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The Institutes of the Christian Religion · John Calvin

The Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 4 · Chapter 20

The .xx. Chapter.

Of ciuile Gouernement.

NOw whereas we hauehave aboue set twoo kindes of gouernement in man: and whereas we hauehave spoken enough of the one kinde which cōsisteth in the soule or in the inward man, and hath respect to eternal life: this place requireth yt we speake somwhat also of ye other, which perteineth only to the ciuile and outward righteousnesse of manners. For the course of this matter semeth to be seuered from the spiritual doctrine of faith, which I toke in hande to entreate of: yet the proceding shal shew that I do rightfully ioyne them together, yea that I am of necessitie compelled to doo it: specially sithe on the one side, mad and barbarous men doo furiously goe aboute to ouerthrowe this order stablished by God: and on the other side the flatterers of princes, aduauncing their power without measure, sticke not to set it against the empire of God himself. Unlesse both these mischeues be met withall, the purenesse of faith shal be lost. Beside that it is no smally for our behofe, to know how louingly God hath in this behalf prouided for mankinde, that there may florishe in vsus a greater desire of godlinesse to witnesse our thankfulnesse, First, ere we enter into the thing it selfe, we must hold fast that distinction which we hauehave aboue set, least (as it commonly happeneth to many) we vnwisely mingle these two things together, which hauehave altogether diuerse consideration. For when they heare that libertie is promised by the Gospell, whiche acknowlegeth among men no king and no magistrate, but hath regarde to Christe alone: they thinke that they can take no fruite of their libertie, so long as they see any power to hauehave preeminence ouer them. Therfore they think that nothing shalbe safe, vnlesse the whole world be reformed into a new fashion: where may neither be iudgementes, nor lawes, nor magistrates, nor any such thing which they thinke to withstande their libertie. But whosoeuer can put difference betwene the body and the soule, betwene thys present and transitorie life, and that life to come and eternal: he shal not hardlye vnderstande that the spiritual kingdome of Christ, and the ciuile gouernemēt ar thyngs far a sonder. Sith therfore that is a Iewish vanitie, to seke and enclose the kingdome of Christ vnderunder the elementes of this worlde: let vsus rather thinking, as the Scripture plainely teacheth, that it is a spirituall fruite, whiche is gathered of the benefite of Christ, remember to kepe within the boūdes thereof thys whole libertie which is promised and offred vsus in him.Gala. v.i. i. Cor. vii xxi. For, what is the cause why the same Apostle which biddeth vsus to stand, and not to be made subiecte to ye yoke of bondage, in an other place for biddeth bond seruantes to be carefull of their state: but bicause spirituall libertie may very wel agree with ciuile bondage?Ga. iii.xxviii. Col. iii.xi In which sense also these his sayenges are to be taken: In the kingdome of God there is no Iew, nor Grecian, no male nor female, no bondeman nor freeman. Againe, There is no Iew nor Grecian, Circūcision, Uncircūcision, Barbarian, Scythian, Bondman, Freman: but Christe is all in all. Whereby he signifieth, that it maketh no mater in what estate thou be among men, nor vnderunder the lawes of what nation thou lyuest: forasmuche as in these thynges consisteth not the kyngdome of Christ.

Yet dothe not this distinction tende hereunto, that we shoulde thynke that the whole order of policie is an vncleane thyng, not perteyning at all to christian men. So in deede doo the phrentike men, that are delited with vnbridled licentiousnesse, crie out and boste. For sithe we bee dead by Christ to the elementes of this worlde, and being remoued into the kyngdome of God do sitte among the heauenly ones: they thinke that it is vnworthy for vsus, and farre benethe our excellence, to be occupied with these prophane and vncleane cares that are busied about affaires not perteinyng to a christian man. To what purpose (saye they) are lawes without iudgements and iudgement seates? But what hath a Christian man to do with iudgements themselues? yea if it be not lawfull to kill, wherto serue lawes and iudgementes among vsus? But as we hauehave euen nowe geuen warning, that this kynde of gouernement is seuerall from that spirituall and inward kyngdome of Christ: so it is also to be knowen that they nothyng disagree together. For, the Ciuile gouernement dothe nowe beginne in vsus vponupon carth certaine beginnyngs of the heauenly kyngdome, and in this mortall and vanishyng life doth as it were entre vponupon an immortall and incorruptible blessednesse: but the entent of this spirituall gouernement is, so long as we shall lyue among mē, to cherish & mainteyne the outward worshippyng of God, to defend the sound doctrine of godlinesse and the state of the Chirche, to frame our lyfe to the felowship of men, to fashion our maners to ciuile righteousnesse, to procure vsus into frendship one with an other, to norish common peace and quietnesse: all whiche I graunt to be superfluous, if the kyngdome of God, suche as it is nowe among vsus, do destroy this present life. But if the will of God be so, that we while we long toward the heauenly countree, should be wayfaryng from home vponupon ye earth: and sithe the vse of such waifaryng nedeth such helpes: they whiche take them from man, do take from him his very nature of man. For wheras they allege that there is so great perfection in the Chirche of God, that her owne moderate gouernement suffiseth it for a law: they themselues do foolishly imagine that perfection which can neuer be found in the cō mon felowship of men. For sith of noughty men the pride is so great, & the wickednesse so obstinate, as can not be restrained with great sharpnesse of lawes: what thynke we that they will doo, if they see vnpunished libertie lie open to their lewdnesse, whiche can not euen with force be sufficiently compelled not to doo euell?

