwd** 
 Sons to Clodion, and excluded his Race, and 
 gave the Crown to Pepin ; who depofed Ltwis 
 ie Debonair, and Charles le Qrofsy-, who made 
 five Kings, that were either Baftard6, or Strangers 
 between him and Charles It Simple ; w u . re- 
 jected his Race, and advanced Hugh apet ; 
 who made Henry the Firft, King before Robert 
 his elder Brother, and continued the Crown in 
 the Race of Henry for ten Generations, whilft 
 the Defendants of Robert were only Dukes of 
 Burgundy: The like hath been done in Cajlile 
 and Arragon, by frequently preferring the young- 
 er before the elder Brother j the Defcendants 
 of Females before thofe of the Male-Line in 
 the fame Degree-, the more remote in Blood 
 before the neareft , and fometimes Baftards 
 before the legitimate I flue : The fame hath 
 been done in England, before and fince the 
 Conqueft, as doth appear by many following 
 Examples. 
 
 f . 49. Monfieur Mezeray, a great Hiftorian, 
 gives this Account of the Manners of the an- 
 cient Germans : There were, if I miftake not, three 
 forts of Government among the Germans. In me 
 Places the People had the principal Authority, and. 
 yet they often tletted a Prince, or a King; fame- 
 timet a General, whom we call Duke, from the 
 Lam Word Dux. But the Power rf theft Chiefs 
 dtfcended entirely on the Community, or Peot 'e ; fo. 
 
 that
 
 [ 45 3 
 
 that it was always a mix'd Democracy. In other 
 Parts among the Gothones, the Kings- reigtfd 
 with more Power, yet not to the Detriment of Li- 
 berty : Their Royalty was limited by Laws, and 
 the Reafcn of Things. As for Liberty, no People 
 were ever fo jealous of it, or ever defended it fa 
 long, and fo fuccefsfully as the Germans. It may 
 indeed be faid, That Liberty being driven out of 
 the beft Part of the World by the Roman Arms, 
 took Refuge on the f irther Side of the Rhine, where 
 fhe had for her Companions and Guards, Poverty* 
 Innocence, Frugality and Modefly ; and where, in 
 the Fajlneffes of Woods and Moraffes, femetimes ok 
 the defenfive, and fometimes making couragious Saltier^ 
 fhe combated Jive hundred Tears together againji 
 Tyranny, and all her Train; 1 mean Ambition* 
 Luxury, Voluptuoufnefs, Flattery, Corruption and 
 Divifwns , the Inftruments which that cruel Enemy 
 of human Race employs to forge Manacles and 
 Fetters. The aforefaid Monfieur, in the Be- 
 ginning of King WILLIAM** Reign, dif- 
 courfmg with a Perfon of Quality about the 
 Difference of the Government in Prance aid 
 England, he broke out in this Ex t jre(Tion ; O For- 
 tunatos nimium, bona ft fua norint .ngligenas ? We 
 had once (faid he) in France the fame Happi-^efs, 
 and the fame Priviledges which you have. Our 
 Laws were made by Reprefcntatives of cur own 
 chuftng : Our Money was not taken from us, but 
 by our own Confent : Our Kings were fubjefi to 
 
 the
 
 t 46 I 
 
 the Rules of Law and Reafon. But now t alas ! 
 We are miferable, and all is loft. Think nothing, 
 Sir ', too dear to maintain thefe precious Advan- 
 tages; and if ever there be Occafton, venture 
 your Life, your Eftate, and all you have, rather 
 than fubmit to the Condition to which you fee us 
 reduced. 
 
 1f. 50. The Election of Magiftrates Was the 
 original of Succeflion , for as the living more 
 fafely, and with the freer Enjoyment of Pro- 
 perty was the original Caufe that People afib- 
 ciated themfelves into a Nation or Kingdom ; 
 fo, for the better attaining that End, they did 
 fet over themfelves the befr, and the wifcft of 
 their Brethren to be their Rulers and Governors. 
 And this Adminiftration was trufled in one or 
 more Hands, and continued for their Lives, 
 or for a longer or fhorter Time, as the Consti- 
 tuents thought fit. Where the Government 
 was under a King, he ufually held it for Life, 
 and then upon his Deceafe, the People pro- 
 ceeded to a new Election, 'till at laft it fell 
 into the Hands of fome very excellent Perfon, 
 who having more than ordinarily deferved of 
 his Country, the People, as well in Gratitude 
 to him, as believing they could not make a 
 better Choice than in the Branches that would 
 grow out of fo excellent a Stock, entail'd that 
 Dignity upon his Poflerity. And this is the 
 juft Rife of Succeflion ; all others being unjufl: ; 
 
 for
 
 t 47 ) 
 
 for he that comes in by the Power of the Sword, 
 may be deprived by the Power of the Sword *, 
 'tis nothing but the Content of the govern'd 
 can give a Right to Succeffion. The next in 
 SuccefTion to the Crown of England was for- 
 merly reckon'd to have a very precarious Title, 
 any further than his good Difpofitions and 
 Capacities, to iway the Scepter, did recommend 
 him to the Affections of the People , ('till the 
 Time of William the Firft, called the Conqueror) 
 it being very common not only to break into the 
 Succeffion, but even to fet afide all that Family 
 and Line, whenever it was known, that the 
 publick might fuffer, by their being at the Head 
 of the Government. Witnefs the preferring of 
 Cajfibellan before his Elder Brother's Sons; Egbert, 
 not next in Blood , Ethelwerd and Ethebwolf y a 
 Monk, for want of a better, was advanced to 
 the fame Honour , Ethelftan, tho 5 a Baftard, 
 and without any Title, was elected by the Con- 
 fent of the Nobility and People. Eldred y by 
 the fame Authority, was elected and preferred 
 before the Sors of Edmond his PredcceGTor ; and 
 Edward, Adaljion and Harold, who were all il- 
 legitimate, were chofen ; and Eldred againfl the 
 Right of his two Nephews, Edway and Edwin ; 
 and Canutus, a Foreigner ; and Hardiknute with- 
 out Title ; and TJarcld ; and Edward l be Confeffbr 
 was elected King with the Confent of the Clergy 
 and People at London. Annuento Clero & Populo 
 
 Lcn-
 
 t 4* ] 
 
 Londini in regent eligetur. Harold the Second, 
 and William call'd the Conqueror, whilft the next 
 Heirs, Idgar and Etbeling were living. William, 
 called the Conqueror, ConfelTed in his Iaft Will 
 made at Caen in Normandy, That he neither found, 
 nor left the Kingdom as an Inheritance. Neminem 
 Anglici regni conjlituo hercdem, non eriim tantum 
 deem haditario jure pojfedi, Ibid. If he pojjeffed 
 no Right, but what was conferred upon him, no 
 more was conferred, than had been tnjoy'd by the 
 ancient Kings; according to the approved Laws 
 which he fwore to obferve. Thofe Laws gave 
 no Power to any, 'till he was elected ; and 
 that which they then did give, was fo limited, 
 that the Nobility and People referved to them- 
 felves the Difpofition of the greateft Affairs, 
 even to the Difpofition and Expulfion of fuch as 
 fhould not well perform the Duty of their Oaths 
 and Office. 
 
 % 51. After the Conquer!, Anno 1087. R" 
 hert, the elder Brother was put afide, and 
 William Rujus, the Second Son of William the 
 Conqueror, was eleited, after whole Death 
 Henry the Firft, his younger Brother, (tho' 
 not next Heir) was chofen by the People, not 
 fummoned by Writ ; and this Henry in his 
 Charter acknowledged, that he owed his Crown 
 to the Common-Council of the Realm. After 
 the Death of Henry the Firft, Stephen was cho- 
 fen King, againfl the fuppefed Right of Maud, 
 
 the
 
 [ 49 J 
 
 the daughter of Henry the Firft. After his" 
 Death, Henry the Second was admitted King; 
 againft the like Right cf his Mother Maud, 
 After the Death of Richard the Firft, King Jchh 
 (Earl of Motion) was ekcled, aad Arthur the 
 next Heir di [inherited. After the Death of 
 King John, Henry his Fh ft- born was elected 
 'againft the Right of Arthur, Henry the Third 
 was chofen againft the like Right or Eleanor, 
 Prince Arthur's Sifter. At the Death of Henry 
 the Third, the States of the Kingdom met 
 and fettled the Government, by appointing 
 Officers, and what elfe was necelTary for the 
 Realm ; and Edward the Fourth was fet up 
 by the People, during the Life of Henry the 
 Sixth. Whilft the Lady Elizabeth, the true 
 Heir of the Crown was living, Henry the Seventh 
 was declared King, without joining her in Title, 
 or fo much as making any Mention of her 
 Right. So that 'till Henry the Third, there 
 is fcarce to be found any Prefident of Succefiion ; 
 and fince his Reign the Succe.Tion hath been 
 altered feveral Times, and the Crown fhifted 
 from one Family to another by Aft of Parliament. 
 Thefe are fufflcient Proofs of the Power and Au- 
 thority of the People. 
 
 [. 52. Richard the Third being entreated 
 by a Petition delivered in a Roll of Parchme t, 
 in the Name of the Three Eftates of Par- 
 l ; ament, to accept the Crown, at firft mo.'efljy 
 
 F. refufed ;
 
 f 5 ] 
 
 refufed; but afterwards he faid, Sitb we well 
 perceive, that all the Realm is fo fet, whereof we 
 be very forry, that they will not fuffer, in any 
 wife, King Ed ward' s Line to govern them, whom 
 n$ Earthly Man can govern againfl their Wills ; 
 and well alfo we perceive* that no Man there 
 is, to whom the Crown can by jujl Title appertain, 
 as to our f elf, as very right Heir, lawfully begotten 
 of our mojl dear Father, Richard, late Duke of 
 York, to which Title is now joined your Eleclion, 
 the Nobles and Commons of this Realm, which 
 we of all Title poffible, take for the mofl effectual, 
 we be Content. Speed. Fol. 908, Numb. 63. 
 And then an Act of Parliament pafTed to efta- 
 blifh King Richard the Third's lawful Elec- 
 tion, Id. Fol. 911. and fequent. Cot. Records; fol. 
 709,10 714. 
 
 f . 5%. By a Claufe in King Henrfs Char- 
 ter it is faid* If the King invades thofe Rights, 
 (meaning the Rights of the People) it is law- 
 ful for the Kingdom to raife againfl him, and to do 
 him what Injury they can, as tho' they ow'd him 
 no Allegiance. By an Aft of Parliament of 
 the ijth of Richard the Second, it was En- 
 acted, That if the King, thro* a foolifh Obflinacy, 
 and Contempt of his People, or perverfe froward 
 Will, or by any other irregular Way, fhall alienate 
 himf elf from his People, and will not be governed 
 and regulated by the Rights of the Kingdom, and 
 laudable Ordinances made by the Council of the 
 
 Lords ,
 
 [ 5* 3 
 
 J^ords, and great Men of the Realm, but pall 
 headily in his mad Council^ exercife his own ar- 
 bitrary Will; from thencefoith it is lawful for 
 them, with the common AJjent and Confent of the 
 People of the Realm, to abrogate or depofe him 
 from the Throne, and fet up in his Jlead, f;me' 
 body of Kn, or near of Kin to the King of the 
 Royal Stock : Which gives a Latitude for 
 chufing any deferving Perfon of the Royal 
 Stock. 
 
 f . 54. By the Acts of Parliament of the 
 25th and 48th of Henry the Vlllth, it is de- 
 clared, That if fuc h Heirs as are there appoint- 
 ed, without Regard to the Scotch Family, fhould 
 fail, and no Provifion made in the King's Life- 
 time, who fhould rule and govern this Realm, 
 then the Realm pall be deflitute of a lawful Go' 
 vernor, 
 
 f . 55. The Aft of the 13th of Elizabeth, 
 C. 1. makes it Treafon in any after- Time 
 to deny the Power of Parliament, to limit, 
 or alter the Succeffion , and adds a Penalty 
 upon them who fhould affirm, 1 hat any lut 
 the Iffue of the Queen's Body had Right to j netted 
 after her. 
 
 C. 56. King Alfred acknowledged in his 
 Will, joined to his Life by Menevenfes, that 
 he owed his Crown to the Bounty of his Princes, and 
 . of the Elders of his Peop'e. 
 
 E 2 f . r j7 .
 
 [ 5* 1 
 
 %. 57* The Power which the People of 
 England had in the Difpofal of the Crown, 
 during the Time of the Saxons, is confirmed 
 to us by that Noble Record which Sir Henry 
 Spelman, hath cited, Concil. Vol. i. p. 291. 
 <that in a Parliament held in Calebuth, Ann. 787. 
 it was ordcin'd and enafied, that the King Jhould 
 be defied by the Parliament: And being cbofen, 
 they Jhould have prudent Councellors fearing God. 
 And this Right over the Crown, and about 
 the Difpofal of it, which our Ancestors chal- 
 lenged and exercifed all the Time of the Saxons y 
 they have maintained and exerted with no lefs 
 Courage and Vigour, in every Age fince the 
 coming in of the Norman Race. 
 
 f. 58. William the Firft (who is unjuftly 
 ftiled the Conqueror, having fubdued none but 
 Harold^ and thofe that abetted him) did obtain 
 the Crown by a free Choice and Submrfilon 
 of the Peers and Body of the People; and 
 before his Coronation, he was made to fwear, 
 that he would govern the People juftly, and 
 keep and obferve unto them all their old 
 Laws, and Confent unto the having fuch 
 further Laws ena&ed, as mould be needful for 
 the Prelervation and Profperity of the Realm. 
 
 tff. 59. The Learned Brafion^ a famous 
 Lawyer in Henry the Third's Reig-n, 1. a. c. 16. 
 and Pitta, 1. i.e. 17. faith, Ibat in governing of 
 the People, the King has above him the Law, by 
 
 which
 
 53 ] 
 
 which he is conjlituted King, and his Parliament; viz. 
 7 he Earls and Barons ; the Earls in Latin being 
 called Comi tes , that is, Companions and Fellows : 
 Now he that Las a Fellow, has a Majler % whereof 
 if the King become lawkfs, they mujl give him 
 Law, and curb him. When we fpeak of curb- 
 ing a King, who is in Arms, in order to opprefi 
 the State, it is evident that it imports an 
 obliging him by Force, either to renounce 
 his tyrannical Conrfes, or force him to leave 
 the Land. 
 
 %. 6. Br a Ren further fays, tfhe King doth 
 no Wrong, in as much as he doth nothing but by 
 Law. Potejlas Regis ejl potejlas Legis, potejlas 
 juris ncn injuria, Bract, de Leg. Angl. The 
 Power of the King is the Power of the Law ; a 
 Power of Right, not of IVrong. Again, Qui 
 ft fad t 'injuriam, non ejl Rex, Ibid. If the King 
 does Injujlice, he is not King. In another place 
 he has thefe Words, Exercere igitur debet Rex 
 potejlatem juris ftcut Dei ricarius &? m'vi '' er in 
 terrc, quia ilia potejlas folius Dei ejl, pntef:a : autem 
 injuria biaboli ejl ncn ci, fe? cujus hcrum opera 
 fecerit Rex jus Minif.r erit. Igitur i . facit 
 jufitiam Vicarius eft git aterni : M '.:;/. cr autem 
 Diaboli dum dec'nnct > injuria m, Ibid !, ;. J he 
 Ki" rr therefore owl , to exerafe tht f-f the 
 
 Law, as la owes the Vicar cm J . .,., of Ccd 
 upon Earth; becaf- that Powe, the Pciver 
 of God alone \ but the Power of d<A}g}Vroig is 
 
 ]'. ? the
 
 [ 5+ ] 
 
 the Power of the Devil, and not of God -, and the 
 King is bis Minifler, whofe Work he does. Whilfi 
 he dees Juftice, he is the Vicar of the Eternal King j 
 hut if he defieel from it, to ail unjujlly, he 
 is the Minifier of the Devil. He alfo fays, 
 that the King is, Singulis Major, Univerfis Mi- 
 nor. 
 
 %. 6f, In the Laws of Edward the Confef- 
 for, of immortal Memory, for his collecting 
 and ft rift obferving the Laws of the King- 
 dom, as well as for the admir'd Sanctity of his 
 Life, it is written, That the King ought to do all 
 Things in his Kngdom according to Law, and by 
 the Judgment of his Peers. St. Edward's Law 
 goes further, that unlefs the King perform his 
 Duty, and anjwer the End for which he was conlii- 
 tuttd, not fo much as the Name of a Kmg fhall re- 
 main in him, 
 
 ^|. 62. PViViam Rufus, Henry the Firft, and 
 Stephen, got the Content of the People, by 
 promiiing to grant them their ufual Laws and 
 ancient Cuftoms. Henry the Firft, Richard the 
 Firft, King John, and Richard the Second, 
 obliged themfelves at their Coronation to grant 
 them, and then the Peop> a<nfented to own 
 them as their King , and Ruhard the Firft, and 
 YJmgJohn, were conjured by the Arch-Bifhops 
 not to take upon them the Crown, unlefs they 
 intended to perform their Oaths. If any King 
 refufed fo to do, the Nobles thought it their 
 
 Con-
 
 [ 55 ] 
 
 Concern to hinder his Coronation, 'till he 
 had either made, or promifed this Engage- 
 ment. Henry the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth, 
 were only Kings by Act of Parliament : And 
 by what Inftances have been quoted (and many 
 more that might be given) it appears that the 
 Kings of England were Kings by virtue of a 
 Compact made between them and the People. 
 This is apparent by the Compact made with the 
 Conqueror, by the Nobility and Commonalty of 
 England. 
 
 f\. 63. Florence of PForccfler, Simon of Dur- 
 ham, and R. Hoveden, exprefly fay, That Wil- 
 liam, called the Conqueror, made a League, or 
 Compatl, with the Arch-Bifhops, Eifhops, Earls, 
 and Nobles of the Land, who met him at Beor- 
 cham, and fivore Fealty to him , fo he recipro- 
 cally, being required fo to do by the Arch- 
 Bifhop of York, made his perfonal Oath be- 
 fore the A ! tur of St. Peter, To defend the Holy 
 Church of Ccd, and the Re ft or s of the fame, to 
 gr cm all the People fubjetl to him juflly, to ejla- 
 i ena-.d Et.:is, and to fee them daily executed, 
 Ar.t! I:;?u!j us, his Secretary, faith, That he, 
 uncle? the fi-crcjl Penalties, {reclaimed, That 
 the Laws of King Kdward the Confejfor fkould 
 he : crpei ual, c utheniical, and be obfrved inviolably 
 thro' .he iv 1 rh '-'^ngaom oj Tng and, and as fuch 
 he-,: . V hem to his f> fires. R. Hoveden. 
 faich further, Ibat be commanded the Laws of 
 E 4. K.ig
 
 I 5 1 
 
 Xing Edward to he clferved in all, liking*/: 
 And that, in the hourth Tear of bis Reign, by 
 the Counfel of his Barons, he made the noble and 
 wife Men o/Engfcsjnd to he fymmoned through- 
 cut all the Provinces of England, that he might 
 hear from them who were Jkilled in their Law, 
 their Eights and CuJloms\ and that Twelve Men 
 were chofen out of every County, who fwore, to 
 their Power, to treed in a right Path, neither 
 turning to the right Haiid, or to the Left, and to make 
 known to him the Cujlcm and the Eflablifoment of 
 their Laws. 
 
 <J". 64. Henry the Firft, and Stephen who 
 fucceeded Henry, made a Com pad and a- 
 greed, and promifed an Amendmenr of the 
 Laws. 
 
 %. 65. The original Compacl (faith M. Paris) 
 was, That the King fhould govern them according 
 to the Tenor of fuch ancient Laws and original 
 Cu/iomSy as were received among them, accord- 
 ing to the good, approved, and ancient Laws of 
 the Kingdom. The Liberties in which the Nobles 
 
 o t 
 
 ccrfded, faith M. Wejlmin(le r : The Laws of 
 their Country, faith W. of Malm/bury : The Laws 
 of King Edward, fay the aforementioned Au- 
 thors : The proper Laws and ancient Cufloms 
 in which their Fathers lived, fay Hoveden, and 
 the Chronicle of Litchfield : The Laws of Eng- 
 land ; the ancient Laws of this Realm, originally 
 
 ejia-
 
 t SI 1 
 ejtabliftfd, fay our Statutes : The Laws of the 
 Land ; the good Laws of the Land, faith the 
 Oath of Richard the Second ; The Charters 
 of the Liberties of England ; the common Li- 
 berty, fay the Contenders for them with King 
 John and Hemy the Third : The fundamental 
 Laws of the Kingdom, let it be obferved. There 
 are frequent Repetitions of thefe or the like 
 ExpreiTions of a Contract by the following 
 Princes of this Realm, as appears by the Oaths 
 they took at their Coronation, to prcferve to 
 the People their ancient Rights, Liberties, ori- 
 ginal Cuftomj and Laws, and by the conti* 
 nual Claim the People made to the Laws of 
 their Country, the Laws of King Edward, and 
 Magna Charia, as their Right. Our Anceftors 
 thought it abfolutely neceffary, that whoever 
 wou'd be their King fhould make a Compact 
 with them j and be as much engaged by 
 Oath to grant their Privileges to them, as they 
 were to fwear Allegiance to him, and com- 
 monly that was firft done by their Kings, be- 
 fore they would engage to be their Sub- 
 jects. And then it muft be as reafonable, 
 that he who doth continue to be their 
 King, fhould continue to perform his Oaths, 
 and grant to them their Privileges, as 
 for them to continue in their Duty and 
 Allegiance. And when thefe Patria Leges, 
 thefe ancient Laws of their Country were vio- 
 lated,
 
 [ 5* ] 
 Jated, they conftantly complain'd of the In- 
 jur 1 ice of the Action, requiring the Obferva- 
 ticn of them \ and when they could not pre- 
 vail by fair Means, they quitted their Sub- 
 jection, and fought to recover their Riht by 
 Arms. In fhort, this Oath and Compact is 
 the very Ground and Caufe of the Oath of 
 Allegiance , accordingly the Lord Chancellor 
 fortefette, declares, /. 9. p. 23. that our Kings are 
 Political Kings, who receive their Power from 
 the People. 
 
 f . 66. Grotius dejure Bell. 1. 1. C 3. S. 11. 
 faith, Slice ejfion alone does not denominate the 
 Manner^ or Specify the particular Form of the Go- 
 vernor, but is only a Continuation of thai Right 
 which was firji fettled ; and as much as was 
 jirfi given^ is afterwards continued by Suicej/ion, 
 and no more. And then with him we mayrea- 
 fonably infer, that Succeflion only brings down 
 to Kings what the firft Election gave, and 
 makes them only Kings according to Compact, 
 and with the Condition agreed on at the firft 
 Admiffion of their Progenitors to the Exercife of 
 the Royal Authority. 
 