But of ye order of policie, there shalbe an other fitter place to entreate. Now our meanyng is to hauehave this only vnderstanded, that to thinke to dryue it away, is outragious barbarousnesse, the vse wherof is no lesse among men, than of bread, water, the sunne, and ayre, but the dignitie muche more excellent. For it tendeth not only hereunto (whiche is the onelyonly commoditie of all those thyngs) that men may breath, eate, drinke and be cherished (although in dede it comprehendeth all these thynges, whyle it maketh that they liue together) yet I say, it tendeth not herunto only: but also that idolatrie, sacrileges agaynst the name of GOD, blasphemies agaynste his truthe, and other offences of religion may not ryse vp and be scattered among the people, that common quiet be not trobled, yt eueryevery man may kepe his own safe & vnappeired, that mē may vse their affaires together without hurt, yt honestie & modestie be kept among them: finally yt among Christians may be a cōmon shew of religiō, & among mē may be mālike ciuilitie. Neither let any man be moued, for yt I do now referre the care of stablishing of religion to the policie of mē, which I seme before to hauehave set without ye iugemēt of mē. For I do no more here, thā I did before, geue mē leaue after their own wil to make lawes cōcerning religiō & the worshipping of God, whē I allow the ordinace of pollicie, which endeuoreth herunto, yt the true religion which is cōteined in ye law of God, be not openly & with publike sacrileges freely broken & defiled. But ye reders being holpē by the very plainnesse of order, shal better vnderstande what is to be thought of the whole kinde of ciuile gouernement, if we seuerally entreate of ye partes thereof. There be three partes of it: ye magistrate, which is ye gouernor and keper of the lawes: ye lawes, according to which he gouerneth: the people, which are gouerned by ye lawes, & obey ye magistrate. Therfore let vsus first consider of ye office of the Magistrate, whether it be a lawful vocation and allowed of God, what maner of office he hath, & howe great is his power: then with what lawes a Christian ciuile state is to be ordered: then last of al, what profit of the lawes cometh to the people, what reuerence is due to the Magistrate.

The Lord hath not only testified that the office of magistrates is allowed and acceptable to hym, but also setting out ye dignitie therof with most honorable titles,Ex. xxii.viii. Psalme, lxxxii.i. &. vi. he hath maruelously cōmended it vntounto vsus. That I maye reherse a few of them. Wheras whosoeuer be in place of magistrates are named gods, let no mā thynke that in that naming is small importance: For therby is signified that they hauehave cōmaundement frō God, that they are furnished with ye authoritie of God, & do altogether beare the persō of God, whoes stede they do after a certaine maner supplie. This is not my cauillatiō,Iohn x.xxxv. but ye expositiō of Christ. If the Scripture (saith he) called them gods to whom the worde of God was geuen. What is thys ells, but that God hath committed his businesse to them, that they should serue in his office, and (as Moses & Iosaphat sayed to their iudges whom they appointed in eueryevery seuerall citie of Iuda) that they should sit in iugemēt,Deu. i.xvi i. Chron. xix.vi. not for man but for God? To the same purpose maketh thys that the wisdome of God affirmeth by the mouth of Salomon,Pro. viii.xv. that it is his worke, that kinges reigne, and counsellers decree righteous thinges, that Princes beare principalitie, and al the iudges of the earth execute iugement. For thys is all one in effect as if it had ben sayed, that it cometh not to passe by the peruersenesse of men, that the gouernemente of all thinges in earth is in the hande of Kinges and other Rulers, but by the prouidence and holy ordinance of God, to whome it so semed good to order the maters of men: forasmuch as he is both presente and president among them in making of lawes and in executing vpryghtnesse of iugementes. Which Paule also playnly teacheth, when he reckeneth Gouernementes among the giftes of God,Rom. xii.viii. which beyng diuersly distributed according to the diuersitie of grace, oughte to be employed of the seruantes of Christe to the edification of the Chirche. For althoughe he there properly speaketh of a Councell of graue menne, whiche in the Primitiue Chirch wer apointed yt they should hauehave ye rule of ordering the publike discipline (which office in ye Epistle to ye Corynthiās he calleth Gouernemēt) yet forasmuch as we se yt the ende of ciuile power cometh to ye same point,…. Cor. xii xxv.ii. it is no dout but yt he cōmēdeth vntounto vsus al kind of iust Gouernement. But he speaketh more plainly, where he purposely maketh a full discourse of yt mater. For he both sheweth yt Power is the ordinance of God,Rom. xiii.i. and yt there are no powers, but they ar ordeined of God: and yt the Princes thēselues are ye ministers of God, to ye wel doers vntounto prayse: to ye euil, reuengers vntounto wrath. Herunto may be added also ye examples of holy mē: of which some hauehave possessed kyngdomes, as Dauid, Iosias, Ezechias: other some, Lordshippes, as Ioseph and Daniel: other some, Ciuile gouernements in a free people, as Moses, Iosue, & ye Iudges: whoes offices ye lord hath declared yt he alloweth. Wherfore none ought now to dout yt the ciuile power is a vocation not onelyonly holy and lawefull before God, but also the most holy, and the most honest of all other in the whole lyfe of men.

They which couet to bring in a state wtout Rulers, take exception and say yt although in old time there were kings & Iudges ouer ye rude people, yet at this day ye seruile kinde of gouerning agreeth not wt the perfectiō which Christ hath brought wt his Gospell. Wherin they bewraye not only their ignorāce, but also their deuelish pride, while they take vpō thēselues perfectiō, of which not so much as ye hundreth parte is seen in them. But what maner of men soeuer they be, it is easy to cōfute it: because where Dauid exhorteth al kinges and Rulers to kisse the sōne of God,Psal. iii.xii. he doth not bidde them, geuing ouer their authoritie, to stake thē selues to a priuate life,Esa. xlix.xxiii. but to submit ye power yt they beare to Christ, yt he alone may hauehave preeminēce aboue al. Likewise Esay, whē he promiseth that kinges shalbe fosterfathers of ye Chirch, & Quenes shalbe nourses, he doth not depose them frō their honor: but rather doth by an honorable title make them defēders to the godly worshippers of God: For, yt prophecie perteineth to ye coming of Christ. I do wittingly passe ouer many testimonies which do eche where offer thēselues, & specially in ye psalms wherin al gouernors hauehave their right mainteined. But most clere of all is the place of Paul, where admonishing Timothee yt in ye cōmō assemblie praiers must be made for kings,i. Tim. ii.ii. he by & by addeth to a reasō, That we may vnderunder them leade a quiet life wt al godlinesse & honestie: in whiche words he cōmitteth the state of ye Chirch to their defēse & sauegarding.

Which cōsideratiō ought cōtinually to busy ye magistrates themselues, forasmuch as it may put a great spur to them wherby they may be pricked forward to their duty, & bryng them a singular cōfort whereby they may mitigate ye hardnesses of their office, which truly are both many & great. For wt how great an endeuor of vprightnesse, wisdome, myldenesse, cōtinēce, & innocēcie, ought they to charge thēselues, which know themselues to be appointed ministers of the righteousnesse of God? By what affiāce shal they admit vniustice to their iugemēt seate, which they heare to be ye throne of ye liuing God? By what boldnesse shal they pronoūce a wrōgful sentence wt that mouth, which they vnderstād to be appointed an instrumēt for the truth of God? With what cōsciēce shal they subscribe to wicked decrees with yt hād, which they know to be ordeyned to write ye actes of God? In a sum, if they remēber yt they be the vicegerentes of God, they must watch wt al care, earnestnesse, & diligence, that they may represēt in thēselues vntounto mē a certaine image of ye prouidēce, preseruatiō, goodnesse, good will, & righteousnesse of God. And they must cōtinually set thys before their eyes,Ier. xlviii xi. yt if al they be accursed, yt doe execute in deceite ye worke of ye vēgeāce of God, thei are much more greuously accursed, yt vse thēselues deceitfully in a rightful vocatiō. Therfore whē Moses & Iosaphat mynded to exhort their iudges to their duty, they had nothing more effectual to moue their mindes withal, thā yt which we hauehave before rehersed, Loke what ye do. For ye sit in iugemēt not for mā but for God:Deute. i.xvi. ii. Chron. xix.vi. Psalme. lxxxii.i. Esa. iii.xiiii. namely he which is nere to you in the cause of iugemēt. Now therfore let ye feare of ye Lord be vpō y…u. Loke & be diligēt: because there is no peruersnesse wt ye lord our God. And in an other place it is sayd, yt God stode in ye assēbly of yt Gods, & sitteth iudge in the middest of the gods, yt they may be encouraged to their duty when they heare yt they be the deputies of God, to whom they must one day yelde accompt of the gouernemēt of their charge. And worthily this admonitiō ought to be of great force with them. For if they make any defaulte, they are not only wrong doers to men whō they wickedly vexe, but also scaunderers to God himselfe, whoes holy iugemētes they defile. Again they hauehave also wherupon they may singularly cōfort themselues, when they consider with themselues yt they are not busied in prophane affaires and such as are not fit for the seruant of God, but in a most holy office, namely forasmuch as they are the deputies of God.

As for them yt are not moued with so many testimonies of Scripture frō being bold to rayle at this holy ministery, as a thing disagreing wt Christiā religiō & godlinesse: what do they ells but rayle at God hymselfe, the dishonor of whō can not but be ioyned with the reproche of his minister? And verily they do not refuse the magistrates, but doe caste away God, yt he should not reigne ouer them. For if the Lord sayed thys truely of the people of Israel,i. Samu. viii.vii. because they had refused the gouernemēt of Samuel: why shal it be lesse truely sayd at thys daye of them yt geue themselues leaue to rage against al gouernementes ordeyned of God? But sith the Lord sayd to the disciples, that the kinges of nations beare rule ouer them,Luk. ixii.xxv. but that among them it is not so, where he that is the first must be made the least: by this saying it is forbiddē to all Christiās that they should not take kingdomes or gouernementes vponupon them. O handsome expositors. There rose a strife among the disciples, whiche of them excelled other: the Lord, to suppresse thys vayne ambition, taught them that their ministerie is not like vntounto kingdomes, in which one mā hath preeminence aboue the rest. I beseche you, what doth this cōparisō make to the dishonor of kingly dignitie? yea what doth it proue at all, but yt the ministerie of an Apostle is not the office of a king? Moreouer although among the magistrates themselues there be diuerse formes, yet there is no differēce in this behalfe, but that we ought to take them al for the ordinances of God. For Paule also doth comprehēde them altogether, when he sayth that there is no power but of God:Rom. xi… i. and yt which best liked him of al, is cōmēded with notable testimonie aboue ye other, namely the power of one: which because it bringeth with it a cōmō bondage of al, (except yt one man, to whoes wil it maketh all thynges subiecte) in olde tyme coulde lesse be allowed of noble and the excellente sort of natures.Pro. viii.xv. i. Pet. ii.xvii. But ye Scripture, to mete with their vniust iugemētes, expresly by name affirmeth, that it is the prouidence of gods wisdome that kinges do reigne, & peculiarly cōmaundeth the king to be honored.