 <([. 67. In the Year 1253. there was af- 
 fembled a very full Parliament, to whom King 
 Henry the Third promifed faithfully to ratify 
 Magna Charta, and faithfully to obferve all 
 the Articles of it, which King John, and he, 
 at his Coronation, and often fince, had fworn 
 
 to
 
 I 59 ] 
 
 to obferve. And this was done in the moft 
 folemn and ceremonial Manner that could be 
 devifed : For the King, with all the grf at 
 Nobility of England, all the Bifhops, and chief 
 Prelates, in their Ornaments, with burning 
 Candles in their Hands, aflembled to hear the 
 terrible Sentence of Excommunication upon 
 all the Infringers of the fame ; and at the light- 
 ing of thofe Candles, the King having one in 
 his Hand, gave it to one of the Prelates, faying, 
 It becomes not me, who am no Priejl, to hold this 
 Candle ; my Heart Jhall be a greater Tejiimony ; 
 and withal, laid his Hand on his Bread the 
 whole Time the Sentence was reading, which 
 was thus pronounced, In the Name of the Omni- 
 potent God, &c. which done, the Charter, of 
 King John his Father was read. In the End, 
 having thrown away their Candles, they cry^d 
 out, So let them who incur this Sentence be ex- 
 tin ft, and Jlink in hell; and the King with a 
 loud Voice faid, As Cod help me, I will, as a 
 Mo /, a Chrijtian, a Knight, a King crowned and 
 anointed, inviolaby obferve al 1 thefe Things. But, 
 notwithstanding all this, the King the very 
 next Year broke his Oath ; and continuing to 
 govern contrary to the Charter, in the Year 1263. 
 the Barons made War upon him, under the 
 Command of Simon of Monfort, who fucceeded 
 fo far, as to take the King and his Sons Pri- 
 foners ; but the Prince efcaping out oi Pnfon, 
 
 fights
 
 r 60 ] 
 
 fights with Sitncn Hand to Hand, and flew 
 him. The Hiftorians of thofe Times call'd 
 him not a Rebel, nor a Taytor, but a mod 
 devout Servant of God, and the Church, and 
 a mod faithful Protector, Shield, and Defender 
 of the Kingdom of England, and a Martyr for 
 the Liberties of Church and State, Cbron. de 
 Marl. p. 228. At the End of thefe War?, 
 in the Year 1269. a Parliament was held at 
 Marlborough^ where the Statutes, call'd, The 
 Statutes of Marlborough^ were enacted ; in the 
 fifth Chapter of which, it is decreed, That the 
 grt^t Charter, and the Charter de Forrefta /hall 
 be cbfsrved in all their Articles, both concerning 
 the King and his Subjects. And here (faith the 
 Lord Coke) it is to be obferved, That after this 
 Parliament, neither Magna Charta, nor Charta 
 de F< ri efta, was ruer attempted to be impugned, or 
 quefiivned, whereupon Peace and Tranquility have 
 Jmce enfutd. Infr. I. 2. p. IC2. 
 
 ^j. 68. Magna Charta being only an Abridg- 
 ment of our ancient Laws and Cuftoms, the 
 King that fwears to it, fwears to them all, 
 and is not admitted to be the Interpreter of 
 it, or to determine what is Good or Evil, fit 
 to be obferved or annulled in it, and he can 
 bavc no moie x'ower over the reft. This having 
 been confirmed by more Parliaments than we 
 have had Kings fmce that Time, the fame 
 Obligation mufl flill lie upon them all, as upon 
 
 John
 
 [ Si 1 
 
 "John and Henry, in whofe Time that Claim of 
 Right was compiled. We know the Value 
 our Anceftors ftt upon their Liberties, and 
 the Courage with which they defended them; 
 and we can have no better Example to en- 
 courage us, never to fuffer them to be violated or 
 diminimed. 
 
 %. 69. The Nobility of England, as the 
 Lord Coke obferves, have ever had the Laws 
 of England in great Eftimation and Reverence, 
 and would never fuffer them to be changed. 
 This made Henry the Firji (faith he) write to 
 Pop? Pafcai thus ; Let your Hclin rfs knew, that, 
 by the help of God, whiljt I live, the Dignities 
 and Cuftoms of our Kingdom of England foall 
 not be diminfhed , and if I, which God forbid, 
 fhould [0 far dejeel my f elf ' ; my Noble:, and all the 
 Peple of England, would never fuffer them to be 
 alter'd. Inft. 1. 1. p. 97. 
 
 ^[. 70. In the Letters which all the Nobi- 
 lity of England, by AlTent or' the whole Com- 
 monalty alTembled in Parliament ar Lincoln, 
 wrote to Pope Boniface, we find thefe Words ; By 
 Virtue of our Oath, we are bound to the Obfer- 
 vaticn and Defence of the Liberties, Cujloms, and 
 the Laws of our Country, which by the hep of 
 God, we will defend with our whole Pc wer -, nor lo 
 we, nor will we permit cur Lord, the K ng, tho' he 
 were willing, to attempt things fo ur.ufual % und e, 
 and prejudicial to the Royal Dignity : And rh s 
 
 was
 
 r 62 ] 
 
 was fcalcd by 104 Earls and Barons, in the Name 
 of all the Commonalty of England. Rot. Pari. 
 a8. Ed. 1. 
 
 f . 71. King John received the Crown by Way 
 of Eletlion, as being cbofen by the States, faith 
 Daniel, p. 127. M. Paris faith, That all con- 
 fented to the Speech of the Arch bijhop, that none 
 ought to Jucceed another in the Kingdom, unlefs 
 he were Elected by the Community, and thereupon they 
 Eletled the Count, and took him for their King. M. 
 Paris, p. 138. 
 
 f. 72. King James in his Fourth Speech 
 at Whitehall, A. D. 1609. faith, That the King 
 was Lex Loquens, after a Sort, binding him- 
 felf by a double Oath to the Obfervation of the 
 fundamental Laws of his Kingdom , tacitly, as 
 by being a King, and fo bound to proteel, as well 
 the People^ as the Laws of his Kingdom, and ex~ 
 prsjly by his Oath at his Coronation \ fo as every 
 juji King, in a fettled Kingdom, is bound to obferve 
 that Patlion made to his People by his Laws, in 
 framing his Government agreeable thereunto. And 
 therefore a King governing in a fettled Kingdom, 
 ceufrs to be a King, and degenerates imo a 
 Tyrant, as foon as he leaves off to rule ac- 
 cording to the Laws. Therefore all Kings 
 that are not Tyrants, or perjur'd, will be glad 
 to bind themfelves within the Limits of the 
 Laws, and they thatperfwade them to the contrary, 
 
 are
 
 I 63 3 
 
 are Vipers and Pefts, both againft them and the 
 Common-wealth. 
 
 f . 73. As the Subjects of the King are 
 born to Lands and other Things, fo are they 
 born to inherit and enjoy the Laws of this 
 Realm, that fo every Man have an equal Benefit 
 by Law. Plcnv. $$. B. Kitch. of Courts^ p. 4. 
 It is therefore called Common Right, and is a 
 greater Inheritance to every Man, than that which 
 defcends to him as Heir, from his Parents. Be- 
 caufe thereby his Goods, Lands, Wife, Children, 
 his Body, Life, Honour, and Eftimation, are 
 protected from Injury and Wrong, 2 Inji. 56. 
 This Common Right is called the Law of the 
 Subject, and the Judges are fworn to execute 
 Juftice (as my Lord Coke fays, 12 Cb. 64.) 
 according to Law and Cuftom of England. All 
 which do prove, howjuftly the Laws are called 
 the great Inheritances of every Subject, and the 
 Inheritance of Inheritances, without which In- 
 heritance, we have no Inheritance. The Kind's 
 Prerogative is Law too ; becaufe, as it was 
 refolved, the King hath no Prerogative, but 
 that which the Law of the Lai:d allows him, 
 Co. 76. J ud. Jcnkin's Works, p. 131. The 
 Law fays, the King is the Fountain of juf- 
 tice, and all Juftice which is done within the 
 Realm, is faid, and faid properly, to flow from 
 this Fountain ; but then it mult always run in 
 
 the
 
 i 6 4 j 
 
 tlic certain and known Channels that the Law hat# 
 prefcribed. 
 
 f. 74. Glanvil, who was a learned Law- 
 yer, and Chief Juftice in Henry the Second's 
 Days, above 506 Years ago, writ a Book of 
 the common Laws of England, which is the 
 indented of any extant, touching the Subject, 
 informs us, that there was in his Time (uch a 
 Thing as High Treafon againft the King- 
 dom : His Words are thefe , Crimen^ quod iii 
 legibus dicitur Crimen Icefa Majejlatis, ut de Nece 
 vel Seditione I ' erfona Domini Regis vel Regni* 
 he. Cowel's lnterp. tit. Glanvil, Li. C. 2. 
 
 f . 75. Thofe who flatter a King that he is 
 above the Law, do moft notorioufly contra- 
 diet one of the firft Axioms of our Regal 
 Government, which is, that Lex facit Regem ; 
 and he hath originally fubjected himfelf to the 
 Law by his Coronation Oath. Jud. Jenk. 
 fVcrks, p. 144. Mirror. Ch. 5. S. 1. p. 225. 
 This proves a King of England to be King by 
 Law 1 as alfo that the Coronation Oath is a 
 Fundamental L;w of this Kingdom, and is 
 antecedent to the Subj cts Homage and Oath 
 of Fealty, and that our firft Monarch was made 
 loby their own Confent. He is a Legal King, 
 his Authority is under a legal Extent; and as 
 Forte/cue fays, his Power Royal is reftrained 
 by Fower Politick, Fort, de Laudibus Legum An- 
 
 glid.
 
 L 65 1 
 
 //'*, p. 16*. Therefore a King's Grant of any 
 Favour made contrary to Law, is void, accord- 
 ino- to another Axiom of our Government, 
 Nihil aliud pot eft Rex^ &c. quam quod de 'Jure 
 poieft. Bration. He can do nothing as a King 
 but what he can legally do. So that it is 
 made the very EiTence of our Kings, to govern 
 according to Law; for where the Will governs, 
 and not the Law, there he is no longer King ; 
 ubi Voluntas imperat, &c. The Law is to be 
 the only Rule and Mcafure of his Government ; 
 and upon this Account it is truly faid, that 
 a King of England can do no Wrong ; nor 
 will his Prerogative be any Warrant to him to 
 do an Injury to anyone. Noy 182. 1 Co. 44. 
 B. applaud. 247. Jenk. Works 41. He can- 
 not by his Grant or Charter alter a Law, nor 
 alter Inheritance, for thi- would be wrong, 
 which he cannot do. Forte/cue, C. 9. P. 256. 
 9 Co. 123. Bro. abr. tit. Percg. TV. 15, 18, 
 
 SI- 
 
 %. 76. By the 11 Rich. 2 C. 10. It is or- 
 dained and eftablifhed, That neither Letters of 
 the Signet, nor of the King's Privy Seal fiiall be 
 from henceforth fent in Damage or Preju- 
 dice of the Realm, nor in Ditlurbance of 
 the Law. Fid. Sir Rob. Cott. Abri. \ R. 2. 
 Nu. 96. 
 
 [. 77. In the 11 R. 2. Rot. Pari. Pars 1, 
 F 2,
 
 [ 66 ] 
 
 2, 3 Trefiltatt, and five Judges more, with, 
 one of the King's Serjeants at Law, and one- 
 of the King's Council at Law, for delivering' 
 their extravagant, illegal and extra-judicial Opi- 
 nions, That the King might avoid a Statute*. 
 Ordinance and Com-mifTion, which had been 
 made for the Safety of both King and Kingdom 
 in the lad Parliament,, by the Peers and Com- 
 mons of the Land, with the King's A (Tent ; 
 were executed as falfe Traytors, by a Judgment 
 from the mod fupreme Court of Judicature in the 
 Kingdom, the Parliament.. 
 
 f . 78. By the Records, 7 //. 4. Rot. Pari. 
 Numb. 59. It is declared, The King has no 
 Prerogative that derogates from Jujlice and Equity. 
 And Bratlon, in Lib. 3. c. 9. faith, The Regal 
 Power is according to Law : He has no Power 
 to do any Wrong, nor can the King do any thing 
 tut what the Law warrants. Our Records of 
 the greateft Authority with us declare, That our 
 Kings owe all their Power, not to any Right of 
 Inheritance of Conqutft, or Succefjion, but to the 
 People. So in the Parliament Rolls of lien. 4. 
 Numb. ic8. we read, That the Kingly Office and 
 Power was granted by the Commons to King Henry 
 the Fourth, end before him to his Predccefj'or, Richard 
 the Second. Thus the Houfe of Commons or- 
 der'd exprefl; to be enter'd upon Record, That 
 they had granted to King Richard to ufe the 
 fame Liberty that the Kings of England before him-
 
 ( ^7 ) 
 
 had ufed : Which becaufe he abufed, to the 
 Subversion of the Laws, and contrary to his 
 Oath at his Coronation, the fame Perfons that 
 granted him that Power, took it back again, 
 and depofed him. The fame Men, as appears 
 by the fame Record, declared in open Parlia- 
 ment, That having Confidence in the Prudence and 
 Moderation of Henry the Fourth : They Will 
 and Enact, That he enjoy the fame Authority 
 that his Ancefiors enjoy 'd : By which, and other 
 Examples, it is plain that the Kingly Office 
 is nothing but a Truft, and a Gift by Vox Populi 
 of all the People by their Delegates, in Parliament 
 a Hem bled. 
 
 5[. 79. Where the Monarchy is Regular, 
 as in Germany, England, he. the Kings can 
 neither make, nor change Laws : They are 
 under the Law, and the Law is not under them. 
 Their Letters or Commands are not to be re- 
 garded. In the Adminiftration' of Juftice, the 
 Queftion is not what pleafes them, but whan 
 the Law declares to be right, which mud have 
 its Courfe, whether the King be bufy or at 
 Lei (lire, whether he will or not. The King, 
 who never dies, is always prefent in the fu- 
 prcme Courts, and neither knows, nor re- 
 gards the Pleafure of the Man that wears the 
 Crown. 
 
 <[. 80. We have had no King, fincc Wil- 
 liam the I irft, more hardy than Henry the Eighth, 
 
 F 2 and
 
 t 68 ] 
 
 and yet he acknowledged the Power of making, 
 changing, and repeal ng Laws to be in the 
 Parliament. Ir was not he, but the Parlia- 
 ment that difiblv'd the Abbies : He did not 
 take their Lands to himfelf, but received what 
 the Parliament thought fit to give him : He 
 did not reject the Supremacy of the Pope, 
 nor affume any other Power in fpiritual 
 Matters than the Parliament conferr'd upon 
 him. 
 
 f. 8 1. The Judges of the Land, who are 
 chofen by the King, by the Advice of his Coun- 
 cil, are fo far from depending upon the Will 
 of the King 18 Edw. 3. Cap. 1. that they fwear 
 faithfully to ferve the People as well as the 
 King, and to do Jufliceto every Man according 
 to the Law of the Land, notwithstanding any 
 Writs, Letters, or Commands received from 
 him; and in Default thereof, they are to forfeit 
 their Bodies, Lands and Goods, as in Cafes 
 of T'reafon. Queen Elizabeth, and her Coun- 
 fellors, preffed the Judges very hardly to obey 
 the Patent under her great Seal, in the Cafe 
 of Cavendifh ; but they anfwer'd, That both /he 
 and they had taken an Oath to keep the Law, 
 and if they Jhould obey her Commands, the Law 
 would not warrant them, &c. Anderfon's Rep. 
 p. 155. And befides the Offence againft God, 
 their Country, and the Commonwealth, they 
 ailedged the Example of Empfon and Dudley, 
 
 (who
 
 [ 9 1 
 
 (who were executed as Tray tors, as were Ga- 
 vefton, the two Spencers, Trefilian, Strafford, and 
 others, for iubverting the Laws of the Land in 
 Obedience to the King's Command) whereby 
 they faid, They were deterred from obeying her 
 illegal Commands. They who had fworn to 
 keep the Law, notwithftanding the King's 
 "Writs, knew that the Law depended not upon 
 his Will : And the fame Oath that obliged 
 them not to regard any Command they mould 
 receive from him, (hewed, that they were not 
 to expect Indemnity by it ; and not only, that 
 the King had neither the Power of making, 
 altering, mitigating, or interpreting the Law, 
 but that he was not at all to be heard, in ge- 
 neral or particular Matters, otherwife than as 
 he fpeaks in the common Courfe or' Juftice, 
 by the Courts legally eftablifhed. According 
 to Magna Chart a, judgments are to be pafled 
 by Equals: No Man can be imprifon'd, dif- 
 feiz'd of his Freehold, deprived of Life or 
 Limb, unlefs by Sentence of his Peers. And 
 Br act on fays, That in receiving Jujlice the King 
 is equal to another Man : Which could not be, 
 if Judgments were given by him, and he were 
 exempted from the Judgment of all by that 
 Law, which has put all Judgments into the 
 Hands of the People. This Power is executed 
 by them in grand or petty Juries, and the 
 Judges are AfHftants to them in explaining 
 
 F -? tV.
 
 L 70 1 
 
 the difficult' Points of the Law, in which *tis 
 prefumed they fhou'd be learned. The Strength 
 of every Judgment confifts in the Verdict of 
 thefe Juries, which the Judges do not give, 
 but pronounce or declare. And the fame 
 Law that makes good a Verdict given contrary 
 to the Advice or Direction of the Judges, cx- 
 pofes them to the Penalties, if upon their own 
 Heads, or a Command from the King, they 
 fhould prefume to give Sentence, without, or 
 contrary to a Verdict; and no Pretenfions to 
 a Power of interpreting the Law, can exempt 
 them if they break it : Nay, even in fpecial 
 Verdicts, the Judges are only Afliftants to 
 the Juries, who find it fpecially, and the 
 Verdict is from them, tho* the Judges having 
 heard the Point argued, declare the Senfe of 
 the Law thereupon. 
 
 er. 8?.. Bv an Act of the Firft of William 
 and Mary, declaring the Rights and Liberties 
 of the Subject, and fettling the Succeilion of 
 the Crown; they do in the firft Place, (as 
 their Anceftors in like Cafes have ufually done; 
 for the Vindicating and Afierting their Ancient 
 Rights and Liberties, declare, 
 
 I. That the fret ended Power of fa/pending of 
 Laws, or the Execution of Laws by Regal Autho- 
 rity, without Confent of Parliament, is illegal. 
 
 II. That the pretended Power of difperjing 
 
 with
 
 t 71 ] 
 
 with Laws, or the 'Execution of Laws by Regal 
 Authority, as it hath been affumed, and exercifed 
 of late, is illegal. 
 
 III. That the Commiffion for ere cling the late 
 Court of Commiffwners for Ecclefiajlical Caufes, 
 and all ether Ccmmiffions and Courts of like Nature, 
 are illegal and pernicious, 
 
 IV. That levying Money for, or to the Ufe of 
 the Crown, by Pretence of Prerogative-, without 
 Grant of Parliament for longer Time, or in other 
 Manner than the fame is, or fhall be granted, 
 is illegal. 
 
 V. That it is the Right of the Subjects to Pe- 
 tition the King, and all Commitments and Profe- 
 cutions for fuch Petitioning, are illegal. 
 
 VI. That the raifmg, or keeping a Standing 
 Army within the Kingdom, in lime of Peace, 
 unlefs it be with Confent of Parliament, is againfi 
 Law. 
 
 That the Subjects, which are Proteflants, may 
 have Arms for their Defence, according to their 
 Conditions, and as allcvfd by Law. 
 
 VIII. That Eletlion of Members of Parliament 
 ought to be free. 
 
 IX. That the Freedom of Speech, and Debates, 
 or Proceedings in Parliament, ought not to be 
 impeached, or av.eftiortd in any Court or Place 
 out of Parliament. 
 
 X. That excejfive Bail ought not to be required, 
 
 F 4 nor
 
 [ 72 J 
 
 nor exceffive Fines impofed', mr cruel and un- 
 ufual Punifhments infixed. 
 
 XI. 7 hat Jurors ought to be impanneV 'd, and, 
 return' d; and Jurors which pafs upon Men, 
 in trials for High-Treafon, ought to be Free- 
 holders. 
 
 XII. That all Grants, and Promifes of Fines 
 and Forfeitures of particular Perfons before Con- 
 viclion, are illegal and void. 
 
 XIII. And that for Redrefs of all Grievances, 
 and for the amending, Jlrengthning, and. preferving 
 of the Laws, Parliaments ought to be held 
 frequently. And they do claim, demand, and 
 infill upon all, and lingular the Premifes, as 
 their undoubted Rights and Liberties : and 
 that no Declarations, Judgments, Doings, or 
 Proceedings, to the Prejudice of the People 
 in any of the faid Premifes, ought in any 
 wife to be drawn hereafter into Confequence 
 or Example. And whereas it hath been found 
 by Experience, that it is inconfiftent with 
 the Safety and Welfare of this Proteftant King- 
 dom, to be govern'd by a Pcpifh Prince, or 
 by any King or Queen marrying a Papift, 'tis 
 declared, That all and, every Perfcn or Perfons, 
 that is, are, or fa all be reconciled to, or Jloall 
 profefs the Popifp Religion* or Jhall marry a 
 Papift, /hall be exc uded, and be for ever unca- 
 pable to inherit, poffefs, or enjoy the Crown and 
 Government of this Rea'.m, and Ireland, and the 
 
 Demi-
 
 t 73 3 
 
 Dominions thereunto belonging, or any Part rf 
 the fame, or to have, ufe, or exercife any Regal 
 Power, Authority, or Jurifdiclion within the 
 fame-, and in all, and every fuch Cafe or Cafes, 
 the People of theft Realms fha'.l be and are hereby 
 abfolved of their Allegiance ; and the faid Crown 
 and Government fhall from time to time defcend 
 to, and be enjoyed by fuch Perfon or Perfons, 
 being Proteflants, as fhould have inherited and 
 enjoyed the fame, in Cafe the faid Perfon or 
 Perfons, fo reconciled, holding Communion, or pre- 
 f effing, or marrying, as aforefaid, were naturally 
 dead, 
 
 %. 83. 'Tis plain from what hath been faid 
 that all Government, Authority and Magi- 
 ftracy, proceeds from the People. Now I 
 will {hew, that they have Authority to fet 
 afide the next Heir to Government, when unfit 
 or uncapable to govern : And alfo, to difpofTefs 
 them that are in Pofieffion, if they obferve 
 not the Laws and Conditions by which, and 
 for which their Dignities were given them ; 
 and when it is done upon juft and urgent 
 Caufes, and by publick Authority of the whole 
 Body, i.the JufHce thereof is plain. As when 
 the Prince fhall endeavour to eftablifh Idolatry, 
 or any Religion which is repugnant to the 
 Scripture, contrary to the Laws of the Land, 
 or to deftroy the People, or make them Slaves 
 to his tyrannical Will and Pleafure. For, 
 
 as
 
 [ 74 ] 
 as the whole Body Natural may cure its Head 
 when out of Order, fo may the Body Politick 
 cure or purge their Heads, when they are per- 
 nicious or deftru&ive to the Body Politick ; 
 feeing that a Body civil may have divers 
 Heads by Succeflion, or Election, and cannot 
 be bound to one, as a Body Natural is: 
 Which Body Natural, if it had Ability to 
 cut off its aking or fickly Head, and take 
 another, I doubt not but it vyould do it; 
 and that all Men would confefs it had Au- 
 thority fufHcient, and Real on fo to do, rather 
 than that the other Parts mould perifh, or 
 live in Pain and continual Torment : So may 
 the Body Politick chofe another Head and 
 Governor in the room of its definitive one; 
 which hath been done for many Ages, and 
 God hath wonderfully concurred (for the 
 moil Part) with fuch judicial Acts of the 
 Commonwealth againft their evil Princes, not 
 only profpering the fame, but by giving com- 
 monly fome notable SuccefTor in Place of 
 the deprived, thereby both to juftify the Facf, 
 and remedy the Fault of 'him that went before. 
 Saul was flain by the Philiftines, by God's Ap- 
 pointment, for not fulfilling the Law and 
 Limits prefcribed unto him. Amnion was law- 
 ful King alfo, yet he Was flain for not walking 
 in the Way prefcribed him by God, 2 Kings 
 xxi. and David and Jofiab were made Kings 
 
 in
 
 [ 75 3 
 
 in their room, who were two mod excellent 
 Princes. Shalum, Pekahiab and Pekah, three 
 wicked and idolatrous Kings of Jfrael, were 
 flain one after another ; and all the Kings of 
 Ifrael, who violated the Covenant and Condi- 
 tions annexed to their Crowns, did, for the 
 mod Part, lofe their Lives, and underwent 
 the utter Extirpation of their Pofterities from 
 the Crown. Rehoboam (for only threatning 
 tD ooprefs the People) was deferted by them, 
 who chofe Jeroboam h!s Servant in his flead, 
 which was approved of by God. 
 
 fl[. 84. If I flvnild inftance all the Kings 
 of Ifrael, whom God permitted (or appointed) 
 to be (lain, and thofe that were carried away 
 Captive by the Heathens, for their unjuft Go- 
 vernment, I fhould be too copious. But I 
 will leave the Hebrews, and give you feveral 
 Examples of the depriving of evil Princes of 
 the Government in France, Spain, Portugal, &c. 
 And laft of all in Scotland and England, and 
 the Happinefs and Profperity that did attend 
 thofe Proceedings; a.";d by Confequence God 
 approved thereof, and docs approve of fuch 
 A&s. 
 
 ^[. 85. There were two great Changes made 
 of the Royal Line in France ; the firft from 
 Pharamond to the Line of Pepin, and the moft 
 remote in Blood of his Dependents having 
 often been preferred before the nearefl, and 
 
 Eaftards
 
 t 76 ] 
 
 Baftards before the Legitimate IfTue, they were 
 at laft all laid afide. The Second from Pepin to 
 Hugo Capet, in which Family the Crown remains 
 to this Day. Childerick the Third was deprived 
 for his evil Government, and Pepin was chofen 
 King in his ftead,whofe Posterity reigned for many 
 Years after him, and were brave Kings, as Hif- 
 tory doth teftify. Lewis the Third, and Charles, 
 Sirnamed Le Grofs, were both deprived by the 
 States of France, for their evil Government, and 
 fuch who were thought more worthy appointed 
 in their flead. All French Hiftorians do attri- 
 bute to thefe great Changes that have been made 
 by the People, the Profperity and Greatnefs of 
 their Kingdom. Henry the Third, before he 
 was King of France, was chofen King of Polonia, 
 who departing thence without Leave, and not 
 returning according to his Promife, was deprived 
 by Aft of Parliament. 
 
 ^[. 86. In Spain, Rotherick and Alphonfo, were 
 deprived for their evil Government. Bernard, 
 the Son of Charkmaint r'of France, was rejected, 
 becaufe they would not be govern'd by a French- 
 man. Alphonfo the Third, Sirnamed The Great, 
 a brave Prince, yet at lait fell into Tyranny, was 
 twice depos'd. Puff, p 29. 30. Favila, King 
 of Cafiile, a cruel Tyrant, was depos'd by the 
 Cajlilians, who abjur'd him, and fet up Magi, 
 like that of the Perfians, to govern them. Al- 
 phonfo the Fourth being judg'd unfit to govern, 
 1 was
 
 [ 77 ] 
 
 was oblig'd to furrender the Kingdom to his 
 Brother Ramicus. Crdonius ufurped the Crown, 
 and banilhing Santius Crafius, the People rofc 
 to reftore their good King, and pulPd down 
 Crdonius, and fet up Santius the fecond Time. 
 Blanch, Wife of Leivis the Eighteenth of France* 
 was put by, and the younger Sifter Beringaria. 
 fet up in her Head. Alphonfo the Tenth was de- 
 pofed, and Flavio Suintilla, was deprived for 
 his evil Government, together with all his Pofte- 
 rity, and Siffinando chofen in his room. Peter^ 
 Sirnamed The Cruel, was twice dethron'd ; the 
 laft Time they fent for a Baftard Brother of 
 his, named Henry, Count of Traflaramara, Baf- 
 tard to Alphonfo, the Eleventh King of Caftik > 
 that lived in France, defiring him to come with 
 fome French-men, to affift them in that Act, 
 and take the Crown upon himfelf; which he 
 did by the Help of the Spaniards, and flew him 
 in Fight Hand to Hand, and fo enjoyed the 
 Crown, and his Pofterity after him : This 
 Henry was a moft excellent King, as well for his 
 Courage in War, as for his other brave Qualities. 
 Henry the Fourth, call'd The Scandal of Spain, 
 who being incapable of getting Children, hir'd 
 another Man to lie with his Queen, and declared 
 that Daughter fo begotten, Heir apparent, for 
 which the Nobility enter'd into an Aftbciation, 
 depos'd him, and gave the Crown to Alphonfo 
 she Eleventh. King Ferdinand, and his Daugh- 
 ter
 
 [ 7* ] 
 
 tcr married to the King of Caftile, and her 
 Uncle, by the Father's Side, were rejected, and 
 the Crown given to John, a Knight of Calatrava, 
 and Ballard to an Uncle of Ferdinand their King. 
 
 f . 87. In the Year 1581. the States of Holland, 
 in a general Afiembly at the Hague, abjur'd all 
 Obedience and Subjection to Phillip, King of 
 Spain-, and in a Declaration juftify'd their fo doing; 
 For that by his tyrannous Government, againfl Faith 
 fo often given and broken, he had loft his Right to 
 all the Belgic Provinces ; that therefore they deposed 
 him, Thuan, 1. 74. From that Time to this, no 
 State or Kingdom has profpered fo much as they. 
 
 [. 88. In Portugal, Alphcnfus was depofed be- 
 caufe he was young, and his Mother encroaching 
 upon their Liberties. Don Sancho the Second 
 was deprived by the univerfal Confent of all Por- 
 tugal, and Don Alanfo, his Brother, fet up: 
 Who, amongil other great Exploits, was the 
 firfl that fet Portugal free from all Subjection, 
 Dependance, and Homage to the Kingdom of 
 Caftile, And his Son who was his SuccefTor, 
 builded and founded about forty great Towns 
 in Portugal; who was likewife a moll rare Prince ; 
 and his Off-fpring ruleth to this Day. 
 
 ^.89. In Denmark, Chrijlopher the Second, 
 Waldemar, and Erich, were depofed for their 
 evil Government, and Chrijlian the Second, was 
 depofed, Anno 1523. for his evil Government, 
 and Frederick, Duke of Holflein, was chofe in his 
 2 Head :
 
 [ 79 ] 
 
 ftead : The Anceftor of the prefent King of 
 Denmark. Cijlernus, for his intolerable Cruelty, 
 was deprived, and his Three Children difinhe- 
 rited, and his Uncle Frederick, Duke of Holjtein % 
 was chofen in his ftead, whofeOfF-fpringremain- 
 eth in the Crown. 
 
 ^[. 90. In Poland, Leclicus the Second, Anno 
 750. Lefcus the Firft, Mieciflauus, Senior, and 
 Uladijlaus the Third, firnam'd Loclicus were de- 
 pofed for their Male-Adminiftration. Sigifmond 
 a Hungarian, was refufed the Crown, tho' Heir 
 to it, becaufe he was a Hungarian. Henry of 
 Anjou deferted V eland upon his being made King 
 of France, upon which they chofe a new King. 
 
 ^[.91. In Sweden, Ingellus, Amund, Swercher y 
 Waldimar, Birgir, Magnus, and Albert his Suc- 
 cefTor, were all twice depofed ; Erick was twice 
 depofed, and Chrijlopher, Duke of Bavaria 9 
 made King in his ftead ; Charles Cnatefon was 
 depofed, and Chrijlian King of Denmark crown'd 
 in his ftead, who likewife turning Tyrant, was 
 depofed, and Charles was reftored again, and 
 depos'd again for his Tyranny, and re ftor'd again, 
 and died in PoficfHon. Stenflure reign'd fourteen 
 Years as Regent, not as King, was depofed, and 
 John the Second made King, who turning Ty- 
 rant, was depofed, and Stenjlure made Regent 
 again. Erick was by the univerfal Rifing of the 
 People, depofed for his Tyranny, and his 
 Brother Cherries made King in his flea !. Sigif- 
 mond of Poland, about the Beginning of this 
 
 Age,
 
 t So ] 
 
 Age, was depofcd for attempting to reftore Pd- 
 pery, and, in a full AfTembly of the Eftates,' 
 declared incapable to reign $ and Charles, Duke 
 of Sundermania, his Uncle, made King in his 
 Room, who was the Father of the Great Gujlavus 
 Adolf bus. 
 
 f . 92. Tarquin being expelled for his Tyranny,' 
 the Remans had fuch a Hatred againft the Fa- 
 mily, that they would never after name any 
 of their Children Tarquin. Upon the Alteration 
 of their Government, Junius Brutus was made 
 Conful, who executed Juftice upon his own 
 Sons, and ftood himfelf upon the Judgment- 
 Seat, and faw them put to Death, for confpi- 
 ring ? # to reftore the Family of Tarquin to the 
 Throne. Romulus, Numa Pompilius, Tullius 
 Hojlilius, Ancus Martius, Tarquinius Prifcus, 
 Servius Tullius, and Tarquinius Superbus, were 
 depofed for their Tyranny, and the Roman 
 Government turn'd into a Common-wealth, the 
 beft regulated at firft that ever the World faw. 
 The depofing the Roman Emperors, would be 
 endlefs to enumerate : No Man can pretend they 
 had any divine Right, who were moff of them 
 of mean Birth, and proclaimed by the Soldiery. 
 Valentinian was the Son of a Roper ; Jovian of 
 mean Birth, and a Foot-Soldier, and the like ; 
 they came in by Force, and were driven out by 
 Force; and thirty fix of them were murther'd 
 by one another. There are no Parts of Hiftory,' 
 
 bur
 
 f 8i ] 
 
 but are full ofExamples of thisKind,and the nearer 
 we go back to the Beginning of Government, the 
 more Inftances we have of the Peoples fettingup, 
 andpullingdowntheirMonarchsfortheirTyranny. 
 
 f . 93. Nay, the very Emperors of Germany* 
 when they infringed the Rules of Government, 
 which they had fworn inviolably to obferve, and 
 violated the fundamental Laws of the Empire, 
 the States have oppofed and refilled them, 
 and finally deprived them of the Empire. 
 The German Lawyers have always held, and do 
 ftill hold it for a certain Truth, That when they 
 cbufe their Power, for the overturning of the State, 
 cr for invading the Rights of the Princes of the Em- 
 fire, that it is a Right inherent in the Empire, to de- 
 prive them of their imperial Dignity, and to confer 
 the fame on another. T. his is declared by Lam- 
 fadii'.s, Arnizaus, Diderick, Cenringius, Lambert , 
 Schafnabnrgh, Aventin, Annal. I. 7. Cufpin, and 
 and many others. Lewis the Good, in the Year 
 833. Henry the Fourth, and PFenceflaus, in the 
 Year 1400, were depofed by the Electors of the 
 Empire, for their evil Government. 
 
 C. 94. In Scotland, the Nobility and Gentry, 
 &c. took Arms againft Durfltis their King, for 
 his intolerable Cruelty, and flew him and his 
 Confederates in Battle (and put by his Sons, led 
 they fhould imitate their Father's Vices) and 
 elected Even, his Brother in his ftead, who 
 leaving a Ballard Son, the Kingdom was confer- 
 G red
 
 [ S-2 J 
 
 red on him. Crathy Cinthus having furpriz'd and' 
 flain Donald for his Tyranny, he was unani*- 
 mouOy chofen King. Ethus was, for his evil 
 Government, deprived, and Gregory made King 
 in his Stead. James the Third, of Scotland, 
 for endeavouring to introduce an Arbitrary 
 Government, after the Violation of manjt folema 
 Promifes to the contrary; the Nobility and 
 Gentry, in great Numbers afiembled them- 
 felves together, having his eldeft Son,, about 
 Sixteen Years of Age, at their Head, to op- 
 pole his Defigns ; who met in the Field of 
 Stirling.,, where the King was deferted and (lain, 
 and his Son was declared King ; and in a 
 free Parliament, foon after call'd, the Battle 
 of the Field of Stirling was fully debated, and 
 by the unanimous Confer) t of the Three Es- 
 tates, it was declared and adjudged, 'That thofe 
 that were flain in the faid Field of Stirling, in the 
 Affflance and Defence of the-, late King-, had fallen 
 by their own deferving, and juflly fuffered the 
 Punishment of their Rafmefs : That., the Con* 
 quercrs were innocently guilty of the Blood there 
 (hid, and fairly acquitted of any Piirfuit. The 
 Act of Parliament condemns the arbitrary-. 
 Proceedings of the faid King James the Third,. 
 Fines and Forfeits mod of the Nobility and 
 Gentry that flood by. him at the Battle of 
 Stirling, and justifies and clears all thofe that 
 fought againft him, in Defence of their Laws- 
 
 and.
 
 t 83 ] 
 
 and Liberties, as is to be ken in the Scotch 
 Acts of Parliament, printed by the Authority 
 of Queen Mary of Scotland \ of which fee more 
 in Buchanan, Drummc/id's Hiftory of the Five 
 Jameses, and others. Buchanan, fpeaking -of 
 his Country, faith, that it was free from the 
 Beginning ; created itfelf Kings at en this very 
 Condition, That the Empire being conferred on 
 them by the Suffrages of the People, if the Mat- 
 ter required it, they might take it away by the 
 fame Suffrages: Of which Law many Footfteps 
 have remained to our Age. 
 
 <[. 95. 1 will end this Narration with Ex- 
 amples out of England (before and fince the 
 Conqueft) Archigallo, Emerian, Vcrt'i^em, Sigi- 
 btrt, King of the JVeJl- Saxons, Becrnred, and 
 Alured King of Northumberland, were all de- 
 prived of their Thrones for their evil Govern- 
 ment ; and fuch who were thought more worthy, 
 preferred in their (lead. King Edwin being 
 deprived for his unjuft Government, the Crown 
 was given to his Brother Edgar, who was one 
 of the rareft Princes that the World had in 
 his Time, both for Peace and War, Juftice, 
 Piety and Valour. He kept a Navy (faith Stow) 
 of three thoufand and fix hundred Ships, di.ri- 
 buted in divers Parts for the Defence of the 
 Realm, and he built and reftored forty feven 
 Monajleries at his own Charge, &c. 
 
 f . 96. After the Conqueft, King Edward 
 G 2 the
 
 [ 84 ] 
 
 the Second, Richard the Second, and Richard 
 the Third, were, for not governing accord- 
 ing to the Laws of the Land, deprived of 
 the Government, and Edward the Third, and 
 Henry the Fourth and Seventh were preferred 
 in their Rooms, who were mod rare and va- 
 liant Princes, who have done many impor- 
 tant Acts in this Kingdom, and have raifed 
 many Families to Nobility, put down others, 
 changed States, both abroad and at home, alter- 
 ed the Courfe of Defcent in the Blood- Royal, 
 and the like-, which was unjuft, and is void 
 to this Day, if the Changes and Deprivations 
 of the former Kings were unlawful, (accord- 
 ing to the Doctrine of Paffive-Obedience with- 
 out Referve) and confequently, all thofe Princes 
 that have fucceeded them (which yet n*ver 
 failed of a conftant Defcent) were Ufurpers ; 
 and thofe who do pretend to the Crown of 
 England at this Day, have no Title ; but by 
 virtue of the late Act of Parliament (which 
 was never denied, or dare be denied) for that 
 from thofe Men they defcended, who were 
 put in the Place of the aforementioned De- 
 prived, by the People. And this is, and 
 hath been the Cuftom and Practice of all 
 Kingdoms and Commonwealths, to deprive 
 their Princes for their evil Government, and 
 that God hath, and does concur with the 
 fame, is plain from the Examples before 
 
 mentioned,
 
 r 8 5 ] 
 
 mentioned, of the Profperity and Happinefs 
 that hath attended thofe Acts. 
 
 5[. 97. In the Reign of King John, the Ba- 
 rons, Prelates and Commons, took a folemn 
 Oath, That if he Jhould refufe to grant and 
 confirm iheir Laws and Liberties, they would 
 make War againjl him fo long, and withdraw 
 themfelves from their Allegiance to him, until 
 he fhoiCd confirm to them by a Charter, ratified 
 with his Sea!, all Things which they required: 
 And if the King Jhould afterwards, peradvcniure 
 recede from his Cath, as they verily believed he 
 would, by reafon of his double Dealing, they would 
 forthwith, by fiizing on his Caftles, compel him 
 to give Satisfaction, He afterwards breaking 
 his Oath and Promife, the Barons faid, What 
 JJjall we do with this wicked King ? If we let 
 him thus alone, he zvill defiroy us and our People ; 
 // is expedient therefore, that he Jhould be ex- 
 pelled the Throne. We will not have him any 
 longer to reign over us. And accordingly they 
 fent fome of their own Body, both Lords and 
 Commons beyond- Sea for Lewis, the Prince 
 of France, whom they had chofen (M. Weft. 
 274.) to be their King, and fwore Fealty to 
 him, but they afterwards difcovering that he 
 had fworn that he would opprefs them, and 
 extirpate all their Kindred, they rejected him, 
 and fet up Henry the Third, King John's, eldeft 
 Son, who was not full Nine Years old. The 
 G 3 Earl
 
 [ 86 ] 
 
 Earl of Pembroke; Great Marjhal, fpcke to 
 this Effect to them, 'J bo' we have profecuted 
 the Father, and that julUy, yet ibis young infant 
 is pure and innocent f cm thoje bis Doings : 
 Ten know what the Scripture faith, The Child 
 mull not bear the Iniquity of his Father : 
 Come, It us pity bis tender Tears, and make, 
 and con filiate him to be our King, and throw 
 eff this 2'oke of vile- Slavery from us, this 
 French Kings '.on and his People. At laft 
 the whole Council, as if they had been in- 
 fpired from Heaven, cried out with one 
 Voice, Fiat fie, fiat Ilex, fiat Rex ; Be it fo, 
 he fhall be our King ; Ann. Dcm. 1216. So 
 the Day was appointed for his Coronation, 
 which was Simon and Jade. Knighton de vent, 
 Angliae. Col. 2426, 2427. and vid. Mat, 
 Par. f. 289, and 309. 
 
 %. 98. In the Reign of Edward the 
 Second, the Pasliamcnt met at London, and 
 declared by common Confent, That he was 
 Hhwcrlhy if tie Crown-, and for many Caufes 
 deposM him, and chole his Son Edward by 
 nnanim jus Confent, and his Election was 
 publicly declared in Wefminfier-Hdii Some of 
 both Ploufes were fent to Edward the Second 
 to acquaint him with the Election of his 
 Sen, and to require him to refign the Crown, 
 whi h accordingly he did , all the People 
 conknted to the Election \ as did ail the 
 
 Prelates i
 
 [ s 7 ] 
 
 Prelates ; and the Arch-Bifhop made an Ora- 
 tion in thefe Words, Vox Populi, Vox Dei, 
 exhorting ail to pray for the King Elect. 
 
 C. 99. In the 39th Year of Henry the 
 Sixth, Richard Duke of York, laid his Claim 
 to the Crown in Parliament ; and after long 
 Arguments made, and deliberate Confutation 
 had among the Peers, Prelates and Ccm- 
 is cf the Realm ; (fays Grafts::,) It was 
 condefc ended and agreed, that King Henry hav- 
 ing he en taken for King above Thirty Eight 
 Years, thai he Jbould enjoy the fame, during his 
 Life : Bui if he either died or refigned, cr for- 
 feited the fame, for infringing any Point cf this 
 Concord, then, the faid Crown and Authority 
 Royal, fieould immediately defend to the Duke of 
 York, if he then lived, or e'fe to the next Heir 
 of his Line, or Lineage-, and thai the Duke, 
 from thenceforth Jbazdd be Proteclor and Regent 
 f tie Land-, presided always, Thai if the 
 King -did clofely, or a; partly fiudy, cr go about 
 to break, or alter this /face;:::::!, or to cor. 
 or imagine tie Dc lb or Denruliion cf the faid 
 Dune, 'or L: Blood, he fan' d forfeit the Crown, 
 and the Duke cf York fhoa'd have it. Thefe 
 Articles were not only written, fealed and 
 fworn to by the two Parties, but alio were 
 d in the High Court ol Parliament. 
 C~afirfs Chron. fol. 647. vid. Cote. Records 
 [gi Henry the Sixth, from No. 10. to No. 
 
 G 4 33-
 
 [ 88 ] 
 
 33 But Duke Richard being (lain in the 
 Battle of Wakefield, his Son Edward called a 
 Council of Lords Spiritual and Temporal, 
 and laid open his Title to the Realm to 
 them, with the Articles of Agreement, After 
 the Lords had confidered and weighed his 
 Title and Declaration, they determined by 
 Authority of the faid Council: Forafmuch as 
 King Henry the Sixth, contrary to his Oath, 
 Honour, and Agreement, had violated, and 
 infringed the Order taken and ena&ed in th$ 
 lad Parliament ; and alfo, becaufe he was in- 
 efficient to Rule the Realm and unprofitable to 
 the Common- wealth, he was therefore by the 
 aforefaid Authority, deprived and rejected of 
 all Kingly Honour and Regal Sovereignty, 
 and incontinent, Edward, Earl of March, was 
 by the Lords in the faid Council afTembled, 
 named, elected, and admitted for King and 
 Governor of the Realm. And the People be- 
 ing got together in St. John's Fields to be- 
 hold the Mutter that was there that Day, the 
 Lord Eauconbridge, who took the Mufters, 
 wifely declared to the Multitude, the Offences 
 and Breaches of the late Agreement done by 
 JCing Henry the Sixth, and demanded whether 
 they would have the faid King Henry to 
 reign any longer over them, to whom, they 
 with one Voice, anfwer'd, Nay, Nay ; then 
 afking them, if they would ferve and obey 
 
 the
 
 [ 8 9 1 
 
 the Farl of March \ as their Sovereign Lord, 
 they anfwer'd, Tea, Tea, crying King Edward, 
 with many great Shouts, and clapping of 
 Hands. The Lords being advertifed of the 
 loving Conlent, which the Commons frankly 
 and freely of their free Will had given; they 
 all prefently, with feveral of the mod fub- 
 flantial Commons, went to Baynard's Caftle, 
 and acquainted the faid Earl with their 
 Election and Admiffion, and the loving Af* 
 fent of the faithful Commons -, and the next 
 Day, being conveyed to Weftminfter, his Title 
 and Claim to the Crown was declared ; Firft, 
 as Son and Hdr to Richard his Father, right 
 Inheritor to the fame : Secondly, By Authori- 
 ty of Parliament, and Forfeiture committed 
 by King Henry. And the Commons being 
 again demanded, if they would admit and 
 take the faid Earl as their Sovereign Lord, 
 all with one Voice, cried, Tea, Tea-, which 
 Agreement concluded, He was then again 
 proclaimed, and the 29th of June following, 
 he was crowned King at Wtjlminjier, by the 
 Name of King Edward the Fourth. Graf. 
 Chron. f 652, 653, 658. Vid. Speed's Hijl. 
 f 851. Col. 1, 2. Stew. f. 414. Col. 2. 415. 
 Col. 1 . 
 
 f. ico. Thus by the common Ufage of 
 England, which is the common Law of England, 
 Kings (degenerating into Tyrants) may be de- 
 prived
 
 r 9-> i 
 
 privcd For evil Government, and others fet up 
 in their Stead, is plain from the aforegoing 
 Examples. 
 