And truly it were very vaine yt it should be disputed of priuate men, which should be ye best state of policie in ye place where they lyue: for whō it is not lawful to consult of the framing of any cōmon weale. And also the same could not be simply determined without rashnesse, forasmuchas a great part of the order of this question cōsisteth in circumstances. And if ye cōpare also the states themselues together without circūstāces, it shal not be easy to discerne which of them ouerweieth the other in profitablenesse, they match so egally together. There is an easy way to fall from kingdome into tyranny: but not much harder is it to fall from the rule of the chefest men to the faction of a fewe: but most easy of all, from the peoples gouernement, to sedition. Truely, if those three formes of gouernementes which the Philosophers set out, be considered in themselues, I wil not deny yt either ye gouernemēt of ye chefest men, or a state tempered of it and cōmon gouernement farr excelleth al other: not of it selfe, but because it most seldome chaunceth yt kynges so temper themselues, yt their wil neuer swarueth from yt which is iust and right, again that they be furnished wt so great sharpenesse of iugement and wisdome that eueryevery one of them seeth so much as is sufficient. Therfore ye fault or defaulte of men maketh, that it is safer and more tolerable that many should hauehave the gouernement, yt they may mutually one helpe an other, one teache and admonish an other, and if any aduaunce himselfe …er than is mete, there may be ouerseers and maisters to restraine his wilfulnesse. Thys both hath alway ben approued by experience, and ye lord also hath confirmed it with his authoritie, when he ordeined among the Israelites a gouernement of the best men very nere vntounto common gouernement, at such tyme as he mynded to hauehave them in best estate, tyll he brought fourth an image of Christ in Dauid. And as I willingly graūt yt no kynde of gouernement is more blessed than thys, where libertie is framed to such moderation as it ought to be, and is orderly stablished to continuance: so I compt them also most blessed, that may enioy thys estate: and if they stoutely and constantly trauail in preseruing and reteining it▪ I graunt that they do nothing against their dutie. Yea and the magistrates ought with most great diligence to bende thēselues herunto, that they suffer not the libertie of the people, of which they are appointed gouernors, to be in any part minished, muche lesse to be dissolued: if they be negligent and litle careful therin, they are false Faithbreakers in their office, and betrayers of their contree. But if they would bryng this kinde to themselues, to whō the Lord hath appointed an other forme of gouernement, so that therby they be moued to desire a change, the very thinking therof shal not only be foolish and superfluous, but also hurtfull. But if thou bende not thyne eyes onelyonly to one citie, but loke about or beholde the whole world together, or at least sprede abrode thy sight into farther distances of contrees, without dout thou shalt fynde that this is not vnprofitablye appointed by the prouidence of GOD, that diuerse contrees shoulde be ruled by diuerse kyndes of gouernemente. For as the elementes hang together but by an vnegall temperature, so contrees also are with their certaine inequalitie veri wel kept in order. Howbeit al these things also are spoken in vaine to them whom the wil of the Lord shal satisfie. For if it be hys pleasure, to set kynges ouer kyngdomes, Senates or officers ouer free cities, whomsoeuer he maketh rulers in the places where we are conuersant, it is our dutie to shewe our selues yelding and obedient vntounto them.

Now ye office of Magistrates is in this place to be declared by ye way, of what sort it is described by the word of God, & in what thinges it consisteth. If the Scripture did not teache, yt it extendeth to both the tables of ye law, we might learne it out of ye prophane writers. For none hath entreated of ye dutie of magistrates, of making of lawes & of ye publike weale, yt hath not begon at religion and the worshipping of God. And so hauehave they al confessed, that no policie can be happily framed, vnlesse the firste care be of godlinesse: and that those lawes be preposterous which neglecting the right of God, do prouide only for men. Sith therfore with al the Philosophers religion hath the firste place, & sithe thesame hath alway ben obserued by yt vniuersal cōsent of al nations, Let Christian Princes and magistrates be ashamed of their slouthfulnesse, if they endeuor not thēselues to this care. And we hauehave alredy shewed, that this dutie is specially enioyned them of God: as it is mete, that they shoulde employ their trauail to defende & maintaine his honor, whoes vicegerentes they be, & by whoes benefit they gouerne. For thys cause also chefely are the holy kinges praysed in Scripture, for that they restored the worship of God being corrupted or ouerthrowen, or toke care of religion,Iud xxi.xiv. that it might flourishe pure and safe vnderunder them. But contrarywise the holy hystorie reckeneth states wtout gouernors, among faultes, sayeng that there was no kyng in Israell, and yt therfore eueryevery man did what pleased hymselfe. Wherby their follie is confuted, whiche would hauehave them, neglecting the care of God, only to apply themselues to be iudges of law among men. As though God appointed gouernors in his name to decise controuersies, & omitted that which was of muche weightier importance, yt he hymselfe should be worshipped according to the prescribed rule of his law. But a desire to innouate al thinges wtout punishment, moueth troblesome mē to this point, that they wishe al reuengers of ye breache of peace to be takē away.Iere. xxii.ii…. As for so muche as perteineth to ye seconde table, Ieremie warneth kinges, to do iugemēt and righteousnesse, to deliuer ye forceably oppressed frō the hād of ye false accuser, not to greue ye strāger & widow, not to do wrong, and not to shed innocent blood. To the same purpose maketh ye exhortatiō which is red in ye .82. Psalme, yt they shuld render right to ye poore & nedy, acquite the poore & nedy, deliuer ye poore & nedy frō the hande of the oppressor. And Moses geueth charge to the Princes whom he had set in his stede: lett them heare ye cause of their brethrē, and iudge betwene a mā & his brother and a stranger,Deu. i.xvi Deu. xvii.xvi. & not know faces in iugemēt, let them heare as wel the litle as the great, & be not afraied of any mā: because it is ye iugemēt of God. But I speake not of these thinges: ye kinges shoulde not get to themselues multitudes of horses, not cast their minds to couetousnesse, not be lifted vp aboue their brethren: yt they may be cōtinually busied in studieng vpō ye law of the lord al ye dayes of their life: ye Iudges swarue not to ye one side, nor receiue giftes: because in declaring here ye office of magistrates, my purpose is not so much to instruct ye magistrates themselues, as to teache other what Magistrates be, and to what ende they are set of God. We se therfore yt they be ordeined defenders and reuengers of innocence, modestie, honestie, and quietnesse, whoes only endeuor shoulde be to prouide for the common safetie and peace of all men. Of which vertues Dauid professeth that he will be an exemplar,Psal. xi. when he shall be aduaūced to the royall seate: that is, that he will not consent to any euell doynges, but abhorre wicked men, sclanderers, and proude men, and get to hymselfe from echewhere honest and faithful men. But sithe they can not performe this, vnlesse they defend good men from the wronges of the euill, let them helpe the good with succor and defense, let them also be armed with power whereby thei may seuerely suppresse open euill doers and wicked men by whoes lewdnesse the common quiet is trobled or vexed. For we throughly fynde thys by experience which Solon sayd, ye common weales consist of rewarde & punishment, and that when those be taken away, the whole discipline of cities faileth and is dissolued. For the care of equitie and iustice waxeth colde in the myndes of many, vnlesse there be due honor ready for vertue: neither can the wylfulnesse of wicked men be restrained but by seueritie & chastisement of peynes. And these two partes the Prophet comprehendeth, when he byddeth Kynges and other gouernours to doo iudgement and righteousnesse.Iere. xxi.xii. &. xxii.iii. Righteousnesse is, to take into charge of tuition, to embrace, to defende, to reuenge, to deliuer the innocent. Judgement is, to withstande the boldnesse of wicked men, to represse their violence, to punishe their offences.

But here, as it semeth, doth arise a hye and hard question: If by the law of God al Christians are forbiddē to kyl:Exo. xx.xiii. Deu. v.xvii. Mat. v.xxi. Esa. xi.ix. & …xv.xxv. and the Prophet prophecieth of the holy mount of God, that is, the Chirche, that in it they shall not afflict nor hurt; how many magistrates be together both godly and blood sheders? But if we vnderstand, that the Magistrate in executing of punishmentes, doth nothing of hymselfe, but executeth the very selfe iugementes of God, we shall be nothing combred wyth thys dout. The lawe of the Lorde forbiddeth to kyll: least manslaughter should be vnpunished, the lawe maker hymselfe geueth to the ministers the swerd in their hande, which they should draw fourth against all mansleyers. To aflict and to hurt, is not the doing of the godly: but this is not to hurte, nor to afflict, by the Lordes commaundement to reuenge the afflictiōs of the godly. I would to God that thys were alway presente before our myndes, that nothyng is here done by the rashenesse of man, but al things by the authoritie of God yt cōmaundeth,Rom. xiii iiii. which going before vsus, we neuer swarue out of ye right way. Unlesse parhappes there be a bridle put vponupon the righteousnesse of God, that it may not punish wycked doinges. But if it be not lawful to appoint any law to it, why shall we cauil against the ministers of it? They beare not the sweard in vain, sayth Paule: for they be the ministers of God to wrath, reuengers to euil doers. Therfore if Princes and other rulers knowe that nothing shalbe more acceptable to God than their obedience, let them apply this ministerie, if they desire to shewe their godlinesse, righteousnesse, and vncorruptnesse allowable to God. With thys affection was Moses led, when knowing himselfe appointed by the power of the Lorde to be the deliuerer of hys people, he layed hys handes vpō the Egyptiā. Againe, when by slayeng of three thousande men in one day,Ex. ii.xii. Acte. vii.xxviii. Ex. xxxii.xxvii. i. Ki. xi.v. he toke vengeance of the sacrilege of the people. Dauid also, when nye to the ende of hys lyfe he gaue commaundement to Salomō hys sonne to slay Ioab and Semei. Wherupō he also rehearseth thys amōg the vertues of a king, to slay the wicked of the lande, that al workers of wickednesse, maye be dryuen out of the citie of God. To whiche purpose also perteineth the prayse that is geuen to Salomon, Thou hast loued righteousnesse and hast hated wickednesse. How doth that mylde and gē …le nature of Moses burne out into so great crueltie, that beyng sprinkled and embrued with the blood of his brethren, he runneth throughout the cāpe to newe slaughters? How doth Dauid, a mā of so great gentlenesse in al his life, among hys last breathinges make that bloody testamente, yt hys sonne should not bryng the hoare heate of Ioab and Demet in peace to the graue? But they both when they executed the vengeance committed to them of God, so sanctified with cruell dealing their handes which they had defiled with sparing. It is an abhomination with kinges, sayth Salomon,Pro. xvi.xii. Pro. xx.viii. Pro. xx.xxvi. Pro. xxv.iiii. Pro. xvii xv. Pro. xvii.xi. Pro. xiiii.xxiiii. to do iniquitie, because hys throne is stablished in righteousnesse. Againe, The kyng which sitteth in the throne of iugement, spredeth hys eyes vponupon eueryevery euill man. Againe, A wise king scattereth the wicked and turneth them vponupon the whele. Again, Take away the drosse from the siluer, and there shal come fourth a vessel to the melter: take away the wicked man from the sighte of the king, and his throne shalbe fast set in righteousnesse. Againe, He that iustifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the righteous, bothe are abhomination to the Lorde. Againe, A rebellious man purchaceth euil to himselfe, and a cruel messenger is sent vntounto hym. Againe, whoso sayth to the wycked man, thou art righteous, hym peoples and nations do curse. Nowe if theyr true righteousnesse be, with drawen swerd to pursue gylty and wicked men: let them put vp their swerde, and holde their handes pure from blood, while in the meane tyme desperate men doe range with murthers and slaughters: thē thei shal make thēselues gilti of most great wickednesse, so much lesse shal they get therby ye prayse of goodnesse & righteousnesse. Only let there be no precise and cruell rigorousnesse, and that iugement seate which may worthily be called the rocke of accused men. For I am not he that either fauor extreme crueltie, or doe thinke that ryghteous iugemēt can be pronoūced, but whyle clementie the best & surest coūseller of kynges, as Salomō affirmeth, ye preseruer of ye kinges throne is assistent, which a certaine man in olde tyme truely sayd to be the principal gift of Princes. Yet a magistrate must take hede to both, that he doe neither with rigorousnesse of mynde wound rather than heale, or by superstitious affectation of clementie fal into a most cruel gentlenesse, if with soft & loose tendernesse he be dissolute to the destruction of many mē. For thys was in olde tyme not wtout cause cōmōly spoken vnderunder the empire of Nerua, yt it is in dede euil to liue vnderunder a prince vnderunder whom nothing is lawful, but much worse vnderunder whom al things are lawfull.

But sith sōtime kinges & peoples must of necessitie take swerd in hand to execute such publike vēgeāce, by thys reson we may also iudge yt the warres are lawful which are so takē in hād. For if there be power deliuered them, wherby they may mainteine quiet to their dominiō, wherby they may kepe down ye seditious stirres of vnquiet mē, wherby they may helpe the forceably oppressed, wherby they may punish euil doinges▪ can they at fitter seasō vtter it, thā to suppresse hys rage which trobleth both priuately the rest of eueryevery man, and the common quiet of al men, which seditiously maketh vprores, which committeth violent oppressions and haynous euil doinges? If they ought to be preseruers and defenders of the lawes, they must also ouerthrowe ye enterprises of al them by whoes wicked doing the discipline of lawes is corrupted. Yea if they worthyly punishe those theues whoes iniuries hauehave extended onelyonly to a few: shal they suffer a whole contree to be without punishmēt vexed and wasted with robberies? For it maketh no differēce whether he be a king or one of the basest of the commonaltie, that inuadeth an others contree into which he hath no right, and spoileth it like an enemie: all are alike to be takē and punished for robbers. Thys therfore both natural equitie, and the rule of dutie teacheth that Princes are armed not only to restrayne priuate duties with indicial punishmentes, but also to defende wt warre the dominions committed to their charge, if at any tyme they be enuielike assailed. And suche warres the Holy ghost by many testimonies of Scripture declareth to be lawful.