 ^f. ior. That all Magi fir ates and 'Governors 
 <do proceed from the People, is plain from the 
 following Examples in Scripture, Deut. xvi. 
 1 8, 19. The Children of Ifrael are commanded to 
 make Judges and Officers throughout their Tribes-, 
 Deut. xvii. 14, 15. When thou art come into the 
 Land, &c. and Jhalt fay, I will fet a King over me, 
 'like as all the Nations that are about me : Thou 
 Jhalt in any wife fet him a King over thee, whom 
 the Lord thy God Jhalt chcofe : One from amongft 
 thy Brethren Jhalt thou fet over thee ; thou may'fl 
 Mi fet a Stranger over thee. So God did only 
 referve to himfelf the Nomination of their 
 'King ; by which he defign'd to make his 
 People more happy than they could expect 
 by their own peculiar Choice : He knowing 
 the Heart of Man, and the Corruption of 
 their Nature, did nominate them who were 
 'rnoft fit to govern his People ; yet that Cod did 
 .not require the Jews to accept him for King 
 'whom he nominated, but left it to their own 
 free Will, whether they would approve of 
 'him or not, is plain from the following Ex- 
 amples. Upon the Death of Saul, David was 
 fet up by the Appointment of Almighty God, 
 yet there was only the Tribe of Judah that 
 followed David, and made him King ; eleven 
 
 Tribes
 
 [ 9* ] 
 
 Tribes followed l[hboJhetb 9 Saul's Son, whom 
 they made King-, and tho' David had a long 
 War againft them, yet he doth not call 
 them Rebels ; neither do we find that God 
 puniflied them cr fent any Judgment upon 
 them for not accepting of David as King ; 
 and when Rechab ard Banab had (lain Ifkbo- 
 JJjeth, and brought his Head to David at He- 
 bran, faying, Behold the Head of thine Enemy: 
 yet David, infbead of rewarding them, caufed 
 them to be (lain for killing of JjJobojheth, whom 
 he calls a righteous Perfon, not a Rebel : 
 After whofe Death, all thofe Tribes came to 
 David, and made a Compact with him for 
 the Performance of fuch Conditions, which 
 they thought neceffary for the fecuring of their 
 Liberty, before they made him King, 2 Sam. 
 Chap. 2, 3, 4, 5. 
 
 %. 102. The making of Solomon King by 
 David his Father, was not thought fufHcient 
 without the People's Confent, clfe why did 
 the People anoint So'omcn, and make him 
 King the fecond Time ? 
 
 *T. 103. Saul, who left behind him many 
 Children, yet not any of them fucceeded him, 
 except JJIdcJJjcth, who was not his elded Son, 
 bur was anointed King by Abner, the Gene- 
 ral Captain of that Nation, and whom eleven 
 Tribes followed, until he was (lain, and then 
 they chafe David. And Jonathan, one of 
 
 SauT*
 
 [ 9* J 
 
 Sau/'s Sons, fo much praifed in holy Scripture, 
 being flain in War, his Son Mephibojheth did 
 not fucceed to the Crown, tho* by Succefllon 
 he had a more plaufible Right to it than 
 David. God promifed David, That bis Seed 
 Jhould Reign for ever after ; yet we do not 
 find this performed to any of his elder Sons, 
 nor to any of their Off-fpring, but only to 
 Solomon, his youngeft and tenth Son. After 
 the Death of Solomon, Rehoboam, the lawful 
 Son and Heir of King Solomon, came to Shi- 
 chem where all the People of Jfrael were af- 
 femb;ed together tor his Coronation and Ad- 
 miflion to the Crown, (for until that Time 
 he was not accounted as true King) but re- 
 fufirg to eafe them of fome heavy Impofiti- 
 ons which they had received from his Father, 
 Ten of the Twelve Tribes refufed to admit 
 him their King, and chofe Jeroboam his Ser- 
 vant, and made him their lawful King-, and 
 God allowed thereof; for when Rehoboam had 
 prepared one Hundred and Fourfcore Thou- 
 fand chofen Men, to reduce thofe Ten Tribes 
 to his Obedience, God commanded him to 
 defift, by his Prophet Shemajah, and fo they 
 did. Amnion being flain by his own Servants, 
 the People of the Land (lew them that had 
 confpired againft him, and made Jofifih, his 
 Son, King in his Stead, which had been moft 
 
 impertinent,
 
 [ 33 ] 
 
 impertinent, if he was King before they made 
 him fo. 
 
 %. 104. We read Judges viii. 21, 22, 23. 
 That after Gideon had (lain 'Lebah and Z/- 
 munna with the Midianites ; the Children of 
 i/hzf/ fa id unto Gideon, Rule thou over us, 
 both thou and thy Sons, and thy Sons Sons alfo ; 
 for thou bajl delivered us from the Hand of 
 Midian. But he refufing their Offer, they 
 afterwards made his Ballard Son Abimelech, 
 King, tho' he had Seventy lawful begotten 
 Sons. 
 
 f. 105. Zimri, having flain Afa King of 
 Judah, reigned in his (lead ; but the Children 
 of Jfrael hearing thereof, rejected him, and 
 made Omri, the Captain of the Hoft, King 
 of Jfrael, 1 Kings xvi. 15, 16. 
 
 %. 106. The Ifraelites met together, and 
 chofe Ehud, Gideon, Sampfon, Jephthah, and 
 others, to be their Leaders, whom they judg- 
 ed fit to deliver them from their, Enemies. 
 By the fame Right they affembled at Mifpeth, 
 to make War againft. the Tribe of Benjamin, 
 when Juftice was denied to be done againft 
 thofe who had abufed the Levite\ Concubine. 
 Jehu, and all the other Kings of Jfrael, whether 
 good or bad, had no other Title than was 
 conferred upon them by the People ; which 
 could not have given them any, unlefs they had 
 met together : nor when met together, without 
 
 the
 
 C 94 ] 
 
 the Confent, and againft the Will of thofe 
 who reio-ned, unlel's the Power had been in 
 themfelves. 
 
 ^f. 107. The Kingdom of Edcm appointed 
 a Deputy to Rule over them inltead of a 
 King, there being no King in Edom t 1 Kings 
 xxii. 47. See Maccab. ix. 28, 29, 30. and 
 xiii. 8, 9. and xiv. 41, to 49. by which it 
 is further apparent, that their Kings and 
 Governors were chofen by the People. Thefe 
 and the like Determinations of Nations about 
 admitting, or refuting of Princes to reign, or 
 not to reign over them ; or depriving them 
 becaufe of their evil Government, when they 
 are found incurable ; (provided fuch Nations 
 acted for wife and good Ends, and were 
 moved by juft Caufes, and fufficient Reafons,) 
 were not only allow'd but approv'd by God, 
 the Lover of Juftice, as correfponding with 
 the righteous and gracious Defigns of his 
 Providence, which always intends the Wel- 
 fare and Happinefs of Mankind. 
 
 f. 108. l- the Subject may in no Cafe 
 refill, then there can be no Law, but the 
 Will and Pleafure of the Prince : For whoever 
 mull be oppofed in Nothing, may do every 
 Thing; then all our Laws fignify no more 
 than fo many Cyphers : And what are the 
 Law-Makers, but fo many Fools or Mad- 
 Men, 
 2
 
 [ 95 ] 
 
 Men, who give themfelves Trouble to- no- 
 Purpofe ? For if the King is not obliged to 
 govern by thofe Laws that they make, to 
 what Purpofe are the People to obey fuch 
 Laws ?. 
 
 5f[. 109. If the King fue me by Pretence 
 of Law, and endeavour to take away my 
 Money, my Houfe, or my Land, I may de- 
 fend them by the Law : But if he comes 
 armed to take away our Liberty, Life, or 
 Religion, which are ours by the Laws of 
 God and Man, may we not fecure them with 
 a good Confcience ? 
 
 ^. no. Every Man has a Right to prefer vc 
 himfelf, his Rights and Priviledges, againfc 
 him who has no Authority to invade them : 
 And this was the Cafe of Samp/on^ who made 
 War upon the Pbilifiines for burning his Wife 
 and her Father , Samp/on, who was but a. 
 private Perfon, knew he could have no other 
 Kind of Juftice againft them, than what the 
 Law of Nature gives every Man. 
 
 f. in. The Work of all Magiftrates 13 
 always and every where the fame, even in 
 the doing of Juftice, and procuring the Wel- 
 fare of thofe that create them. This we learn 
 from common Senfe. Plalo^ Arijlotki Ciccro y 
 2nd the belt humane Authors lay it as an 
 immoveable Foundation, upon which they 
 build their Arguments relating to Matters of 
 
 that
 
 [ 9 ] 
 
 that Nature. And the Apoftle Paul declares, 
 Rom. xiii. That Rulers are not a Terror to good 
 Works, but to evil. Wilt thou not then be a- 
 fraid of the Power? Do that which is good, 
 and thou /halt have Praife of the fame ; for he 
 is the Minifler of God unto thee for good : But 
 if thou do that which is evi!, be afraid \ for 
 he beareth not the Sword in vain -, for he is the 
 Minifler of God, a Revenger to execute Wrath 
 upon him that doeth evil. For this Caufe pay 
 you tribute alfo, Rom. xiii. 6. And the Rea- 
 fon St. Paul gives for praying for Kings, 
 and all that are in Authority, is, That we 
 may live a quiet and peaceable Life, in all Godli- 
 nefs and Honejly, i Tim. ii. But if this be 
 the Work of the Magiftrate, and the glorious 
 Name of God's Minifter be given to him for 
 the Performance of it, we may eafily fee to 
 whom that Title belongs, His Children and 
 Servants ye are, whofe Work ye do. He there- 
 fore, and he only, is the Servant of God, 
 who does the Work of God , who is a Ter- 
 ror to thofe that do evil, and a Praife to thofe 
 that do well-, who beareth the Sword for the 
 Punifloment of Wickednefs and Vice ; and fo 
 governs, that the People may live quietly in 
 all Godlinefs and Honefiy. The Order of his 
 Inftitution is inverted, and the Inititution va- 
 cated, if the Power be turned to the Praife 
 of thofe who do Evil, and becomes a Terror 
 
 I to
 
 I $7 J 
 
 to fuch as do well ; and that none who live 
 honeftly and juftly can be quiet under it. If 
 God be the Fountain of Juftice, Mercy and 
 Truth, and thofe his Servants who walk in 
 them ; no Exercife of Violence, Fraud, Cruel- 
 ty, Pride, or Avarice, is patronized by him : 
 And they who are the Authors of thofe Vil- 
 lanies, cannot but be the Minifters of him, 
 who fets himfelf up againft God , becaufe 
 tis impoflible that Truth and Falfhood, Mercy 
 and Cruelty, Juftice and the mod violent 
 Opprefilon, can proceed from the fame Root. 
 It was a Folly and a Lye in thofe Jews, to 
 call thcmfelves the Children cf Abraham, who 
 did not the Works of Abraham \ and Chrift 
 declared them to be the Children of the 
 Devil, whofe Works they did, John viii. 39, 
 44. which Words proceeding from the eter- 
 nal Truth., do as well fhew to us, whofe 
 Child and Servant every Man is to be ac- 
 counted, as to thofe who firft heard them. 
 All Princes therefore, that have Power, are 
 not to be efteemed equally the Minilrers of 
 God. They that are fo, mull receive their 
 Dignity from a Title that is 1 .;>. common to 
 all, even from a juft Employment of their 
 Power to the Encouragement <-. Virtue, and 
 to the Difcouragement of Vice, lie that pre- 
 tends to the Veneration and Obedience due 
 to the Minifters of God, muft by his Actions 
 H mauiftit
 
 [ 9 ] 
 
 manifeft that he is fo. And, tho' I am un- 
 willing to advance a Propofition that may 
 found harfhly to tender Years, I am inclined 
 to believe, That the fame Rule which ob- 
 liges us to yield Obedience to the good 
 Magiftrate, who is the Minifter of God, and 
 affures us, that in obeying him, we obey God ; 
 does equally oblige us not to obey thofe 
 who make themfelves the Minifters of the 
 Devil ; left in obeying them, we obey the 
 Devil, vvhofe Works they do. And the 
 Apoftle, commanding our Obedience to the 
 Minifters of God for our good, commands 
 us, not to be obedient to the Minifter of the 
 Devil to our Hurt 5 for we cannot ferve two 
 Mafters. By this it appears, that Kings, and 
 the loweft Officer of Juftice in the World, 
 is the Minifter of God for good, as well 
 as a King, or any ether Magiftrate, they 
 are to be feared by thofe that do ill, and 
 not by fuch as do well ; for having no 
 more Power than what the Law drects, they 
 cannot depart from the Precepts of 'the 
 Apoftle : My own Actions therefore, or the 
 Senfe of my own Guilt arifing from them, 
 is to be the Meafure of my Fear of that 
 Magiftrate, who is the Minifter of God, and 
 not his Power. 
 
 %. 112. St. Cbryfollom, in his Expofition on 
 St. Paul's Words, Let every Soul be fubjeel to 
 
 the-
 
 [ 99 ] 
 the higher Powers faith, He tells us not what 
 ihofe higher Powers are, nor who they are ; for 
 he never intended to overthrow all Governments, 
 and the fever al Confl'.tutions of Nations, and 
 fubjeel all to one Maris Will. Every good 
 Emperor acknowledged, that the Laws of 
 the Empire was above himfelf: And the 
 fame Principle and Notion of Government 
 has obtaln'd all along in Civiliz'd Nations. 
 Herodotus fays Pindar, calls the Law, King 
 ever all. Orpheus, in his Hymns, calls it, 
 the King of Gods and Men: Becaufe, fays he, 
 'tis that that fits at the Helm of all Human 
 Affairs. Plato, in his Book, Be Lcgibus, faith, 
 That that ought to have the greatefl Sway in 
 the Commonwealth : And in his Epiftles he com- 
 mends that Form of Government, in which 
 the Law is made Lord and Mailer, and no 
 Scope given to any Man to tyrannize over 
 the Laws. Ariftotle is of the fame Opinion 
 in his Politicks ; and fo is Cicero in his Book 
 De Lcgibus, That the Laws ought to govern 
 the Magijlrate, as they do the People. The 
 Law therefore having always been accounted 
 the higher!: Power on Earth, by the Judg- 
 ment of the mod Learned and Wife Men 
 that ever were, and by the Constitution: of 
 the bell ordered States ; and it being very 
 certain, that the Doctrine of the Gofoel is 
 neither contrary to Reafon, nor the Laws 
 
 H ? of
 
 of Nations, that Man is truly and properljr 
 fubjedt to the highefl Powers, who obeys- 
 the Law and the Magi Urate s % fo far as they 
 govern according to Law. So tfrat St. Paul 
 does not only command the People, but 
 Princes themfelves, to be in Subjection, who 
 are not above the Laws,, but bound by 
 them , For there is no Power but of God : 
 That is no Form, no lawful Conftitution. 
 of any Government, but is- by, his Provi- 
 dence or Permiffion. The moft ancient Laws 
 that are known to us, were formerly afcrib'd 
 to God> as their Author. For the Law, fays 
 Cicero in his Politicks, is no other- than a 
 Rule of well-grounded Reafon, derived from God. 
 himfelf, enjoying whatever is jufi and rights 
 and forbidding the contrary. 
 
 ^[. li 3. Ezekiel xiv. 9.. 'Thus faith the Lord, 
 Let it fuffice you, O Princes of Ifrael, remove 
 Violence and Spoil, and execute Judgement and 
 Jujiice take away your Exactions from my 
 People, faith the Lord God. I challenge any 
 Man to produce any Scripture, that allow* 
 Governors, Magift'rates, Kings, or Princes,, 
 any. Abfolute Authority : And where there 
 is no Abfolute Authority,, there can be no- 
 Abfolute Subjection due. 
 
 ^[. 114. We find in the Reign of Darius^.. 
 the Laws were made by the People, by all 
 the Prefidenta of the Kingdoms, Governors,. 
 
 Princesy
 
 t >l 1 
 
 Princes, Councellors and Captains, which, 
 when the King had figned, was irrevocable 
 and unalterable, and not in the Power of 
 their Kings to alter or difpenfe with , fo that 
 their Laws were fuperior to the King him- 
 felfj and after the Law was maJe, the King 
 had no Power te fufpend the Execution on 
 his great Favourite, his beloved Daniel^ who 
 was the greateft Man in the Kingdom, next 
 the King; -and, tho' he fet his Heart to 
 deliver him, and laboured to ; the going down 
 of the Sun, between the Affection he had 
 for the Prophet, and his Refpect to the Law, 
 yet he could not five him : So Daniel was 
 deliver'd up to the Lions, fo'thzt the Superiority 
 of the Law over Kingly Power, was acknow- 
 ledge in the Median and Per/tan Monarchy ; 
 and King Darius^ tho' as potent a Prince as 
 moil that ever reign'd, vail'd his Crown to 
 the Regency -of the Law, and acknowledg'd 
 himfelf unable to alter it, or to fufpend the 
 Execution thereof, Dan. vi. And thus the 
 Limitation of Power-, and the Superiority of 
 Laws in Matters of Government, have an 
 Original in the early Ages of the World. 
 
 [. 115. The Doctrine of abfolute Pajfive- 
 "Ohedience is inconfifteut with the Goodnefs of 
 <}od, and the Love he hath for Man , and 
 is deftuctive of the End, Intent and Defigra 
 f God's Laws, which is Man's Happincfs. 
 
 II 3 For
 
 r 102 i 
 
 For God, who is infinitely Happy in him,- 
 felf, had no other Motive than the Happinefs 
 of Man in thoie Rules he has given him to 
 walk by , and for that Reafon has made it a 
 Puty in him to help the poor and miferable, 
 relieve the oppreffed and diftrefifed, and do all 
 manner of Kindnefs and good Offices to one 
 another. Can it then be prefumed that he 
 requires Obedience to Tyrannical Power, 
 which brings Poverty, Mifery and Defolation 
 on a Nation ? If it be a Duty to relieve the 
 Poor, it mull be a Duty to hinder People 
 from faHing into that miferable Condition, 
 which they cannot prevent, except they have 
 a Right to oppofe Arbitrary Power. And if 
 it be a Duty to promote the Public Good-, 
 which they cannot do if they are obliged to 
 lubmit to Tyrannical Government, it muft be 
 their Duty to oppofe it. There is no Duty 
 that a Man owes to his Neighbour, or him- 
 felf, but does oblige him to oppofe Tyranni- 
 cal Government, in doing thereof he gives 
 that Honour, and performs the Duty which 
 he owes to his Maker, which cannot more 
 be fhewn than in imitating him, by promo- 
 ting the Good and Happinefs of his Fellow 
 Creatures. 
 
 ^[. n6. The Preaching or Promoting of 
 PaJJive-Obedience without Referve, is a much 
 greater Crime than the encouraging of Re- 
 bellion - r
 
 [ J03 1 
 
 bellion , becaufe a Civil-War, tho* very fliarp, 
 cannot continue long, and a Nation may 
 flourifh and be happy again. But if once 
 Arbitrary Government be introduced upon 
 the Principles of PaJJive-Obedience, Peoples 
 Miferies are endlefs ; there is no Profpect or 
 Hopes of Redrefs : Every Age will add new 
 Oppreflions, and new Burdens to a People 
 already exhaufted. If he, by God's Com- 
 mand, was to be curled that removed his 
 Neighbour's Land-Mark, what Curfes may 
 they deferve, that make it their Bufinefs to 
 preach or promote abfolute P affile -Obedience, 
 which removes all the Bounds, Fences and 
 Securities that whole Nations have, not only 
 for their Lands, but their Liberties and 
 Lives, and proftrates them at the Feet of a 
 fingle Perfon. Our firfl Reformers, and the 
 generality of Protejlant and Popifh Writers, 
 were utterly unaquainted with this Doctrine ; 
 which can never relifh well with free-born 
 Subjects, nor has it any other Ufe thin to 
 encourage Kings to be Tyrants, and to render 
 them odious, and their People miu-; able. 
 what fad and fatal Confluences :..\ ys arte 
 Tyranny, and the dreadful Effects of Arbi 
 trary Power all Ages can atteft. 
 
 %. 117. Is it poifible lor any one to 
 
 imagine, that if this Doctrine were rrue, none 
 
 but fome few Divines of the Church of 
 
 H a K: laid.
 
 [ i 4 3 
 
 England, fhould in all the World, never find 
 in the Scriptures, in the Fathers, in Reafon, 
 in the Laws, thofe Notions of abfolute 
 Power, and abfolute Obedience, or Non- 
 Refjftance, which thofe Divines tausht as 
 Dcclrir.es neceffary to Salvation ? Is it poflible 
 it fhould never come into their Minds, to 
 compare their Opinions with the Opinions of 
 the Doctors of the foregoing Age, whofe 
 Hypothecs is fo contrary to thofe they have 
 endeavour'd to obtrude thefe Sixty Years laft 
 paft, upon us ? Is it pofiible they fhould 
 not blufli at the terrible Confequences of this 
 Doctrine, both to our Kings and the whole 
 Kingdom, which it hath brought upon us 
 for many Years paft, which we feel to this 
 Day. 
 
 ^]. 1 1 8. It's a Wonder how Men, not 
 fond of Slavery, fliould maintain Maxims fo 
 pernicious to Humane Society , for if this 
 Doctrine had always obtained and profelited 
 nil Men to its Belief, we and all Europe, 
 fliould have been mifcrable under Tyranny 
 and OpprciTion to this Day. At this Rate a 
 King needs no Army to ruin and enflave 
 his People , he alore, with a few rafcally 
 Slaves might rob them of their Lives and 
 Fortunes. 
 