If it be obiected against me, yt in ye new Testamēt is neither witnesse nor exāple which teacheth yt warre is a thyng lawful for Christiās: first I answer, that the same rule of makyng warre whiche was in old time remaineth also at this daye, and that on the contrary syde there is no cause that may debarre magistrates from defendyng of their subiectes. Secondly, that an expresse declaration of these maters is not to bee sought in the writynges of the Apostles, where their purpose is not to frame a ciuile state, but to stablishe the spirituall kingdome of Christe. Last of all I say that in them also is shewed by the waye, that Christe hath by his commyng chaunged nothyng in this behalf. For if christian doctrine (that I may speake in Augustines owne wordes) condemned all warres,Augu. epist. v. ad. Mar he would rather hauehave said this to soldiars when they asked counsell of saluation, that they shold cast away their weapons, & vtterly withdraw themselues from the warre. But it was said to them: strike no man,Luke. iii.xvii. do no man wrong, let your wages suffise you. Whome he taughte that their wages ought to suffise them, he did veryly not forbidde them to be warriers. But all magistrates ought here to take great hede, that they nothing at all folowe their owne desyres: but rather, if they muste punish, let them not be born away with a hedlong angrinesse, let thē not be violētly caried with hatred, let them not broile with vnappeasable rigor, yea let them (as Augustin saith) pity cōmon nature in him in whom they punishe his priuate fault. Or if they must put on armure against ye enemie, that is, the armed robber, let them not lightly seke occasiō therof, nor take it beyng offred vnlesse they be driuen to it by extreme necessitie. For if we ought to performe much more than that heathen man required, which would hauehave warre to seme a seking of peace: truely we oughte firste to attempte all thinges ere we ought to trye the matter by warre.Cicero of …. Finally in both kindes let them not suffer themselues to be caried with any priuate affection, but be led only with cōmō feling. Otherwise they doe very ill abuse their power, which is geuen them, not for their own commodity, but for others benefit and ministerie. Moreouer of the same rightful rule of making warre hangeth the order bothe of garrisons, and leagues, and other ciuile fortifications. Garrisons I cal those that are placed in townes to defende the borders of the comree: Leagues, which are made with Princes adioyning for this couenante that if any troble happen in their lādes they may mutually helpe them, and ioyne their forces in common together to suppresse the common enemies of mankinde: Ciuile fortifications, whoes vse is in the arte of warre.

Thys also I wil last of al adde, that tributes and taxes are ye lawfull reuenues of princes, which they may chefely employ to susteine the cō mon charges of their office: whiche yet they maye likewise vse to their priuate royaltie which is after a certayne manner conioyned with honor of the princely state that they beare. As we se that Dauid, Ezechias, Iosias, Iosaphat, and other holy Kynges, and Ioseph also and Daniel, according to the state of the person that they did beare, were without offense of godlinesse sumptuous of the common charge, and we rede in Ezechiel that there was a very large portion of lande assigned to the kinges.Ezechiel. x…viii.xxi. Where although he paint out the spiritual kingdome of Christ, yet he fetcheth the exāplar of hys similitude from the lawful kingdome of men. But yet so, that Princes agayne on their behalues should remember, that their treasure chambers are not so muche their owne priuate cofers,Ro. xiii.vi as the treasuries of the whole people (for so Paul testifieth) which they may not without manifest wrong prodigally wast or spoile: or rather that it is the very blood of the people, whiche not to spare, is most cruel vnnaturalnesse: and let them thinke, that their impositions, and subsidies, and other kindes of tributes, ar nothyng but the supportes of publike necessitie, wherewyth to wery the poore communaltie wythout cause, is tyrannicall extortion. These thynges doe not encourage Princes to wasteful expense and ryot, (as verily there is no nede to adde a fyerbrand to theyr lustes that are of themselues to much alredy kyndled) but sythe it much behoueth that they shoulde with pure conscience before God be bolde to do al that they are bolde to do, least with wycked boldnesse come into despising of God, they must be taught how much is lawful for them. Neyther is thys doctrine superfluous for priuate men, that they shoulde not rashly and stubbornly geue themselues leaue to grudge at any expenses of Princes, although they excede common and ciuile measure.

Nexte to the magistrate in ciuile states are lawes, the moste strong sinewes of common weales, or (as Cicero calleth them accordyng to Plato) the soules, without which the Magistrate can not stand, as they agayn without the Magistrate hauehave no liuely force. Therfore nothing coulde be more truely said, than that the lawe is a dumme Magistrate, and that the Magistrate is a lyuyng lawe. But whereas I promised to speake, with what lawes a Christian ciuile state ought to bee ordered, there is no cause why any man shold loke for a long discourse of the best kynde of lawes, which bothe shold be infinite, and perteined not to this present purpose and place: yet in a fewe wordes, and as it were by the way, I will touche what lawes it may vse godlily before God, and bee rightly gouerned by them among men. Which selfe thyng I had rather to hauehave vtterly passed ouer with silence, if I dyd not vnderstande that many do herein verillously erre. For there be some that denye that a cō mon weale is well ordered, whiche neglectyng the ciuile lawes of Moses is gouerned by the common lawes of nations. Howe dangerous & troublesome this sentence is, let other men consider, it shall be enough for me to hauehave shewed that it is false and foolish. That common diuision is to be kept, which diuideth the whole lawe of God published into morall, ceremoniall, and iudiciall lawes: and all the partes are to be seuerally considered, that we maye knowe what of them perteyneth to vsus, and what not. Neither in the meane time let any man be combred with this dout, that iudicials and ceremonials also perteyne to the moral lawes. For although the olde writers whiche hauehave taught this diuision, were not ignorant that these two later partes had their vse about maners, yet because they myght be changed and abrogate, the morals remaining safe, they did not call them morals. They called that fyrst part peculiarly by that name, withoute whiche can not stande the true holynesse of maners, and the vnchangeable rule of lyuyng rightly.

Therfore the Morall lawe (that I may first beginne the rat) sith it is conteined in two chefe pointes, of which the one commaundeth simply to worship God with pure faith and godlynesse, & the other to embrace men with vnfained louelove, is the true and eternall rule of righteousnesse, prescribed to the men of al ages and tymes that wil be willyng to frame their lyfe to the will of God. For this is his eternall and vnchangeable will,Gala. iiii.iiii. that he hymselfe should be worshipped of vsus all, and that we shold mutually louelove one an other. The Ceremoniall lawe was the schooling of the Iewes, wherwith it pleased the Lord to exercise the certain childhode of that people, tyll that tyme of fullnesse come, wherin he would to the full manifestly shewe his wisdome to the earth, and delyuer the truthe of those thynges which then were shadowed with figures. The iudiciall lawe geuen to them for an order of ciuile state, gaue certayne rules of equitie and righteousnesse, by whiche they myght behaue them selues harmlessely and quietly together. And as that exercise of ceremonies proprely perteyned in dede to the doctrine of godlynesse (namely which kept the Chirch of the Iewes in the worship & religion of God) yet it might be distinguished from godlynesse it self: so this forme of iudiciall orders (although it tended to no other ende, but howe the selfe same charitie might best be kept whiche is commaunded by the eternall lawe of God) yet had a certayne thyng differyng from the very cōmaū dement of louyng. As therefore the Ceremonies myghte be abrogate, godlinesse remaynyng safe and vndestroyed: so these iudiciall ordinances also beyng taken away, the perpetuall dueties and commaundemē tes of charitie may continue. If this be true, verily there is libertie left to eueryevery nation to make suche lawes as they shall forsee to be profitable for them: whiche yet must be framed after that perpetuall rule of charitie, that they may in dede vary in forme, but hauehave the same reason. For I thinke that those barbarous & sauage lawes, as were those that gaue honor to theues, that alowed common copulations, and other both muche more filthy and more against reason, are not to be taken for lawes: forasmuche as they are not onelyonly against all rightuousnesse, but also against naturall gentylnesse and kyndnesse of men.

This which I hauehave sayde shalbe playne, if in all lawes we beholde these two thynges as we ought, the makyng and the equitie of the law, vponupon the reason wherof the makyng it selfe is founded & stayeth. Equitie, because it is naturall, can be but one of all lawes: and therfore one lawe, accordyng to the kynde of mater, oughte to be the propounded ende to all lawes. As for makyngs of Lawes, because they hauehave certaine circumstances vponupon which they partly hang, if so that they tende all together to one marke of equitie, though they be diuerse it maketh no mater. Nowe sithe it is certayne that the lawe of God, whiche we call morall is nothyng ells but a testimonie of the naturall law, and of that conscience which is engrauen of God in the myndes of men, the whole rule of this equitie wherof we nowe speake is set foorth therin. Therfore it alone also must be bothe the marke and rule and ende of all lawes. Whatsoeuer lawes shalbe framed after that rule, directed to that marke, and limited in that ende, there is no cause why we should disalowe them, howsoeuer they otherwise differ from the Iewishe lawe or one from an other. The lawe of God forbiddeth to steale. What peyne was appoynted for theftes in the ciuile state of the Iewes,Exo. xxii.i. is to be sene in Exodus. The most auncient lawes of other nations punished thefte with recompence of double: the lawes that folowed afterwarde, made difference betwene manifest theft and no manifest. Some proceded to banishemente, some to whippyng, some at last to the punishmente of death.Deu. xix.xviii. False witnesse was among the Iewes punished with recompēce of egall paine, in some places onelyonly with greate shame, in some places with hangyng, in other some with the Crosse. Manslaughter all lawes vniuersally doo reuenge with blood, yet with dyuers kyndes of deathe. Agaynst adulterers in some places were ordeined seuerer peynes, in some places lighter. Yet we see howe with suche diuersitie all tend to the same ende. For with one mouthe they all together pronounce punishement against all the offences which hauehave ben condemned by the eternal law of God, as manslaughters, theftes, adulterie, false witnessings: but in the maner of punishement they agree not. Neither is the same nedefull, nor yet expedient. There is some contree, which vnlesse it shewe rigor with horrible examples against mansleyers, should immediately be destroied with murders and robberies. There is some tyme that requireth the sharpnesse of peynes to be encreased. If there aryse any trouble in a common weale, the euils that are wont to growe therof muste be amended with newe ordinances. In tyme of warre all humanitie would in the noyse of armure fall away, vnlesse there were caste into men an vnwonted feare of punishementes. In barennesse, in pestilēce, vnlesse greater seueritie be vsed, all thyngs will come to ruine. Some nation is more bent to some certaine vice, vnlesse it be most sharply suppressed. Howe malicious and enuious shall he be againste the publike profite, that shalbe offended with suche diuersitie whiche is most fitte to holde fast the obseruyng of the lawe of God? For, that whyche some saye, that the Lawe of God geuen by Moses is dishonored, when it beyng abrogate, newe are preferred aboue it, is moste vaine. For neither are other preferred aboue it, when they are more allowed, not in simple comparison, but in respect of the estate of the tymes, place, and nation: neither is that abrogate, which was neuer made for vsus. For the LORDE gaue not that lawe by the hande of Moses, which should be published into all nations, and florishe eueryevery where: but when he had receiued the nation of the Iewes into his faith, defence, and protection, he willed to be a lawemaker peculiarly to them, and lyke a wise lawmaker, he hadde in making of hys lawes a certaine singular consideration of them.