 ^[. ng. The grcateft and wife (I Nations, 
 and the beft of Men in all Ages, have 
 
 reckon'd
 
 f 105 ] 
 
 reckoned it not only lawful for the People, 
 under the moft abfolute Governments, to do 
 themfelves Juftice, in Cafe of OpprefTion, but 
 have thought the doing of it a Duty in- 
 cumbent on them, and which they owed to 
 themfelves and their Pofterity : And the chief 
 Inftruments of the great Revolutions or Changes 
 that have happen'd in the World, from 
 Slavery to Liberty, have always been ac- 
 counted as Heroes, fent by God Almighty, 
 from time to time, for the Redemption of 
 Man from Mifery in this World ; they were 
 accordingly honour'd and refpccted whilft they 
 lived, and their Memories have been, and 
 will be held in Veneration by all Pofterity. 
 
 [. 120. The Doctrine of Abfolute PaJJive- 
 Obedience is a treafonable, flavifh and per- 
 nicious Doctrine, by difarming the People of 
 all their Civil Rights, and taking away Self- 
 Deferce, which is the Law of God and 
 Nature, and invefting the King with abfolute 
 Authority, by making all the Revolutions 
 and Changes of Kings, that have b~en in 
 England, damnable Rebellions and Usurpa- 
 tions, and all our Kings and Queens Ufurpers 
 that have proceeded from the Loins of thofe 
 Kings ; it makes all the Family of the Stuarts 
 Ufurpers, as proceeding from the Loins of 
 Hen. VII. who was made King by Virtue of 
 an Act of Parliament, (whilft the next Heir 
 
 was
 
 [ io6 ] 
 
 was living) fo that Her moft excellent Ma- 
 jefty is an Ufurper, according to this Doct- 
 rine, as being a Stuart; and all that pretend 
 to the Crown of England, have no Right 
 according to this Doctrine , it makes the late 
 Revolution a damnable Rebellion and U- 
 furpation, and the Queen herfelf a Rebel 
 and Ufurper: Without that Revolution Her 
 Majefty bad never been Queen : Is not this 
 a Doctrine to be abhorred ? 
 
 %. 121. Now, what fay ye for yourfelves, 
 all yc Patronsj Preachers, and furious Main- 
 tainors of the flavifh Doctrine of abfolute 
 Paffwe -Obedience to the Will and Pleafure of 
 rhe Prince, that a Bill of Indictment for High 
 : ifi-fon mould net be preferred again ft you, 
 hs making all our Revolution Kings, Ufur- 
 i, :rs, aid Rebels , and all that proceeded from 
 m Ufurpers, (which yet never failed of a 
 conllanc SuccefTun) by denying the Power of 
 the People, who made thefe Revolutions and 
 Changes of Government, and who have made 
 and confirmed the late Revolution in all the 
 Succeeding Parliaments ? This Revolution 
 King, with the Lords and Commons in Parlia- 
 ment afifembled, who did alter the Succeflion 
 from the Houfe of Savoy to the Houfe of 
 Hanover, were the whole Legiflative Authori- 
 ty of the Nation : Deny this if you dare : 
 Or, that the Queen, with the Lords and 
 
 Commons
 
 [ 107 ] 
 
 Commons in Parliament alTembled, cannot 
 alter the Succefficn and Courfe of Defcent 
 thereof? There's Vox Populi again ; the whole 
 People of England in Epitome. 
 
 f. 122. The Doctrine of abfolute Pajp.ve-Obe- 
 dknce is a treafonable Doctrine againft Civil So- 
 ciety, by encouraging Rebellion, Ufurpation, and 
 Tyranny. For fuppofe that any one of our 
 Generals, &c. mould infinuate to the Soldiers 
 that the Government was not rightly managed, 
 nor Juftice and Equity truly performed , and 
 by great Promifes of Money and Preferment* 
 to the Officers and Soldiers, fliould get into 
 the Throne by their Affiftance, (which God 
 forbid ;) fuch Refiftance would (I verily be- 
 lieve) be a damnable Rebellion. But when 
 in the Throne, he would be God's Vicegerent, 
 ordained of God, and not to be refilled 
 upon Pain of Damnation, according to the 
 Doctrine of abfolute Pajfive-Obedience ; fo that 
 if any Tyrant or Ufurper mould get into 
 the Throne, St. Paul, as they fcandaloufly 
 expound him, hath tied up your Hands, 
 you mull be Pajfrje % the People have no 
 Power, it is all in the Magiftrate , tho' they 
 have Power and Authority to chufe this 
 Magiftrate, yet that very Minute he is choftn, 
 their Power and Authority vanifheth , and if 
 he turn never fo great a Tyrant, they have 
 nothing but Prayers and Tears to help them ; 
 
 for
 
 [ ic* ] 
 
 for now he hath God's Authority and Power 
 (tho' he has neither his Patent or Warrant 
 to fhew for it) either to ruin, or make you 
 happy; 'tis no Matter for your Laws, they 
 -are but dead Letters ; his Will and Plea- 
 sure is above that, and if he be a Terror to 
 good Works, and a Rewards of Evil, and 
 acts diametrically contrary to the Nature and 
 Defign of his Office, both from God and 
 Man, and mould ravifh, and caufe to be 
 raviihed, your Wives and Daughters before 
 your Face, and rob, burn, a d deitroy all 
 before him ; notwithstanding all this, he is 
 ftill God's Vicegerent, God's Magiftrate, and 
 not to be refilled, &c. And who dare fay 
 unto him, What doft thou ? Now, ye fwom 
 Enemies to Church and State, what fay you 
 for yourfelves, that a fecond Bill of In- 
 dictment of High-Treafon mould not be pre- 
 ferred again ft you, for encouraging of Re- 
 bellion, Ufurpation and Tyranny, by teaching 
 the Doctrine of abfolute P ajjive -Obedience -, what 
 fay you for yourfelves? Are you guilty or 
 not guilty ? Hold up your Hands. If thou 
 wilt be tryed by the whole Legiflative 
 Authority of the Nation, they muft con- 
 demn you or themfelves. 
 
 *[. 123. Where was the Doctrine of abfo- 
 lute PtJJive-Obedieme and Loyalty, when the 
 Lords, Spiritual and Temporal, Gentlemen 
 
 and
 
 C 9 J 
 
 aad Commonalty invited the Prince of Orangfi 
 to come with aimed Forces to oblige the 
 Lord's Anointed, God's Vicegerent, once their 
 lawful Sovereign, (to whom they had fwom 
 Allegiance, and had before promifed to ftand 
 by him with their Lives and Fortunes, in 
 all their AddrefTes to him, after his coming 
 to the Throne) to oblige him (I fay) to re- 
 voke what he had done amifs, and to bind 
 him in Chains, and his Nobles in Fetters of 
 Iron, that he fhould not govern according to 
 his Will and Pleafure, but according to Law, 
 their Will and Pleafure ; and when the Bifhops 
 refufed to difown (to King James) their in- 
 viting over the Prince, or to fubferibe an 
 Abhorrence of the Invitation, by which it 
 appears that they did invite him over, or 
 allow'd of Rejjjiance, when their Church was 
 in Danger : And where was that Doctrine, 
 when the Nobility, Gentry, and Commonalty 
 rofe to join the Prince of Orange, after he 
 was landed ? And when the Bifhops and 
 Noblemen met at Guild Hall, and defired the 
 Prince to take upon him the Adminiuration 
 ot the Government, and when the Conven- 
 tion, with the Lords Spiritual and Temporal 
 gave the Crown and Dignity to the Prince 
 and Princefs of Orange , and when the Par* 
 liament made War againft the late King James 
 in Ireland, did they not kill him and his 
 2 Adherents
 
 t lid ] 
 
 Adherents as much as in them lay, at the 
 Battle of the Boy tie, Sec. was that according 
 to the Doctrine of Pajfive-Obedience? 
 
 f. 124. Where was Pajfive-Obedience on 
 the Third of Oftober, 1688. when the Arch- 
 Bifhop of Canterbury, Bifhops of London, Win- 
 chefier, St. Jfaph, Ely, ChicheJler, Rochejler, Bath 
 and Wells, and Peterborough, all in a Body, 
 waited upon the King, and the Arch Bi mop 
 made a Speech to him, and afterwards read 
 and delivered to him Ten Articles, or Pro- 
 pofals of their Advice for the better redref- 
 fing of the Abufes in his Government, the! 
 Subftance of which was very near the fame 
 with that of the Prince of Orange's Declara- 
 tion, except in one or two Particulars. The" 
 Bimop of Rochejler obferves, That they were 
 drawn at Lambeth on the fir ft of Olober y 
 the very fame Day that the Prince's Declara- 
 tion was fign'd in Holland, being the Tenth 
 N. 8 t which was our Firft O. S. 
 
 f. 125. Where was your PaJfive-Obe'dience i 
 Nov. the firft 1688. when a Parcel of the 
 Prince of Grange's Declarations being inter- 
 cepted in London, and upon reading that Ex- 
 preffion in it, That the Prince was moft 
 earneftly invited hither by divers of the Lords, 
 both Spiritual and Temporal, and others, the 
 King lent for fome of the Bifhops again, and 
 required of them a Paper under their Hands 
 
 m
 
 [ III ] 
 
 in Abhorrence of the Prince of Orange 9 s in- 
 tended Invafion by fuch a Day, which Ab- 
 horrence was defigned to have been tacked 
 to a Proclamation then in the Prefs, for fup- 
 prefiing the Prince's Declaration. The Bi/hops 
 of Canterbury, London, Peterborough, and Ro- 
 chejler (on whom this Storm only fell) refu- 
 fed to do it, upon which his Majefty was 
 very much incenfed againft them, and parted 
 from them with Indignation. And thereupon 
 the Jefuited Party at Court were fo violently en- 
 raged, that as we are credibly informed (faith 
 the Bifhop of Rochejler) one of the Chief ad- 
 vifed in a Heat, that they J/jould all be impri[oned % 
 and the 'Truth extorted from them by Violence. 
 
 %. 126. Where was the Doctrine of abfo- 
 iute Paffvve-Obedience and Loyalty, when on the 
 fifth of November, 1688. the Prince Landed j 
 and on the twelfth, when the Lord Cornbury^ 
 with his Royal Regiment of Dragoons, and 
 the Duke of St. Alban's Regiment of Horfe, 
 commanded by Colonel Langflon, went over to 
 the Prince ? On the fifteenth of November^ 
 when the Gentry of SomerfetfJjire and Dorfetlhire 
 waited on the Prince at Exeter, who fpoke 
 to them as follows : Tho' we know not all 
 your Perfons, yet we hare a Catalogue of your 
 Names, and remember the Character of your 
 Worth and Intcrejl in your Country. Tou fee 
 ive are come according to your Invitation, and 
 \ cur
 
 [ ] 
 
 pur Promife. Our Duty to God obliges us td 
 protest the Proteftant Religion -, and our Love 
 to Mankind, your Liberties and Properties , con- 
 cluding, let the World now judge, if our Pre- 
 tenfions are not jujl, generous, fmcere and above 
 Price, Jtnce we might have had even a Bridge 
 cf Gold to return back -, but it is our Principle and 
 Refolution, rather to die in a good Cauje, than 
 iive in a bad one ; well knowing that Virtue 
 and true Honour is its own Reward, and the 
 Happinefs cf Mankind our great and only Dejign. 
 On the 1 6th the Lord Delamere afiembled 
 fifty Horfmen, and marched to Manchefter, 
 and the next Day to Boden-Downs -, his Forces 
 being encreafed to one hundred and fifty, 
 he declared his Defign was to join the Prince 
 of Orange -, and this fmall Party of Men, 
 by Degrees, drew in the Earl of Devon/hire, 
 Earl of Stamford, Earl of Danby, Sir Scroop 
 How, Sir William Rujfel, &c. and all the 
 North. 
 
 ^. 127. Where was the Doctrine of abfo- 
 iute unconditionate Pajfve-Obedience and Loyal- 
 ty, when Sancroft, Arch-Bifhop of Canterbury, 
 (who was the firft who figned the Prince of 
 Orange's Invitation to the City) went from 
 Guild-Hall, and demanded the Keys of the 
 Tower of Sir Bevel Skelton, King James's 
 Lieutenant, in the Name of the Lord-Mayor, 
 and the Lords Spiritual and Temporal then 
 
 aflernbled
 
 I 3 3 
 
 aflembled at Guild-Hall, which the Lieutenant 
 delivered to him, and he delivered the fame 
 (as by Order from the Lords, &c.) to the 
 Lord Lucas, who took immediate PofTeftion 
 thereof, which would have been as real Acts 
 of L<ef<e Majeftatis, if King James had not 
 forfeited the Duty and Obedience of his Sub- 
 jects, as if he had (tabbed him to the 
 Heart ? 
 
 f. 128. And where was that Doctrine, 
 when Prince George' of Denmark, the Duke 
 of Grafton, Duke of Qrmond, Lord Churchill, 
 now Duke of Marlborough, and many others 
 of the Proteftant Nobility went over to the 
 Prince of Orange, at Sberborn-Cajlle ? Novem- 
 ber the 29th, Brijlol was feiz'd by the Earl 
 of Sbrciujhury, and Sir John Guife ; the Lord 
 Lovelace was deliver'd by the Ge< try of 
 Gloucejier-Jhire, out of the Caftle of Gioucefter, 
 where he was a Prifoner; Newcajlle received 
 the Lord Lumley ; York was in the Hands of 
 the affociated Lords-, and the Garrifon of 
 Hull feized the Lord Langdale, their Gover- 
 nor, a Fapift, and the Lord Montgomery, and 
 difarm'd fome Popijh Forces newly lent thi- 
 ther ? 
 
 ^[. 129. Where was the Doctrine of abso- 
 lute Pafilve-Obedience and Loyalty, when Prince 
 George of Denmark, the Duke of Ormond, Lord 
 Mordaunt, Larl of Macclesfield, Lord IViltjhire, 
 I Lord
 
 t K4 ] 
 
 Lord Combury, Lord Colcbejler, and feveraf 
 other Lords , Sir William Portman -, Sir Row- 
 land Gwyn, Coll. Sidney, and many other Knights 
 and Gentlemen rode into the City of Salif- 
 bury, with the Prince of Orange and his Army 
 on the 4th of December ? And where was 
 that Doctrine, when the Princefs jinn, (our 
 moft gracious and good Queen) with the 
 Lady Churchill, (now Dutchefs of Marlborough) 
 Lady Berkley, and the Bifhop of London, went 
 to the North, to thofe Forces then in Arms 
 for the Prince of Orange ? And on Decem- 
 ber the 5th, when the Earl of Oxford came 
 to the Prince of Orange at Salifbury ? And 
 l he fame Day the Lord Herbert of Cherbury, 
 Sir Edward Hurley, and moft of the Gentry 
 of Worcejlerjhire and Herefcrdjhire met at Wor- 
 cejter, and declared for the Prince of Orange; 
 Ludlow Caftle was taken for the Prince by 
 the Lord Herbert and Sir Walter Blount, and 
 the Popijh Sheriff of Worcefier fecured in it by 
 that Peer. The pretended Prince of Wales 
 was fent to Portfzioutb, with Orders to the 
 Lord Dartmouth, to fend him under a Con- 
 voy, with his Nurfe, into France, which he 
 refufing, he was brought back, to London or* 
 the 8th ot December, December the uth r 
 King James withdrew himfelf from London ;, 
 was taken at Feverjham the 12th ; the 16th he 
 returned to White Hall, aud put out an Order 
 
 of
 
 t 1*5 1 
 
 bF Council, againft all riotous and tumul- 
 tuous Meetings and Diforders, &c. Decembef 
 the nth, about Three in the Morning, the 
 King went to Grave/end in a fmall Boat. About 
 Ten o'Clock, the Lords Spiritual and Tem- 
 poral, about Town, came to Guild-Hall, in 
 London, and fending for the Lord-Mayor and 
 Aldermen, made the following Declaration, 
 viz. 
 
 We doubt not hut the World believes, that in 
 this great and dangerous Conjuncture, we are 
 heartily and zealoufly concerned for the Proteftant 
 Religion, the Laws of the Land, and the Li' 
 berties and Properties of the Subjecl. And his 
 Majefty having withdrawn himfelf, We do there- 
 fore unanimoujly refohe to apply cur f elves to his 
 Highnefs the Prince of Orange, &c. 
 
 And we do hereby declare, 'That we will with 
 cur utmoft Endeavours, affijl his Highnefs in the 
 ebtaining fuch a Parliament with all Speed, where- 
 in our Laws, our Liberties and Properties may 
 le fecured, the Church of England in particular , 
 with a due Liberty to Proteftant Diffenters 5 
 and in general, the Proteftant Religion and In- 
 terest ever the whole World, may be fupported 
 and encouraged, to the Glory of God, the Happi- 
 ?itfs of the ejlablifljcd Government in thefe King- 
 doms, and the Advantage of all Princes and 
 States in Chriftendom, that may be herein con- 
 I 2 terned.
 
 [ "6 ] 
 
 eerned. In the mean Time we will endeavour . 
 to prefcrve, as much as in us lies, the Peace and 
 Security of thefe great and populous Cities of 
 London and Weftminiiler, and the Parts ad- 
 jacent, by taking Care to difarm all Papifts, and 
 fecure all Jefuits, and Roman Priefts, who are 
 in and about the fame. And if there be any 
 thing more to be performed by us, for promot- 
 ing his Highnefs's generous Intentions for the 
 public Good, we jhall be ready to do it as Qc- 
 cajion requires. 
 
 Signed by W. Cant, . Ebcr, Pembroke^ 
 Dcrfet, Mulgrave, Thanet, , Car li fie, Craven, 
 Aylejbury, Burlington ^ Sujfex, Berkeley, RocheJier y 
 Newport,. Weymouth, P. Winchefier, W. Jfaph y 
 F. Ely, Tho. Roffen, Tho. Petriburg, P. 
 Wharton, North and Gray, Chandois, Monta- 
 gue, T. Jermyn, Vaughan, Carbery, Culpepper^ 
 Crew, Ofulflon. And they ordered the Earl 
 of Pembroke, the Lord Vifcount Weymouth, 
 the Bifhop of Ely, and the Lord Culpepper, 
 forthwith to attend his Highneis, the . Prince 
 of Orange, with the faid Declaration ; and at 
 the fame Time to acquaint his Highnefs with 
 what they had further done at this Meetino-. 
 Dated at Guild-Hall, the nth of December., 
 1688. but not according to the Doctrine of 
 abfolute Puffve-Cbedience to Tyranny. 
 
 tf. 130.
 
 [ "7 1 
 
 ^f. 130. The fame Day the Lieutenancy 
 of London, figned the following Addrefs to 
 the Prince of Orange, at Guild Hall, and fent 
 it by Sir Robert Clayton, Sir William Ruffel, 
 Sir Bazil Fire brace, and Charles Duncomb, Ef- 
 quire. Viz. 
 
 May it pleafe your Highnefs, 
 
 We can never fufficicntly exprefs the deep Senfe 
 we have conceived, and jhall ever retain in our 
 Hearts, that your Highnefs has expofed your Per- 
 fon to fo many Dangers, by Sea and Land, for 
 the Prefervation of the Protectant Religion, and 
 the Laws and Liberties of this Kingdom, with- 
 out which unparalkV d Undertaking, we muji pro- 
 bably have fuffered all the Mifries that Popery 
 and Slavery could have brought upon us. We 
 have been greatly concerned, that before this 'Tims 
 we had not any fcafonable Opportunity to give 
 your Highnefs and the World, a real Teflimony y 
 that it has been our firm Refolution to venture 
 all that is dear to us, to attain thofe glorious 
 Ends which your Highnefs has proposed, for re- 
 ftorhg and fettling thefe dijlratled Nations. We 
 therefore, now unanimcufy prefent to your High- 
 nefs, our jufl and due Acknowledgements for that 
 happy Relief you have brought to us : And, that 
 we may not be wanting at this prefent Con- 
 juntlure, we have put ourf elves into fuch a Pof- 
 turc, that by the Blefftng of God we way be 
 I Z capable
 
 [ II ] 
 
 capable to prevent all ill Defigns, and to pre^ 
 ferve this City in Peace and Safety, 'till your 
 Highnefs will pleafe to repair to this City, with 
 what convenient Speed you can, for the perfecting 
 the great Work which your Highnefs has fo hap- 
 pily begun, to the general Joy and Satisfaction 
 of us all. 
 
 %. The fame Day December the i ith, the 
 Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Commons of 
 this City of London, in Common Council af- 
 fembled, agreed on, and figned an Addrefs to 
 the Prince of Orange ; imploring his Proteclion % 
 and humbly befeeching him to repair to this City, 
 where bis Highnefs Jhould be received with uni- 
 vcrfal Joy and Satisfaction. All which Adref- 
 fes were prefented to hjs Highnefs, the Prince 
 of Orange, by the Perfons appointed, the 14th 
 of- "December, at Henley upon 'Thames-, but not 
 according to Dr. Hickes, Dr. IVhelton, Dr. 
 Atterbury > Dr. Sacheverell's, &c. unconditional 
 Obedience. 
 
 f. 132. On the 14th of December, the 
 Privy Council and Peers* met again, at the 
 'Council- Chamber at White-Hall, and made an 
 Order, "That all Irifn Officers and Soldiers fjould 
 deliver up their Arms to fome of the Officers of 
 the Ordinance, to be depofited in the tower of 
 kondori, Signecl by Thomas Ebor y Hallifax,
 
 t "9 1 
 
 Dvrfet, Carlijle, Craven, Nottingham, Rochefler % 
 N. Durcfme, P. Winthefifr, North, and Gray, 
 
 J. Trevor, J. Titus. 
 
 f. 133. At that Time all the Forts in 
 England, except Pcrtfmoutb and Tilbury, were 
 in the Prince's Hand. The fame Day the 
 Duke of Grafton, by an Order from the Lords 
 of the Council, march' d thro' the Strand, &c. 
 at the Head of a Foot Regiment of Guards, 
 to take the Fort of Tilbury out cf the Hands 
 of King Jama's Irijh Soldiers. The 17th, 
 King James difcharged Leybourn, a Popifb 
 Bifhop out of Newgate. The 18th, the King 
 went to Rccbefier, and the fame Day the Prince 
 of Orange came to St. James's, attended by 
 a great Number of Nobility and Gentry. And 
 on the fame Day, the Common Council of the 
 City pafled an Order, That all the A'dcrmen, 
 and their Common-Council Men of each Ward 
 Jhould wait upon his llighnefs, and congratulate 
 him upon his Arrival to the City ; and on the 
 20th they went to St. James's, where Sir George 
 Ireby, their Recorder, made the following 
 Speech in their Names, viz. 
 
 May it pleafe your Highnefs, 
 
 f. 134. The Lord-Mayor being difabled by 
 
 Sicknefs, your Highnefs is attended by the Alder- 
 
 men and Commons cf the Capital City of this 
 
 I 4 Kingdom,
 
 C 1 20 ] 
 
 Kingdom, deputed to congratulate your Highnefs 
 upon this great and glorious Occafion. 
 
 In which labouring for Words, we cannot but 
 come Jhort in Exprcjp.cn : Reviewing our late 
 Danger, we remember cur Church and State over- 
 run by Popery and Arbitrary Power, and brought 
 to the Point of Deftruclion, by the Conducl of 
 Men {that were our true Invaders) that broke 
 the [acred Fences of cur Laws (which was word) 
 the very Conflitution of our Legijlature. 
 
 So that there was no Remedy but the lajl. 
 
 Ihe only P erf on under Heaven , that could ap- 
 ply this Remedy, was your Highnefs. 
 
 Tou are cf a Nation, whofe Alliance, in all 
 Times, has been agreeable and profperous to us. 
 
 Tou are of a Family moji illuflrious Bene- 
 factors to Mankind-, to have a litle cf a So- 
 vereign Prince, Stadtholder, and to have worn 
 the Imperial Crown, are amongfl their leffer 
 Dignities. 
 
 Ihey have long enjoyed a Dignity fingular and 
 tranfeendent, viz. 1o be the Champions of Al- 
 mighty God, fent forth in fever al Ages to vindi- 
 cate His Caufe againjl the greatefl Oppreffwns. 
 
 To this Divine Coinmiffon our Nobles, our 
 Gentry, and among them our brave Englifli Sol- 
 diers, render themfelves and their Arms upon your 
 Appearing. Great Sir, 
 
 When we look back to the lafi Month, and 
 contemplate the Swiftnefs and Fulnefs cf cur pre- 
 
 fent
 
 fent Deliverance, aftonifhed we think it miracu- 
 lous. 
 
 Tour Highnefs, led by the Hand of Heaven, 
 and call'd by the Voice of the People, has pre- 
 ferved our deareji Interejis. 
 
 The Protejlant Religion, which is primitive 
 Chrijlianity \ reft or 1 d our Laws, which are our 
 ancient Title to our Lives, Liberties and Eftates, 
 and without which, this World were a PVilder- 
 ttefs. 
 
 But what Retribution can we make to your 
 Highnefs? Our Thoughts are full charg'd with 
 Gratitude. 
 
 Your Highnefs has a lofting Monument in the 
 Hearts, in the Prayers, in the Praifes of all 
 good Men amongjl us. 
 
 And late Pofierity will celebrate Tour ever glo- 
 rious Name, 'till 'lime fhall be no more. 
 
 \. 135. On the 21ft of December, about 
 Sixty of the Peers met at St. James's, who 
 all f except twoj fubfcribed a Paper in the 
 Nature of an Afibciation : After which his 
 Highnefs made a fhort Speech to them. 
 
 [. 136. On the 2 2d, the Lords Spiritual 
 and Temporal afiembled at Weftminfter, in 
 the Houje of Lords, and appointed Francis Gwin, 
 Efq i to fign fuch Orders, as mould be from 
 Time to lime by them made, which was 
 thns figned by 
 
 Thomas
 
 [ 122 ] 
 
 Thomas Ebor, Norfolk, Scmerfet, Grafton, Or- 
 fnond, Beaufort, Northumberland, Hallifax, Ox- 
 ford, Kent, Bedford, Pembroke, Dorfet, Devon- 
 Jhire, Btllinbrcke, Manchefter, Rivers, Stamford, 
 Thanet, Scarfdale, Clarendon, Burlington, Sujfex, 
 Macclesfield, Radnor, Berkley, Nottingham, Ro~ 
 ebefler, Fauconberg, Mordant, Newport, Wey- 
 mouth, Hatton, W. Afaph, F* Ely, La. Ware, 
 R. Eure, P. Wharton, Paget, North and Gray, 
 Chandois, Montague, Grey, Maynard, T. Jermyn, 
 Vaugban, Carbery, T. Culpepper, Lucas, Delamere, 
 Crew, Lumley, Carteret, Ofulflon. 
 
 ^f. 137- The 2 3^> King James withdrew 
 himfelf from Rochejler, and went to Dover, 
 and embark'd in a VefTcl there for France. 
 
 %. 138. The aforegoing Peers being af- 
 fembled the 29th of December in the Houfe 
 of Lords, figned and prefented to his High- 
 nefs this Addrefs. 
 
 We, the Lords Spiritual and Temporal af- 
 fembled in this Conjunclure, do defire your High- 
 nefs to take upon you the Admin'Jlration of the 
 Public Affairs, both Gvil end Military, and the 
 Difpofal of the Public Revenue, for the Prefer - 
 vation of cur Religion, Rights, Laws, Liberties 
 and Properties, and of the Peace of the Nation, 
 3 'till the meeting of the Convention, Jan. 22. And 
 the Lords, He. did humbly defire his High- 
 nefs to caufe Letters to be written, fubferibed 
 
 by
 
 t 123 ] 
 
 by himfclf, to all the Lords, being Protectants, 
 and all the Counties, &c. to fend Members 
 to the Convention, on Jan. 2 2d. 
 
 ^, 139. On the 19th of January following, 
 about thirty Lords, and eighty Gentlemen fo 
 Scotland, fign'd a Paper to the fame Purpofe, 
 which was delivered to his Highnefs, in their 
 Prefence, by the Duke of Hamilton, their Pre- 
 fident. 
 
 [. 140. On Jan. 2 2d, 1689. The Con- 
 vention being met according to his Highnefs's 
 Order, they ordtr'd, 1 bat the Thanks of both 
 Houfes Jhould be returned to his Highnefs in the 
 Behalf of the Whole Nation, for bis Higbnefs's 
 happy Deliverance of this Kingdom from Popery, 
 Slavery, and Defpotick Power, and for the Pre- 
 fervation of the Prctejlant Religion, and the 
 Laws, Rights, Privileges, and Cujioms of our 
 Land, &c. And both Houfes order'd the 31ft 
 of January for a Day of public Thankfgiving 
 in London and JVeJlminJler, and within Ten 
 Miles Diftance, for that great Deliverance : And 
 on the 14th of February following, through- 
 out the whole Kingdom. But not according 
 to the Doctrine of abfolute Pajfive-Obedience. 
 
 f. 141. On the 28th of January the Con- 
 vention paffed this Vote. Refolved, that King 
 James the Second having endeavoured to fubvert 
 the Conjlitution of this Kingdom, by breaking the 
 Qriginal Contrail between King and People, and 
 
 h
 
 ["4 ] 
 
 hy the Advice of Jefuits, and other wicked Per- 
 fottSy having violated the fundamental Laws, and 
 having withdrawn himfelf out of this Kingdom, 
 bath Abdicated the Government, and that the 
 throne is thereby become vacant. Was this ac- 
 cording to the Doctrine of Non-Refiftance ? 
 
 ^[.142. On the 6th of February the Lords 
 afiented to the faid Vote. 
 
 f . 143 The Word Abdicated relates to 
 all the Claufes aforegoing, as well as to his 
 deferting the Kingdom, or elfe they would 
 have been wholly jn vain.; the Meaning of 
 that Word is, that King James by violating 
 the Original Contract, and by endeavouring 
 to fubvert the fundamental C.onftitution, and 
 by refufing to reftore it to its former Con- 
 dition fall which was exprefs'd . by his with- 
 drawing himfelf out of the Kingdom) did ab- 
 dicate the Government, that is, by refufing to 
 govern us according to that Law by which 
 he-, held the Crown, he did implicitly renounce 
 his Title to it ; for 'tis a Right inherent and 
 infeparable from all Nations, to have the 
 fame Power of making Laws for their own 
 Prefervation and better Government, that their 
 Anceftors had. 
 
 ^f. 144. And on the 12th, the Lords 
 Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, did 
 refolve, 'That William and Mary, Prince and 
 
 Princefs
 
 [ "5 } 
 
 Princefs of Orange, be declared King and Queen 
 cf England, &c. 
 
 r. 145 On the 13th, the Lords and Com- 
 mons order'd a Proclamation to be publifh'd, 
 wherein they fay, 'That the Prince and Prin* 
 cefs of Orange having accepted the Crown ac- 
 cording to their Dejire : We, therefore the Lords 
 Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, together 
 with the Lord-Mayor and Citizens of London, 
 and others of the Commons of this Realm, do 
 with full Confent publijh and proclaim William 
 and Mary, Prince and Princefs of Orange, to 
 be King and Queen of England, &c. But not 
 according to the Doctrine of abfolute Pajfive- 
 Obedience. By this Revolution the Body of the 
 People of England are reftored to their ancient 
 Right, and the Government re-eftablifhed upon 
 its primitive and original Foundation, and the 
 pretended Divine Right of Succefiion is now 
 vanifhed. 
 
 f[. 146. In the Declaiation of the Nobility 
 and Gentry, and Commonalty, affembled at 
 Nottingham, to aflift the Prince of Orange. We 
 hope (fay they) all good Protejlant Subjects will, 
 with their lives and Fortune!;, be affijlant to 
 us, and not to be bugbear'd with the opprolict's 
 Terms of Rebels, by which they would fright us 9 
 to become per feci Slaves to their Tyrannical In- 
 folences and Ufurpalions. 1 'or we ajfure ourf elves, 
 that no rational /ind unbiafs'd P erf on will judge 
 
 it
 
 t i*6 ) 
 
 it Rebellion, to defend cUf Laws and RtligioHj 
 which all our Princes have /worn to at their 
 Coronation. We own it Rebellion to rejift a King 
 that governs by Law, but he was always ac- 
 counted a Tyrant that made bis Will the Law, 
 and to refifi fetch a one, we jujlly ejleem no Re* 
 hellion, but a neceffary Defence : And in this 
 Conftderation we doubt tfot of all honeft Mens 
 AJJiJlance, and humbly hope for, and implore the 
 great God's Protection, that turneth the Hearts 
 cf his People, as pleafeth him beft; it having 
 been obferved, that People can never be of one 
 Mind, without his Infpiration, which hath in all 
 Ages confirmed that Obfervation, Vox Populi 
 eft Vox Dei. 
 
 5[. 147. Now, according ftt the Doctrine 
 of Pajfive-Obedience, without Referve, as has 
 been preach'd up, (and is now began to be 
 reviv'd again) all thofe Bifhops, Clergy, No* 
 bility, Gentlemen and Commonalty, who had 
 a Hand in the late Revolution, and held that 
 Doctrine, and now hold the fame Doctrine, 
 may expect a double Portion of St. Paul*s 
 Damnation, for rebelling againft their own 
 Doctrine. 
 
 ^f. 148. In King James the Firft's Reign, 
 that ridiculous Doctrine of Kings being Jure 
 Divino was firft preached, which was never 
 before heard of in all the Eaftern Tyrannies ; 
 and in King Charles the Firft's Time, when 
 
 Pcfijk
 
 [ 127 1 
 
 Popijh and French Councils found Admifliori 
 at Court, then arofe the Doctrine of Pagroe- 
 Obedience without Referve. There can be no 
 Proofs made of a divine Appointment of Kings, 
 or of any other Governors, or Forms of Govern- 
 ment, (fo as to be a Rule for any People or 
 Nation to go by) or that ail the Revolutions 
 and Accidents that have happen'd in the 
 World were by divine Appointment ; which 
 to affert, is to make God the Author, or Ap- 
 prover of all the Tyranny, Rapine, Murder,' 
 and Defolation which have happen'd in the 
 World, which is a damnable Sin to afiert. 
 
 ^[. 149. Where was the nonfenfical flaviffr 
 Doctrine of Paghe-Obedience to Tyranny when 
 Eli/ha prayed for Blindnefs to come upon 
 thofe who were fent by the King of Syria to 
 fetch him ? And when he commanded the 
 Door to be fhut, and the Mefiengef to be 
 held faft, who was fent for his Head by the 
 King of Ifrael? And when Jzariab, with 
 fourfcore valiant Priefts, thruft our Uzziah % 
 their lawful King, out of the Temple for his 
 Idolatry ? And when Elijah deftroyed the 
 two Captains with Fire from Heaven, with 
 the Hundred Men under their Command, 
 who were fent at twice by King Ahaziah to 
 fetch him ? And when the Children of Ifrael 
 flew Amaziahy their lawful King, for his 
 Idolatry, without any Appointment in Scrip-
 
 r 128 i 
 
 ture, or Prophecy of his Downfall? And 
 yet this is no where call'd Rebellion, neither 
 were they punilhed by his Son, who was made 
 King in his Father's ftead. And when Mat- 
 thias, and his Friends pulled down the Altari 
 which were adapted to Idols ? 1 Maccab. xu 
 25. 45. And when the Edomites revolted from 
 Jehoram, and made themfelves a King ? And 
 Libna did alfo revolt becaufe of his evil 
 Government, 2 Chron* xxi. without any Ap- 
 pointment or foretelling of their Revolt by 
 God in Scripture, or being called Rebels. 
 And when Saul's Subjects fwore that Saul 
 mould not kill Jonathan, and they refcued 
 him that he died not, 1 Sam. xiv. 45. And 
 tho' the People finned grievoufly in afking a 
 King, yet God aflented to their Demand, 
 and no Prince was ever more folemnly in- 
 flituted than Saul. The People chofe him by 
 Lot from amongft all the Tribes, and he 
 was placed in the Throne by the general Con- 
 fent of the whole Nation : But he turning 
 his lawful Power into Tyranny, difobeying 
 the Word of the Prophet, flaying the Priefts, 
 fparing the Amalekites, and opprefTing the in- 
 nocent, overthrew his own Right, and God 
 declared the Kingdom, which had been given 
 him under a conditional Promife of Perpetuity, 
 to be entirely abrogated. This did not only 
 give a Right to the whole People of oppo- 
 2 fi ng
 
 t 1*9 ] 
 
 fing him, but to every particular Man ; and 
 upon this Account David did not only fly 
 from his Fury, but refilled it, by making 
 himfelf Head of all the difcontented Perfons 
 that would follow him : He had at firft Four, 
 and afterwards Six Hundred Men , he kept 
 thefe in Arms againfb Saul, and lived upon 
 the Country, and refolved to deftroy Naba/h 
 with all his Houfe, only for refufing to fend 
 Provifions for his Men \ and finding himfelf 
 weak and unfafe, he went to Achijh the Pbi- 
 lijiine, and offered his Service againfl IfraeL 
 This was never reputed a Sin in David, or 
 in thofe that followed him, except by the 
 wicked Court- Flatterc, Doeg the Edomite, and 
 the drunken Fool Nabal, who is faid to be 
 a Man of Belial. David, by entertaining and 
 arming as many as came to him, even to 
 Six Hundred Men, fufficiently fhewed his In- 
 tention rather to refill than to fly : And no 
 other Reafon can be given why he did not 
 further purfue that Intention, than that he 
 had not Power enough, is plain, by his going 
 to Ktilah, and defiring their AfTi (lance j and 
 if the Men of Keilah would have a (Tided him, 
 and been true to him, he would have ought 
 Saul and his Army, elfe why did he enquire 
 of the Lord, whether the Men of Keiiah 
 would deliver him up into the Hands of Saul, 
 K and
 
 and upon the Lord's anfwcring, they would 
 deliver him up, he and his Men departed the 
 City, 1 Sam xxiii. David had no other 
 Right of making War againft IJhbofietb, SauFs 
 Son, than againft Saul, unlefs the Tribe of 
 Judab ' ad made him King. But as David 
 did refift the Authority of IJhboJhetb, without 
 afiuming the Power of a King, tho' defign'd 
 by God. and anointed by the Prophet, 'till 
 he was made King of Judab by that Tribe; 
 or arrogating to himfelf a Power over the 
 other Tribes, 'till he was made King bj- them, 
 and had entered into a Covenant with them ; 
 *tis much more certain that the Perfons and 
 the pretended Authority of Tyrannical Kings s 
 who can have no Title to the Privilege, 
 which were due to Saut by Virtue of his 
 Inftitution, may be juftly refilled. But if Saul 
 who was made King by the whole People, 
 and anointed by the Command of God, might 
 . be refifted when he departed from the Law 
 of his Inftitution ; it cannot be doubted but 
 that any other for the like Reafon may be 
 refifted. II Refinance was unlawful, and a 
 Sin, furely David, a Man alter God's own 
 Heart, would have known it ; and he would 
 not have involved the Six LIundred Men that 
 came to his Afiiftance, in the Sin of Rebel- 
 lion, but would^ have told them the Prince 
 
 was
 
 r 3i j 
 
 was not to be refifted, tho' never fo great a 
 Tyrant. According to the pretended Dodrinc 
 of Jure Divino, the vileft Slave in Jfrael had 
 become the Lord's Anointed, if he could 
 have kill'd David, Solomon, &c. and found 
 Villains to place him in the Throne. 
 
 %. 150. Where was the Bow-firing Do6lrine 
 of Abfclute Paffive '-Obedience when the primi- 
 tive Chriftians called in Confiantine the Great, 
 to aid and aflift them againit the Tyranny 
 and Perfecution of Maxentius and Maximinius, 
 with Force of Arms with which they con- 
 quer'd thofe Perfecutors in feveral Battles fought 
 againft them ? And when the primitive Chriftians 
 refifted Lucinius their Emperor, for perfecuting 
 them contrary to Law ; and Conjiantine the 
 Great joined with them ; who held it his Duty, 
 faitii Eufebius, to deliver an infinite Number cf 
 People, by cutting off a few wicked ones, as the 
 I'ejts and Plagues of the Times ? And when 
 the primitive Chriftians under the King of 
 Perfia, refifted him for perfecuting them, and 
 were affifted by Thecdofius the Roman Empe- 
 ror, who told the King of Perfia, lie was 
 ready to defend them, and no ways to fee then 
 fuffer for Religion ? And when the Chriftians 
 of Armenia the Greater, made a League with 
 the Romans for the fecurinr?: of their Perlbns 
 and Religion againft the Perfia -is, under whom 
 K 2 they
 
 [ 132 ] 
 
 they lived ? And when the Novatians, affifted 
 by the Orthodox, refitted and beat the Mace- 
 donians, tho' they were aftifted by Conftantius 
 the Emperor with four thoufand Men to drive 
 them from Paphlegonia? And when the pri- 
 mitive Christians deftroyed Julian's idolatrous 
 Temple ? And when the Lutheran Churches 
 defended themfelves againft the Emperor Charles 
 the Fifth ? And when the Protectants of 
 Aufiria took up Arms, Anno ioc8. againft 
 Matthias King of Hungary, for denying them 
 the free Exercife of their Religion. 
 
 %. 151. Where was the cruel and barba- 
 rous Doctrine of Abfolute Tajjive Obedience, when 
 the whole Church of England, in feveral Con- 
 vocations, juftified the Proteftants in the re- 
 fitting of their Tyrannical Princes, and not 
 only maintained in Words, the Juftice of 
 their Refittance, but which is more, they laid 
 down their Purfes to help them ; and charg- 
 ed themfelves deeply with Taxes, in Con- 
 federation of Queen Elizabeth's great Charges 
 and Expences in affifting them : As you 
 may fee in the Clergy's Subfidy Acts in that 
 Reign. 
 
 %. 152, Qiiinto Elizabeths, Cap. 24. Among 
 other Confideraticns, for which the Clergy 
 give their Subfiuy of Six Shillings in the 
 Pound, they have thefe Words -, And finally, 
 
 pondering
 
 [ J 33 3 
 
 pondering the ine ft Unable Charges fuftained by your 
 Highnejs, ai well of late Days in reducing the 
 Realm of Scotland to Unity and Concord, as 
 alfo in procuring as much as in your Highnefs 
 lieth, by all Kind of godly and prudent Means, 
 the abating of all Hoflility and Perjecution with- 
 in the Rra'm of France, praflifed and ufed 
 again/1 the Profeffors of God's holy Gofpel, and 
 true Religion. The firft Thing in this Paffage 
 is the Queen's Afliftance of the Scotch in their 
 Reformation, wherein they were oppofed by 
 the Queen of Scots. Which is fet down at 
 large in our Chronicles, Stow,, p. 640. The 
 Parliament, in their Subfidy Act, at the fame 
 Time, Cap. 27. call this Affiftancc, u The 
 ' Princely and upright Prefervation of the 
 * Liberty of the next Realm and Nation of 
 c Scotland from eminent Captivity and Defo- 
 ' lation.'V The other they called ** The gOd- 
 ' ly and prudent Means for abating llo- 
 4 ftility and Perfection within the k' aim. 
 ' of France." Stow, p. 650. informs us, that 
 by thufe M^ans w< re ?he Forces fent und'-r 
 Dudley, Far! of Warwick, to Newhaven, to 
 ailKt the trench I'ruteftaats who were th-n in 
 Arns This Afliftaric of the Qu -en, Par- 
 liament and Clergy, was a damnable Sin, ac- 
 cording to the Dortiine 01 abfoiute, pafllve 
 and unconditionated Obedience, which fome 
 K 2 of
 
 [ 134 ] 
 
 of our Clergy do now hold: for they that 
 are aiding and afiifting to Rebels, are as bad 
 as Rebels themfelves : But all the Bilhops 
 and Clergy in Convocation, held no fuch 
 Doctrine in thole Days ; for they call that 
 Afiittance, the Ufe of godly and prudent 
 gleans to abate Hoftility and Perfecution, 
 pructifecl and ufcd againfl the Profeffors of 
 Qod's holy Gofpel and true Religion. 
 
 ^[ 153. 35 Eliz. Cap. 12. The, Cler- 
 gy grant another Subfidy in Confederation of 
 Her Majefty's Charges, " in the provident 
 " and needful Prevention of fuch intended 
 " Attempt?, as intend to the Extirpation of 
 " the fincere Profeffion of the Gofpel, both 
 " here and elfewhere." The Parliament's Sub- 
 fid v Act at the fame Time declares thefe 
 Reaibns for their Tax, Cap. 13. Befides the 
 great and perpetual Honour which it hath plea- 
 fed God to give your Majejiy abroad, in making 
 you the principal Support of jufi and religious 
 
 Caufes againfl Ufurpers Befides the great 
 
 Succours in France and Flanders, which we do 
 conceive to be mo[i honourable in Regard of the, 
 ancient Leagues, the Juflice and Equity of their 
 Caujes. Arid in the 39 Eliz. Cap. 27. they 
 fay, This Land is become, fince your Majejly's 
 happy Days, both a Port and Haven of Refuge y 
 for ai^t relied States and Kingdoms, and a Rock 
 
 and
 
 [ >35 1 
 
 and Bulwark of Oppofiiion a?ainfl the Tyrannies 
 and ambitious Attempts of mighty end uj rping 
 Potentates. 
 
 f r 154. 43. Ettz. Cap. 17. The Clergy 
 in their Subfidy Act, fa^', For who b tb. or 
 Jhould have a livelier Senfe, or better Remem- 
 brance of your Majefly's Princely Courage and 
 Conffancy in advancing ana protecting the free 
 Prof effort of the Go/pet, within and without your 
 Majeftys Dominions than your Clergy. King 
 Charles the Fi; ft, and the Bifhops and Clergy 
 of England, afTrfted the Proteftants of France? 
 So that ir t e Scotch, French an ; Dutch Pro- 
 teftants were deem'd Rebels in their Re- 
 mittance of their lawful Sovereigns, then the 
 Church and Parliament of England, quite 
 through Queen Elizabeth'' $ Reign, and in King 
 Charles the Firft's Reign, by their afliftiny of 
 them, involved themfelves in the lame Guilt. 
 For it is utterly unlawful, and a horrid Sin 
 to adiit Subjects in the Violation ot their 
 Duty and Allegiance, and to aid tlvm in re- 
 filling the Ordinance of God. Bur t i? be- 
 ing too ablurd to be believed of C nHP)rs, 
 and Men who had hazarded their J .ves for 
 the Proreftant ReFgion, it is plain that they 
 held Refiftance to be lawful in their Cif-s, 
 tho' it be not to be found in their Catechlwi, 
 nor in the Book of Homilies: For it th-y 
 K 4 had
 
 r i3 ] 
 
 had thought it utterly unlawful to affift Sub- 
 jects againft tyrannical Princes, or that St. 
 Paul had threatned it with Damnation, they 
 muff, have been willing to purchafe it at a 
 very dear Rate, finee they apply'd a whole 
 Years Revenue of all the Benefices of Eng- 
 land, to refift the Ordinance of God. By 
 this it appears, that the new modifh Doct- 
 rine of fubmltting to all Sorts of lawlefs Op- 
 preflion is Midnefs and Innovation, and 
 wholly unknown to the Compilers of our 
 Homilies. So if they who now hold the 
 fame Opinion be in an Error, they err with 
 their Fathers, with the Church and Par- 
 liament of England^ and with mofl of the 
 Proteftants in Europe, in all Ages. Then 
 they do err in good Company. Now Dr. 
 Sacheverell, Dr. Hickes, Dr. Welt on, Dr. After- 
 bury, Mr. Biggins, Mr. Wkaley, and Mr. 
 Tilly of Oxford, Mr, Lejly, Mr. Collier, Mr. 
 Milhurne, and all others who hold the Doctrine 
 of abfoiute P.uTive-Obedience ? What fay you ? 
 are you w\fer than all our Fore Fathers ? 
 For Shame recant, left you be taken for 
 Mad-men, Fools or Knaves. 
 
 T ice. And where was abfoiute Paflive- 
 Obedience, when the Proteftant Princes of 
 Germany invited Guftavus Adclphus, King of 
 Sweden^ to come into Germany to affift them 
 
 againft.
 
 F 137 3 
 
 againft their lawful Prince, for perfecuting 
 of them ; and when the Proteftants joined 
 with him upon his Arrival ; and when King 
 Charles the Firft aftifted them with Men from 
 England ? 
 
 %. 156. Bifhop Jewel, one of thofe that 
 wrote the Homilies, faith, in the Defence of 
 his Apology, p. 16. That neither Luther, 
 Melancthon, &c. taught the People to rebell 
 againfl their Prince, but only to defend them- 
 /elves by all lawful Means againji Oppreffion y 
 as did David againji King Saul. So do the 
 Nobles in France at this Day : They feek 
 not to kill, but to fave their own Lives, as 
 they have protefted by public Writing to the 
 World. As for us, we are Strangers unto 
 their Cafe ; they themfelves are bed acquaint- 
 ed with the Laws and Conftitutions of their 
 Country ; and therefore are bed able to yield 
 Account of the Grounds and Reafons of 
 their Doings. 
 
 *[. 157. Bifhop Bilfon, in his Book of the 
 true Difference between Chrijlian Subjeclion and 
 unchiftian Rebellion, (dedicated to Queen Eliza- 
 beth) in defence of the Proteftants of France, 
 cgainft the unjujt Opprejions of their King, faith, 
 1 viill not rafhly pronounce all that rejijl to be 
 Rebels : Cafes may fall out in Chrftian King- 
 doms where People may plead their Right againji 
 
 the
 
 [ 13* ] 
 
 the Prince, and not be charged with Rebellion* 
 As if a Prince fhall go about to fubjeft his 
 Kingdom to a foreign Realm, or change the Form 
 of the ommon wealth, from Empire to Tyran- 
 ny, ' or neg/ecl the Laws ejlablifhed by common 
 Content of the ! rince and People, to execute his 
 cwi Pleafure : In . thefc and other Cafes which 
 mi ht be named, ' if the Nobles and Commons 
 jpin together to defend their ancient and ac-, 
 i h'q lib city, they may no:, be accounted Re- 
 
 i '""*' 
 
 :1 '\ In King Charles the Firft's Reign, 
 v.e J . have the Judgment oi Bifliop Abbot, that 
 t. L ib ct the i>rimit ; ve Chriftians and us 
 
 i ;i c s in tins. "That they had no Legal Right 
 for iheW Religion, but were fubjetl to the meer 
 I lea fur e of the' Government ; and whilfl it was 
 fo, bey thade no Ref fiance. But under Con- 
 ik'-uae the Emperor, they had Laws on their 
 $i& : , then they allowed of Rejijlance. 
 
 . i59 Sleydtn, Com. I. 8. tells us, that 
 L&n< hau always taught, That the Magiflrate 
 r.'^... r^t Is rejijfed'y and there was a little 
 Be. k 01 his extant upon that Subject. But 
 wl-en the Lawyers, in a Conference, proved, 
 Tiai I^f.fi av.ee was allowed by the Laws in 
 feme Cafes, Luther ingeruoufly profeffd, That 
 h r did not know the j_awfuhiejs of it before; 
 and men laid, That bein* the Cofpel doth not 
 
 lar y
 
 t '39 1 
 
 bar, nor abolifh the Laws of the Si ate, as he 
 had always taught ; and becaufe many Things 
 might fo happen, that not only Matter of Right, 
 but alfo the force and NeceJ/ity of Confcience 
 might occafion u to arm ; therefore an .jflcdati- 
 cn might be entered into^ to defend ourfehes in 
 Caje C re far himfelf fhould make IV ar upon us, 
 or any one elfe in Casfar'j Name. In another 
 Book of his he warned all Men in general, 
 That they fhculd not obey the Magijirate, if he 
 raifed the Militia for fuch a War. 
 
 ^[. j 60. Ax the fame Time there were 
 Seven Princes, and Twenty four Vrotefiant 
 Cities, which entered into an Afibciation againft 
 the Emperor, (Sleyd. Com. I. 18 J As for his 
 charging us with Rebellion flay theyj 'there i$ 
 nothing at all in it ; and he k.wws in his Con- 
 fcience that we are wronged. If he had flood 
 to his former Compacts and Dtcrces, we alfo 
 fhould have dene our Duty : but becaufe he has 
 broken them ; and befides our Obedience is due to 
 God in the frft Place, let him lay the Blame 
 upon himfelf: For being he endeavours the De- 
 firuclion of cur Religion and liberty, he gives 
 us Caufe to oppofe him with a good Confcience : 
 For in that Cafe it is lawful to refiji, as may 
 be made appear, both from facred ana prr.pl ne 
 Jliftory. her unjujt Violence is by no Meam we 
 Ordinance of God, neither are we any otherwise 
 
 bound
 
 [ HO J 
 
 bound to him, than upon Performance of the 
 Conditions, upon which he was made Empe- 
 ror. 
 
 ^f. 161. The Citizens of Magdebwgh fay, 
 J hat they could not be proved guilty of Rebel- 
 lion, either by the Law of God, or the Law of 
 Man: 'ubat thofe who took up Anns againft 
 them, made War upon Chriji himfelf, &c every 
 Body eafily underjlands, how utterly unlawful it 
 is to offer any Violence to us. Sleyd. Com. 
 
 1. 2. 
 
 ^[. 162 Melanclhon was of the fame Opinion 
 as Luther, as to the Lawfulnefs of Refiftance, 
 as in many Places of his Writings it doth 
 appear , as was St. Chryfojlom before them 
 both: And in his Commentary on Proverbs 
 xxiv. 21, 22. he faith, The Gcfpel allows us 
 to make Ufe of politic Laws, which are rea- 
 fonable : Nay, if a lawful Defence were not 
 allowed by the Gofpel, the Gofpel itfelf 
 would be transformed into a State Doctrine, 
 and would eilablifh infinite Slavery, which it 
 does not. And in his common Places, call'd 
 Vinditla, upon thefe Words of our Saviour, 
 He that takes the Sword, /hall perijh by the 
 Sword ; he fays, For a Man 10 take the 
 Sword, is to drazv it when it is not put into 
 his Hands by the La-vs ; therefore he who 
 offers unjujl Violence, takes the 6word : But on 
 
 the
 
 [ 4I 1 
 
 the other hand, he who ufes a jufl Defence does 
 not take the Sword, but be draws a Sword 
 which the Laws put into his Hands. And in 
 his Commentary on Rom xiii. upon thefe 
 Words ; IF here fore ye mujl needs be fubjeft, not 
 only for Wrath but alfo for Confcienc? fake ; 
 he fays, I hat thefe Words do concern not only 
 the Subject j but alfo the Magifirates tbemfehes y 
 who when they turn tyrants do overthrow the 
 Ordinance of God, no lefs than the feditious. 
 And therefore their Confciences are guilty too y 
 becaufe they obey not the Ordinance of God, 
 that is, the Laws, which tbey ought to obey : 
 Therefore the 7 hreatnings, which are here fet 
 down do pertain like-wife to them. Let all 
 Perfons therefore, by the Severity of this 
 Command be mov~d, not to think the 
 Violation of the Constitution to be a light 
 Sin. 
 
 f. 164. Zuinglius, one of the three firfl 
 Reformers, in his Pious and Friendly Admoni- 
 tion to the Republic of the Switzers, difcourfes 
 much of his Country's throwing off the Yoke 
 of OpprefTion ; and reckons that St. Paul 
 was of the fame Mind, when he faid. Bur 
 if thou may* ft be free, ufe it rather: Win h 
 Eternal Counfel of God, our valiant An- 
 ceftors following with undaunted Courage, 
 were blefild with wonderful Succtfies, iyc. 
 
 And
 
 t MA 1 
 
 And in his Opus Articulorum, Art. 4b, 4U 
 42. he fays, 7*y deferve what they fiuffer^ 
 who live under Opprefifion, and a great deal more ; 
 they have no Wrong done them * he bids them 
 perifh with their Qpprejfior. F"!e fays, that the 
 dreadful Plagues that followed the Jews, Jer. 
 xv. 3, 4. upon account of the Wickednefis of 
 Manafleh, and the Blood which he fhed in Je- 
 fufalem, were mofit jufi Punifhments, and de- 
 fervedly infiicled upon that People, becaufe they 
 fuffer'd h>m to do it, &c 
 
 f. 165. Lucifer de Cagliari in his Book 
 De non parciendo in Deum delinquentibus (a Book 
 approved by St. Athanafiius, who calls him 
 a new Ettas, p. 1068, declares, That he be* 
 lieved it was lawful to refiifl Kings under tht 
 Old Tefiament, and alfo to put them to Death > 
 in Cafe of Idolatry, which, he maintains, the 
 Arians were guilty of. 
 
 %. 166. St. Aufiin fpeaking of the Be- 
 haviour of the Chriftians towards Julian i faith 
 to this Hffect, That the Chriflian Soldiers fer- 
 ved under this Infidel Emperor, and where their 
 Religion was not concerned, made Confidence of 
 ebcying him , but where, indeed, it came to the 
 Caufie of Chrijl, there they made as much Con- 
 (cience of difobeying him, Aug. in Pf. 124. 
 
 X
 
 t <43 J 
 
 ^f. 167. It was the Miferv of mofl: of 
 the Proteftants in other Countries, as well 
 as thofe in Germany, in the Beginning of 
 their Reformation, to fail under Oppreffion, 
 particularly the French, Scotch and Dutch Pro- 
 teftants : And it is well known they all de- 
 fended themfelves, and ufed Rrfiftance, which, 
 in Scotland, ended in an eftablifhed Refor- 
 mation of the Proteftant Religion ; in Hol- 
 land, it ended in an abfolute freedom, both 
 from the Popijh and Spanijh Yoke ; and in 
 France, it erded in a free Exercife of their Re- 
 ligion, but was foon interrupted by the true 
 Popijh Faith and "Friendfhip of a Maflacre j 
 fo that they were forced to fight all over 
 again, and who are now under th* fame 
 Bondage of Tyranny and Oppreffion again. 
 I defire that it may be obferved, that neither 
 thefe Germans, Scotch, Dutch, nor French , in 
 their firft War, ever pretended that their 
 Religion was eltablifhtd by Law, and thereby 
 made a Part of the Government of iheir 
 Country, which Men by their Allegiance, 
 are bound to defend ; but they ufed Re- 
 fiftance to repel the Violence uhich was done 
 only to their Civil Rights, and to the Native 
 Liberty of their Confciences. It were tool- 
 ifh Impertinence to cite the Authorit es of 
 thofe that were engaged in thofe Refiftances ; 
 
 and
 
 [ 144 ] 
 
 and it were endlefs to cite all the foreign 
 Divines who look'd on, and applauded them, 
 and called them The Lord's Battles. 
 
 f. 1 68. The Government of the Roman 
 Emperors heretofore was abfolute and un 
 mixed ; they govern'd at Pleafure , they made 
 Laws, and unmade them again, and had the 
 Sovereign Power of Life and Death, for which 
 Reafon the Chriftians could with no Pretence 
 refift the Violence of thofe Times, or defend 
 themfelves againft the Wrongs which were 
 done them. Now while their Condition con- 
 tinu'd thus, the Chriftians were killed, but 
 did not kill : Notwithftanding, when under 
 Conjlantine the Emperor, they were rather for 
 killing, than being killed ; and having van- 
 quifhed feveral Ufurpers, and Lucinius the Em* 
 peror, they threw off the Yoke of Perfe- 
 ction. 
 
 f. 169. If God had commanded the 
 Yoke of Subjection to the Tyrannical Will 
 of Princes, 'tis ftrange that neither of the 
 Prophets EUJha, or Elijah, nor Azariah, nor 
 David, with his Followers, nor the Jews, un- 
 der their Kings, nor the Primitive Chriftians 
 after their Religion was eftablifhed by Laws, 
 nor any of the ancient Fathers, nor any of 
 the Reformed Churches, mould not have known 
 
 this
 
 t >+S ] 
 
 this Doctrine of AbJoJute Pajjlve Obedience to 
 the Will and Pleafure of Tyrannical Princes. 
 
 ^[. 170. If refilling of the fupreme Authority 
 be unlawful upon any Account what foe ver, then 
 were all thofe People guilty of Rebellion, 
 who, in all Ages, have refilled, or turn'd 
 out their evil and deftructive Kings and Go- 
 vernors ; then the Jews were guilcy of this 
 Sin, for turning out feveral of their Kings, 
 without any Appointment from God in Scrip- 
 ture. So like wife the Primitive Chrillians 
 did involve themfelves under the Guilt of 
 St. Paul's Damnation for refilling of their 
 Emperors ; and, likewife, the Chrillians, in 
 all Ages, who have refilled, or turn'd out 
 their evil Princes by turning them out, &V. 
 and then Alhanafius, (the fuppofed Author of 
 the Creed) and thofe Chrillians with him, 
 did aifo come under the Guilt of St. Paul's 
 Damnation for approving of Calaritanus'% Book, 
 which, according to the Doctrine of abfolute 
 PaJ/ive -Obedience, was a treafonable and re- 
 bellious Book ; for the Incendiaries to Re- 
 bellion, are as guilty as they that are actually 
 in it. 
 
 ^[. 171. It is unjuft and unreafonable to 
 
 aflert any abfolute Palfive Obedience to any 
 
 but the Laws of God, and to the Laws of 
 
 the Land, which is mod certainly due, and 
 
 L no
 
 [ <46 J 
 
 no otherwife. And for any of our Nobility, 
 or Gentry, &c. who had any Hand in the 
 late Revolution, to fuffer any other abfolute 
 Paffive-Obedience to be preach'd, by any 
 Member of either Houfe of the Convention- 
 Parliament ; is to fuffer themfelves to be 
 call'd damn'd Rebels and Traytors, and the 
 Revolution a damn'd Rebellion* and the Queen, 
 the Bifhop of London, the Dutchefs of Marl- 
 borough, and the Lady Berkley * damn'd Re- 
 bels and Traytors, for going to the Army 
 in the North, 
 
 <f. 172. He that lets any Perfon whatso- 
 ever deftroy him, contrary to Law, when it 
 is in his Power to preferve his Life by de- 
 fending himfelf, does tacitly confent to his 
 own Death, which he is obliged to defend by 
 the Law of Nature, and therefore is guilty 
 of his own Blood, as well as he that deftroys 
 him ; whereas by defending himfelf, there can 
 be but one guilty of Blood, (which is the 
 Invader) in which Defence, if he kills the 
 other, his Blood lies at his own Door ; by 
 which it follows that Pafiive- Obedience to 
 unjuft Violence is a Sin, but refilling njch 
 Violence is no Sin, but the Duty of every 
 Man. The firft Duty which I owe is tO' 
 God, the Second to myfelf, in prelerving 
 myfelf, &c. the third to my Parent and So- 
 vereign,.
 
 [ 47 ] 
 
 vereign, in obeying of them in all Things 
 reafonable and lawful. 
 
 %. 173. The Doctrine of Pafiive- Obedience* 
 without Referve is charging God with as pal- 
 pable a Contradiction as any two Things 
 can be, it being diametrically oppofite to 
 the Law of Self-Prefervation, which is the 
 Law of Nature, and the Decree of the Al- 
 mighty, which Law is facred, and not to be 
 infringed by any Man. 
 
 f. 174. It is not the Doctrine of the Gof- 
 pel, or of Jefus Chrift, to be pafiive beyond 
 the Laws and Cuftoms of the Country ; this 
 were to make God the Author, or Ap- 
 prover of all the Perfecutions, and innocent 
 Blood that has been lpilt in the World by 
 evil Princes and Governors. Whereas God 
 never commanded any Thing contrary to the 
 Law of Nature. 
 
 f\. 175. All Men have both a natural 
 and civil Right and Property in their Lives, 
 'till they have forfeited them by the Law9 
 of their Country. 
 
 f. 176. When the Law of a Country 
 makes it Death to be a Chriftian, then they 
 are to lay down their Lives for Chrift'3 
 Sake. This is the only Cafe wherein the 
 Gofpel requires Pafiivc-Obedience, when the 
 L a Laws
 
 [ us 3 
 
 Laws are againft a Man, and this was the 
 Caie of the firft Chriftians. 
 
 ^f. 177. The Gofpel is fo far from en- 
 flaving u% or diverting us of thofe Rights 
 and Privileges which we have already, that 
 it encourages us to procure more Liberties 
 and Franchifes, if we can come honeftly by 
 them; read 1 Cor. vii. u, 22, 23. with 
 Dr. Hammond 1 ?, Paraphrafe upon them. 
 
 ^[. 178. St. Paul himfelf was not for ab- 
 folute Pafiive Obedience, for when the chief 
 Captain commanded him to be fcourged, he 
 faid unto the Centurion, Is it lawful for you 
 to fecurge a Roman uncondemn 'd ? Altho' it is 
 very phin, that he and Silas, who fuffer'd 
 wi h him, had offended as they were ac- 
 culed and were guilty of breaking the Ro- 
 man Laws, by teaching Cuftoms which were 
 not lawful tor them to receive, or obferve ; 
 and the Magistrates of Philippi, one of the 
 chief Cities of Macedonia "having put them in 
 Prifon, and beaten them for it, woukl after- 
 wards have let them go , but St. Paul faid, 
 That they bad beaten them illegally, and they 
 would not depart out of Prifon, and the Ma- 
 gif rates came and befought them, and brought 
 th^m cut, Acts xvi. 12, $6, ^y, 39. and 
 xxii. 24, 25. 
 
 f- *79-
 
 [ 149 3 
 
 f. 179. According to Paul's Exhortation 
 to the Romans, all Magiftrates are the Pow- 
 ers that be (he does not fay the fupreme 
 Powers that be) if St. Paul had faid the 
 Power that is, is ordained of God, it would 
 have inferred only the fupreme, becaufe he 
 would then have fpoken in the fingular Num- 
 ber. But he faying, That the Powers that 
 be y were ordained of Cod, does impiy that 
 all Magiftrates are thofe Powers. Then, ac- 
 cording to the Saying of St. Paul, the Lord- 
 Mayor, and all the Aldermen of London 
 (except thofe few Aldermen that are not 
 Jullices of the Peace') and all Conftables are 
 Saint Paul's Powers : Now all thofe Powers 
 are chofen, Vox Populi, Vox Dei : To refill 
 any of thefe Powers in the Adiruniftration or 
 Execution of the Laws is a Sin, and every 
 Sin in its Nature is damnable, without Re- 
 pentance and Forgivenefs of God : Yet thefe 
 Powers may be refilled, pr:>fecuted, and 
 punifhed r according to the Nature of his, or 
 their Crimes. Now, can any Man fay, that 
 thefe Magiftrates are ordained of God, or 
 have their Power from God, any more than 
 that all Men are ordained of God, and 
 have their Lives and Strength from him, 
 which is their Power, and in the executing 
 of this Power, they have i'ower to do Good 
 
 L 3 or
 
 [ 15 1 
 
 pr Evil ? Before they are chofen Magiftrates, 
 they have no more Power than other Men, 
 but when chofen, the Law is their Power, 
 beyond which they cannot go without incur- 
 ring the Penalty thereof. 
 
 ^f. ib'o. St. Paul's Powers, according to 
 our Conftitution, are the Legiflative Authority 
 of this Narion, the Three Eftates in Parlia- 
 ment AJferMed^ who are the fupreme Powers, 
 the Powers that be, who have Power to 
 make, or annihilate Laws, and thefe Powers 
 arc as much the Ordinance of God, as any 
 Powers wtiatfoever ; and if thefe Powers are 
 not St. PauTs Powers, then there neither is, 
 nor can be any fuch Power, or Powers in 
 this Nation, that are, or muft be irrefiftible, 
 according to St. Paul. To refift thefe Powers 
 in making, or unmaking of Law, is a dam- 
 nable Sin: But when thefe Perfons are fepa- 
 rated from the Leg dative Authority, they are 
 but private Perfons, (except fuch of thofe 
 Perfons that are Magiftrates) who have no 
 more Power than other Perfons, and are as 
 punifhable by the Laws of their own making, 
 (the King excepted) as any other Perfon ; 
 the chiefelt of thefe Powers is the King, 
 becaufe in him is the executive Part of thefe 
 Powers, which is the putting the Powers of 
 the Laws in Execution: Now all Perfons 
 
 commiffioned
 
 I 151 ] 
 
 commifiioned by him, as the Lord Chancel- 
 lor, Judges, or any other Magistrates, are but 
 the Adminiftrators of thofe Powers, which 
 the fupreme Powers, the LegiQators have 
 m ade, which are the Laws : Now, if any 
 of thefe Judges, or Magistrates, notwithftand- 
 ing any Commiflion, or pretended Commif- 
 fion, act contrary to the Administration of 
 thefe Powers of the Law, they are punifh- 
 able by Law, according to the Nature of 
 their Crime, and are accountable, cenfu- 
 rable, and punimable by the Legiflative 
 Powers. 
 
 ^f. 1 Si. There is more Reafon to be- 
 lieve that the Doctrine of abfolute Pajive- 
 Gbedieme is a damnable Doctrine, than that 
 refilling the fupreme Magistrate upon any ac- 
 count whatfoever is damnable, becaufe that 
 Doctrine is inconsistent with thofe glorious. 
 Attributes of God ; by which we believe 
 him a God of mfinire Love, Mercy and 
 Companion to all Mankind, and no Re- 
 fpecter of Perfons, for that Doctrine mikes 
 him an unmerciful, cur', barbarous arid ty- 
 rannical G' d, in making all Mankind, that 
 th^y n ay be ufed as Beatl -, at the Will 
 and Pleafure 01 a few or their Fellow Crea- 
 tures, who are but their Equal?, 'till they 
 make them fupreme Head or Governors. 
 
 L 4 <v. 182.
 
 I *5 3 
 
 ^f. 1S2. With what Ignorance do fome 
 aflert, that Adam was an abfolute Monarch ; 
 for that the Father of a Family governs by 
 no other Law, than by his Will and Plea- 
 fure, and the Father is not to be refilled by 
 his Child ; and that Adam had a Monarchi- 
 cal, Abfolute, Supreme, Paternal Power ; 
 and that all Kingly Authority is a Fatherly 
 Authority, and therefore irrefiftable -, and 
 that no Laws can bind the King, or annul 
 this Authority. Mow could Adam be an 
 abfolute Monarch, when God gave him the 
 Herbs but in common with the Beau's? Gen. 
 i. 29, 30. Can it be thought that God 
 gave him an abfolute Authority of Life and 
 Death over Man, who had not Authority to 
 kill any Bead to fatisfy his Hunger, as was 
 permitted to 'Noah and his Sons ? Gen. ix. 
 5. where Gcd fays, Every moving thing that 
 mcvetb, fall be meat for you, even as the 
 Herbs have 1 given you all things. Is it not 
 as reafonable to believe, that God would have 
 curfed Adam, if he had killed his Son Abel y 
 as Cain tor killing him ? Cain was very fen- 
 fible, that every one had, by the Law of Nature, 
 a Right to kill him for being guilty of Blood, 
 when he faid, Every cne that found him, Jliculd 
 Jlay him, Gen. iv. 14. God made no Ex- 
 emption to the greateft Man living, who 
 
 fhouJd.
 
 [ >53 1 
 
 fhould be guilty of- innocent Blood, when he 
 faid, He that Jkecdclh Man's Blood, ly Man 
 jhall his Blood be Jhed, Cen ix. Neither Ncah 
 nor his Sons were exempted from this great 
 Law, and therefore could have no abfolute 
 Authority. Since God has no where given 
 any Man fuch Authority, there can be no 
 fuch lawful Authority ; for the Community 
 cannot make themiclves Slaves by inverting 
 fuch an Authority in any Man : Should they 
 do it, it is not binding, it bring a Sin 
 againft the Law of Nature, which is the 
 Law of God, which makes ail Men equal, 
 and no Men Slaves. 
 
 f. 183. The firft Fathers of Mankind 
 
 after the Flood, had not the Exercife of 
 
 Royal Power ; and whatfoever they had was 
 
 equally divolved to every o e of their Sons, 
 
 as appears by the Examples of Noah, Sbem, 
 
 Abraham, Jfaac, Jacob, and their Children. 
 
 The firft King we read or in Scripture, was 
 
 Nimrod, King of Babylon, the Sixth Son of 
 
 Cujh, the Son of Ham, Noah's youngeft and 
 
 accurfed Son. This Kingdom was fet up about 
 
 130 Years after the Flood. He was chofen 
 
 by the People, or elfe he could not have been 
 
 King, for CuJJj, Ham, with his elder Brother, 
 
 and his Father Noah were then living, who 
 
 were not Kings. 
 
 f. 1*4-
 
 [ '54 ] 
 
 ^[. 184.. If Ncab was Heir to Adam, I 
 aflk which of Noah's Sons was Heir to him ? 
 For, if by Right it defcended to all his Sons, 
 then it mult huve defcended to all their Sons, 
 and fo on. If fo, then are all Men become 
 equal and independent, as being the Off- 
 fpring of Adam and Noah. If it defcended 
 only to the eldeft, and fo on, then there can 
 be but one lawful Monarch in the World, 
 and who that is, is impofiible to be found 
 out j io that Paternal Monarchical Authority, 
 take it which way you will, comes to no- 
 thing at all. 
 
 ^[. 185. Where Human Injiitution gives it 
 TiD t, the fir ft born has no Right at all above 
 his Brethren *, as the Bifhop of Exon. ac- 
 knowledges. 
 
 ^f. 186. If a Government, fay fome, may 
 be difturbed for any unlawful Proceedings of the 
 Governor, or his Minifters, how can any Govern* 
 ment be fafe ? To which I anfwer, That it 
 is not lawful for a few Perfons to oppofe 
 their Prince; and it is impofiible for one, 
 or a few opprefied Men to difturb the Go- 
 vernment much, where the Body of the People 
 do not think themfelves concern'd in it, and 
 that the Confequences ieem not to threaten all ; 
 yea, when it does, yet in Matters of lefcr 
 
 Moment,
 
 [ *55 1 
 
 Moment, the People are not very forward 
 to difturb the Government ; as in King 
 Charles the Second's Time, when the Char- 
 ters were condemned, and feized upon, in 
 order to make us Slaves, and the Laws 
 perverted to the Lofs of many innocent 
 Lives, and the Goals filled with DifTenters, 
 for worfhiping God according to their Con* 
 fciences, and many other Oppreffions, too 
 many to infert ; yet they did not fend 
 for a foreign Power, nor rife againft the 
 Government, nor preach Sedition, tho' their 
 Perfecution was much greater than againft: 
 the Church in King James's Reign. I fay, 
 when the Mifchief be grown general, and the 
 Defigns of the Rulers become notorious, then, 
 and then only, will the People be for right- 
 ing themfelves. 
 
 f. 187. Whofoever, either Ruler, or 
 Subject, by Force goes about to invade 
 the Rights of either Prince, or People, and 
 lays the Foundation for over-turning the 
 Conflitution, and Frame of any juft Govern- 
 ment, he is guilty of the greateft Crime, 
 I think a Man is capable of, being to 
 anfwer for all thofe Mifchiefs of Blood, 
 Rapine, and Defolation, which the break- 
 ing to Pieces of Governments brings on a 
 
 Country ;
 
 [ '5* 1 
 
 Country; and he who does it is juftly to 
 be accounted one who refifts the Ordi- 
 nance of God, and the common Enemy 
 and Peft of Mankind. 
 
 t&e
 
 [ *57 3 
 
 The Characler of King Charles 
 the Firfty and his Government ; 
 taken from my Lord Claren- 
 dorw Hijiory of the Civil 
 Wars, the firjl Volume in Folio \ 
 and out of Rufhworth's Col- 
 lections, the Firfl Volume in 
 Folio \ and out of Whitelock's 
 Memorials, in Folio : Without 
 any Obfervations> or Refiec- 
 tions. 
 
 f. 1 8 8. /^Larendon, p, 6. In the Se- 
 ^ cond Parliament there was a 
 Mention and Intention of granting Five Sub- 
 fidies, but that Meeting was diflblved upon 
 very unpopular and unplaufible Reafons ; and 
 thofe five Subfidies were enacted throughout 
 the whole Kingdom, with the fame Rigour 
 as if an Act had pafied to that Purpofe. Di- 
 vers Gentlemen of prime Quality, in feveral 
 
 Counties,
 
 [ *# V 
 
 Counties, For refufing to pay the fame, were 
 committed to Prifon with great Rigour, as if 
 an Act had pafled to that Purpofe. And yet 
 all thefe Provocations, and. many others of 
 almoft as large an Extent, produced no other 
 Refentment in the Third Parliament, than the 
 Petition of Right, (of no Prejudice to the 
 Crown) which was purchafed at Five Sub- 
 fidies ; but in a fhort Time after granted, 
 was diffolved. The Diflblution of the two firfl 
 Parliaments was wholly imputed to the Duke 
 of Buckingham, and the Third to the Lord 
 Wejion, Lord Treafurer : . At the Time of 
 thofe DifTolutions, fome Charges and Accu- 
 fations were preparing againft them. 
 
 Page 53. Supplemental A 61s of State were 
 made to fupply Defects of Laws, and fo ton- 
 nage and Poundage, and other Duties upon 
 Merchandizes were collected, and new and 
 greater Impofitions laid upon Trade. The 
 King raifed a vaft Sum of Money upon the 
 Law of Knighthood ; and no lefs unjuft Pro- 
 jects of all Kinds, many ridiculous, many fcan- 
 dalous, all very grievous, were fet on Foot-, and 
 great Fines on Forejl Laws. But, for an ever- 
 lafting Supply of all Occafions, inftead of 
 a Ship of War, which every County was 
 ordered to provide by fuch a Day, &V. the 
 Sheriff was to raife fo much Money, by which, 
 
 for
 
 r 5* J 
 
 for fome Years, came to the King's Coffer 
 two hundred thoufand Pounds per Annum. 
 
 For the better fupport of thefe extraordi- 
 nary Ways, and to protect their Agents, the 
 Council-Table and Star-Chamber enlarged their 
 Jurifdiction to a vaft Extent, holding for 
 honourable, that which pleafed, and for juft 
 that which profited. 
 
 Page 54. There were Proclamations, en- 
 joyning the People what was not enjoyned 
 by Law, and prohibiting that which was not 
 prohibited ; the Offenders thereof were im- 
 prifoned, and fined with very great Fines, 
 and thofe Foundations of Right by which Men 
 valued their Security, to the Apprehenfion* 
 and Underftanding of wile Men, were never 
 more in Danger to be deftroyed. 
 
 f. 1 8 8. Ru/hwcrtb, p. 418. King Charles 
 the Firft raifed Money by Way of a general 
 Loan ; he that was rated in the lad Subfidy 
 Book at 100/. in Goods, was to lend one 
 hundred Marks; and he that was rated One 
 hundred Pounds in Land, was to lend one 
 hundred Pounds in Money ; and (o proporti- 
 onable for a greater or a lefler Sum. 
 
 Page 422. Several ofSt. Clements Danes, the 
 Savoy, the Dutchy , and other Parts within the Li- 
 berties of IVeJlminjler, for refufing to fubferibe to 
 
 the
 
 [ >6 ] 
 
 the Loan, were, by Order of Council, to be 
 Preft, to ferve in the Ships, ready to go out 
 in the King's Service ; and the Non-Subfcribers 
 of high Rank, in all the Counties, were bound 
 to appear before the Council-Table, who com- 
 mitted divers of them to Prifon, and the com- 
 mon Sort to be lifted among the Soldiers. 
 Sir P. Hnyman, for refufing the Loan, was 
 fent into the Kind's Service in the Palatinate. 
 
 Page 423. Dr. Manwaring, in two Ser- 
 mons before the King and Court at White' 
 hall, delivered for Doctrine, to this Purpofe, 
 viz. That the King is not bound to obfer*ve the 
 Laws of the Realm, concerning the Subjefls Rights 
 and Liberties , but that his Royal Will and Com- 
 mand, in impofing Loans and Taxes without 
 cemmon Confcnt in Parliament, doth oblige the 
 Subjects Confcience, upon Pdin of eternal 'Dam- 
 nation. That thofe who refufed to pay this Loan, 
 offended againfi the fupreme Authority, and be- 
 came guilty of Impiety, Dijloyalty and Rebellion. 
 That the Authority of Parliament is not ne- 
 ceffary for the raifing of Aids and Subfidies ; 
 And, that the flow Proceedings of fuch great 
 JJJcmblies, were not fitted for the Supply of the 
 States urgent Neceffuies, but would rather produce 
 fundry Impediments to the juft Defigns of Princes. 
 
 Page 411. Arch-Bifhop Abbot refufing to 
 licenic Dr. Sibthorp's Sermon (which was much 
 
 to
 
 [ i6i ] 
 
 to the fame Purpofe as Manwaring%) was fe* 
 queftered from his Office. 
 
 Page 474. The King gave Direction for a 
 Commiflion to raife Monies by Impofitions, in 
 Nature of an Excife* to be levied through- 
 out the Nation ; and ordered the Lord Trea- 
 furer to pay Thirty Thoufand Pounds to a 
 Dutch Merchant, for raifing One thoufand 
 Horfe, with Arms both for Horfe and Foot, 
 which was fuppofed to enforce the Excife. 
 
 Page 612. Thofe Horfes were raifed, and 
 were to come over; but a Parliament being 
 quickly after called, they were countermand- 
 ed, and afterwards difpofed of to the King 
 of Sweden, and Duke of Savoy, p. 637. 
 
 f. 189. In Wbitelock's Memorials, in Folio, 
 p. 1. 
 
 The Vantguard, and feven other Englijh Ships, 
 were lent to the King of France, and em- 
 ployed againft Rochelle; the Mariners refufed 
 the Service : Buckingham was acquainted with 
 it, but not the Body of the Counfel. The 
 Protejiants of France lbllicit our King againft 
 it, but he exprefly commands the Vice- Admi- 
 ral Pennington to do it, which he obeyed. 
 
 Page 3. The Commons began to fall upon 
 the public Grievances : The King fent a fmarc 
 Letter to the Speaker. To this the Com- 
 mons returned a general Anfwer, promifing a 
 M Supply j
 
 Supply , the King faid, / will not allow any 
 of my Servants to be quejiioned among you, much 
 lefs fusb as are of eminent Place, and near un- 
 to me. 1 fee you efpecially aim at the Vukc t 
 meaning the Duke of Buckingham, whom they 
 had charged with many high Crimes and Mif- 
 demeanours. 
 
 Page 7. The Privy-Council advifed the 
 King to take Tonnage and Poundage. A Corn- 
 million iffued to compound with Recufants. 
 The King required a Loan of Money, and 
 fent to London, and the Port- Towns, to fur- 
 nim Ships for Guard of the Seas. The De- 
 puty Lieutenants, a,nd Juftices of Dorfetfhire, 
 excufed themfelves, and laid, The Cafe was 
 without Prefidcnt. London was rated at twenty 
 Ships, but defired an Abatement to ten, and 
 two Pinnaces , the Council denied it ; and 
 faid, The Prejidents in former Times were Obe- 
 dience, and not Direction. Com millions ifiued 
 out lor Mutters , and Power of Martial Law 
 was given. 
 
 Page 8. To the impofing of Loans, was 
 added the Billeting of Soldiers -, Martial Law 
 was executed , and the Soldiers committed 
 great Outrages. Some who refufed to lend 
 Money to the King, were forced to fcrve in 
 the King's Ships, then going forth , and the 
 Ref ufers in the Country, were fome of them 
 
 committedj
 
 [ *H J 
 
 committed, and the meaner Sort prefTed to ferve 
 as Soldiers. Dr, Sibthorp publifhed a Sermon, 
 preached by him to promote the King's Af- 
 fairs-, wherein he delivered hi? Opinion, lhat 
 the King might make Laws, and do wbatfoever 
 pleafeth him. Dr. Mandating preached the 
 fame Divinity, and highly againft che Power 
 of Parliaments. The Queen was made to 
 walk to Tyburn on Pennance, by her topijb 
 Priefls. 
 
 Page 9. A CommifTion of Excife was 
 granted, and Monies difburfed for the raifing of 
 German Horfe. 
 
 Page 10. The Fleet, under the Command 
 of the Earl of Denbigh, failed to Rochelle, and 
 finding there fome French Ships, would not 
 afTaalt them, though fewer and weaker than 
 therrfelves by many Degrees i but after mew- 
 ing themlelves only, they returned and left 
 Rcchelle unrelieved. 
 
 Page 11. Manwaring's Books were fupprefTed 
 by Proclamation. Dr. Man-waring (tho' dif- 
 ab!ed by Sentence) was pardoned, and pre- 
 ferred to a good Living. Some Merchants 
 were committed lor not paying 'Tonnage and 
 Poundage, according to the King's Declaration. 
 It was refolvcd in Council, beforehand, to 
 juftify thefe Proceedings, when the Parlia- 
 ment mould meet j and if the Parliament 
 M 2 did
 
 I >64 J 
 
 did not pafs the Bill for tonnage and Pound- 
 age, then to break it. The Parliament met, 
 {Jan. 10. Car. 3.) and found the Petition of 
 Right to be printed with fome Additions-, 
 and the Copies firil printed without the Ad- 
 ditions, were fuppreffed by the King's Order. 
 
 Page 12. The Order of the Council for 
 levying of Tonnage and Poundage was read in 
 the Houfe. The Speaker being called upon 
 to put the Queftion propos'd faid, He durji 
 not, for thit the King had commanded the con- 
 trary. Warrants of the Council were iflued 
 for Holies, Selden, Hobart, Elliot, and other Par- 
 liament-Men, to appear before them -, Holles t 
 Coriton, Elliot and Valentine appeared, and re- 
 fufing to anfwer out of Parliament, for what 
 was faid and done in Parliament, they were 
 committed clofe Prifoners to the Tower; and 
 a Proclamation for apprehending others was 
 publifhed, and fome of their Studies were fealed 
 up. Thefe Warrants were dated the 5th of 
 March. Car. 3. 1628. 
 
 Page 15. The Papifis in Ireland grew into 
 great Height, Monasteries were there erected, 
 Papifts frequented their public Meetings and 
 MafTes, with as much Confidence, and as often 
 as the Proteflants did their Churches. 
 
 Page 37. The Houfe of Commons Voted, 
 I. That the Charge of Ship -Money 'was againjl 
 
 ihi
 
 [ ^ 5 ] 
 
 the Law, the Subjects Right and Property, and 
 contrary to former Refolutions in Parliament, and 
 to the Petition of Right. 2. That the extra- 
 judicial Opinion of the Judges, was againjl the 
 Law, &c. ut prius. 3. That Ship-writs were 
 againjl Law. 4. That the Judgment in Mr- 
 Hampden'* Cafe, about Ship-Money, was againji 
 Law, Sec. The Houfe of Lords patted the 
 fame Votes ; and the next Day a Committee 
 was appointed, to draw up a Charge of Trea- 
 fon againft fuch as had been Abetters therein, 
 the Lord-Keeper, Finch, and all the reft of 
 the Judges. 
 
 Page 50. The King gave a Warrant to re- 
 pair to the Lodgings, and to feal up the Trunks, 
 Scudies and Chambers of the Lord Kimbolton, 
 Mr. Pym, Mr. Hampden, Mr, Holies, Sir Arthur 
 Hafetrigge, and Mr. Strode, Members of Par- 
 liament, which was done, but their Pcrfons 
 were not met with. 
 
 Page 51. The five Members received a fecret 
 Notice of this intended Action, whereby they 
 got out of the Houfe juft before the King 
 came , otherwife, it was believed, that if the 
 King had found them there, and called in his 
 Guards to have feized them, the Members 
 of the Houfe would have endeavoured the 
 Defence of them, which might have proved 
 a very unhappy and fad Bulinefs j and fo it 
 
 did,
 
 I M } 
 
 did, notwithftanding that was prevented. This 
 iudden Action being the firft vifible and ap- 
 parent Ground of all our following Miferies. 
 
 ^f. 190. Dr. Sacheverell, in his Sermon 
 preached at St. Paul's on the Fifth of No* 
 vember, 1709. in Order to blacken the Re- 
 volution, does falfly aiTert, in his Quarto Ser- 
 mon, p. 12. and in his Octavo Sermon, p. 
 13. That the King bimfelf Jolemnly dif claim 3 d 
 the leaft Imputation of Rejiftance in his Decla- 
 ration ; and that The Parliament declared, Tha-t 
 they fet the Crown on his Head, upon no other 
 Title, but that of the Vacancy of the Throne, 
 In order to undeceive the World, I have here 
 fet down the 25th Paragraph of the Prince's 
 Declaration, viz. We do in the lafi Place in" 
 vite and require all Perfons whatfoever, all the 
 Peers of the Realm, both Spiritual and Tempo- 
 ral, all Lords, Lieutenants, Deputy Lieutenants % 
 and all Gentlemen, Citizens, and other Commons 
 ef all Ranks, to come and afffl us, in order to 
 the ^executing of this our Defign, againjl all fuch 
 as jfrall endeavour to oppofe us ; that fo we may 
 prevent all thofe Miferies which mufl needs fol- 
 low upon the Nation's being kept under Arbitrary 
 Government and Slavery ; and that all the Vio- 
 lences and Diforders, which have overturned the 
 whole Conflitution of the Englifli Government, 
 may be fully redrefftd in a free and legal Par- 
 liament.
 
 [ i7 3 
 
 liament. And the Falfity of the Doctor's other 
 Afiertion, about the Vacancy of the Throne, 
 may be feen by the Vote of both Houfes of 
 Parliament, in Pages 123, 124. of this Book. 
 
 See a little more of the Doctor's Sincerity, 
 how he w re Its the Scripture to ferve his Pur* 
 pofe, and infinuates, that the Church is in 
 Danger, notwithstanding both Houfes cf Par- 
 liament had voted it out of Danger, during 
 the Life of her Majefty. In the 20th Pago 
 of his Octavo Sermon, he faith, "That the 
 Prophet ElifhaV Servant did not fee his Majler't 
 Danger till his Eyes were open'd by a Miracle* 
 end he found bimfelf in the midjl of Charigts 
 and Horfes of Fire. Whereas 'tis plain from 
 the Text, 2 Kings vi. 15, 16, 17. that the 
 Prophet's Servant was fufficiently alarm'd at 
 his Matter's Danger, by an Army of Syrians, 
 and could not be rid of his Fear, till his 
 Eyes were open'd by a Miracle to fee the Chariots 
 and Horfes of Fire, which Heaven had fent 
 to defend him. With what Face can the 
 Do&or complain of others for villanoufly di- 
 viding us with knavifh Diftinctions, when in 
 his own Sermons, he abufes all thofe who are 
 not or his Way, both Chu^-men an&Qif- 
 fenters, by calling them, Ntutralijls in Religion';, \ 
 a fecret Sort of referv'd ' Atheijls ; wretched, 
 mpty, hypocritical Sophiflers ; impudent, bcafling, 
 
 fetf-
 
 t 168 ] 
 
 felf -merited Enthufiafts ; Scepticks, fly Saints, Gat- 
 lio'S) canting Fellows, Incendiaries, Men of vil~ 
 lanous and /editions Principles ; fit thy Dreamers ; 
 prefumptuous and felf-will'd Men-, Defpifers of 
 Dominion and Government', a Brood of Vipers; 
 Regicides; inftdious, treacherous , and falfchearted 
 Knaves-, Pagans; Beajts; unhallowed, loathfome and 
 deteftable Guejts; fcandalous Trimmers-, Innovators; 
 beadjlrong encroaching Monflers; ex cen trick Comets; 
 growing Mifchiefs; infeclious Plagues; the worjl 
 of Damon s; Conformifts in Profeffwn, half Con- 
 formifts in Praclice, and Nonconformifts in Judg- 
 ment; and much more of the Doctor's Bil- 
 lingfgate I could quote, which, for Brevity's fake, 
 I omit. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
 00 (178 
 
 082 6
 
 University of California 
 
 SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 305 De Neve Drive - Parking Lot 17 Box 951388 
 
 LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90095-1388 
 
 Return this material to the library from which it was borrowed. 
 
 Q 
 
 Form L-0 
 2IJm-12,'38(33Sfl) 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CAUF0RNJ* 
 
 AT 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 
 LIBRA-
 
 ff I 
 
 3 "58 008 Vs'^' 
 
 \cv 
 
 JC 
 176 
 
 J89 
 
 filifi 
 
 A A 000124 659 4 

 
 ... - 
 
 
 >rnia 
 tal 
 
 Un