Now remayneth that we consider that which we hauehave set in the last place, what profit of lawes, iudicial orders, and magistrates, cometh to the common felowship of Christians. Wherwith also is coupled an other question, how much priuate men ought to yeld to magistrates, and how farre their obedience ought to procede. Many thought the office of magistrat to be superfluous among Christiās, because forsoth thei can not godlily craue their ayde, namely sithe they are forbidden to reuenge, to sue in the law, and to hauehave any controuersie. But whereas Paule contrarywise plainly testifieth,…o. xiiii.iiii. that he is ye minister of God to vsus for good: we thereby vnderstand, that he is so ordeined of God, that we being defended by his hande and succours agaynst the maliciousnesse and iniuries of mischeuous men, may lyue a quiete and assured lyfe. If he be in vaine geuen vsus of the Lorde for defence, vnlesse it be lawfull for vsus to vse suche benefite: it sufficiently appereth that he may also without vngodlinesse be called vponupon and sued vntounto. But here I muste hauehave to doo with twoo kyndes of men. For there be many men that boyle with so great rage of quarellyng at the lawe, that they neuer hauehave quiete with themselues vnlesse they hauehave strife with other. And their controuersies they exercise with deadly sharpnesse of hatred, and with mad gredinesse to reuenge and hurt, and do pursue them with vnappeasable stiffenesse euen to the verye destruction of their aduersarie. In the meane tyme, that they may not be thought to doo any thyng but rightefully, they defende suche peruersnesse with color of lawe. But though it be graunted thee to go to lawe with thy brother, yet thou mayste not by and by hate hym, not be carried againste hym with furious desyre to hurt hym, not stubbornely to pursue hym.

Let this therfore be said to such men, that the vse of lawes is lawful, if a man doo rightly vse it. And that the right vse bothe for the pleintife to sue, and for the defendant to defende, is if the defendant beeyng summoned doo appere at an appointed day, and dothe with such exception as he can, defēd his cause without bitternesse, but only with this affection to defend that whiche is his owne by law: and if the pleintif beyng vnworthily oppressed either in his person or his goodes, do resort to the defence of the Magistrate, make his complainte, and require that which is equitie and conscience, but farre from all gredy will to hurte or reuenge, farre from sharpnesse and hatred, farre from burnyng heate of contention, but rather redy to yeld of his owne and to suffer any thing, than to be caried with an enemylike mynd against his aduersarie. Contrarywise when beyng filled with malice of mynde, corrupted with enuie, kindled with wrath, breathyng out reuenge, or finally so enflamed with the heate of the contention, they geue ouer any parte of charitie, the whole procedyng euen of a moste iuste cause can not but be wicked. For this ought to be a determined principle to all christians, that a controuersie though it be neuer so righteous, can neuer be rightly pursued of any man, vnlesse he beare as good will and louelove to his aduersarie, as if the matter whiche is in controuersie were already concluded and ended by composition. Some man will here peraduenture say, that suche moderation is so neuer vsed in goyng to lawe that it shoulde be lyke a miracle if any suche were founde. I graunt in dede, as the maners of these tymes be, that there is seldome sene an example of a good contender in lawe, yet the thyng it selfe beyng defiled with addition of no euel, ceasseth not to be good and pure. But when we heare that the helpe of ye Magistrate is a holy gift of God: we must so muche the more diligently take hede, that it be not defiled by our faulte.

As for them that precisely condemne all contendings at lawe, lett them vnderstande that they do therwithall despise the holy ordinance of God, and a gifte of that kynde of giftes whiche maye be cleane to the cleane:Act. xxii.i. et. xxiiii xii. &. xxv.x. vnlesse peraduenture they will accuse Paule of wicked doyng, whiche did bothe put away from himselfe the sclanders of his accusers with declaryng also their deceite and maliciousnesse, and in iudgement claimed for hymselfe the prerogatiue of the citie of Rome, and when nede was he appelled from an vnrighteous gouernor to the Emperors iudgement seate.Num. xix xviii. Math. v.xxxix. Deuter. xixii.xxxv. Rom. xii.xix. Neither withstandeth it, that all Christians are forbidden to desire reuenge, which we also do driue farre away from Christian iudgemente seates. For, if the contention be about a commō case, he goeth not the right way that doth not with innocent simplicitie, commit his cause to the iudge as to a common defender, thynking nothing lesse than to rēder mutual recōpence of euill, which is the affection of reuenge: or if any matter of life and death, or any greate criminall action be commenced, we require that the accuser be suche a one, as commeth into the courte beyng taken with no boylyng heate of reuenge, and touched with no displeasure of priuate iniurie, but only hauyng in mynde to withstande the enterprises of a mischeuous manne, that they may not hurt the common weale. But if thou take away a reuengyng mynde, there is no offence done against that cōmaundement whereby reuenge is forbidden to Christians. But they are not only for bidden to desire reuenge, but they are also commaunded to wayt for the hande of the Lord, which promiseth that he wil be a present reuenger for the oppressed and aflicted: but they do preuent all reuenge of the heauēlye defendor, which require helpe at the Magistrates hande either for themselues or other.Rom. xiii iiii. Not so. For we muste thinke that the Magistrates reuenge is not the reuenge of man but of God, which (as Paule sayth) he extēdeth and exerciseth by the ministerie of man for our good.

And no more do we disagree with the wordes of Christ, by which he forbiddeth to resist euell,Math. v.xxxix. and commaundeth to turne the righte cheke to him that hath geuen a blowe on the left, and to suffer him to take away thy cloke that taketh awaye thy coate. He willeth in dede there that the myndes of his should so much abhorre from desire of recompensing like for like, that they should soner suffer doble iniurie to be done to themselues, than desire to reacquite it: from which patience neither do we also leade them awaye. For Christians truely oughte to bee a kinde of men made to beare reproches and iniuries, open to the malice, deceites, and mockages of noughty men: and not that onelyonly, but also they muste bee bearers of al these euilles, that is to say so framed with al their hartes, that hauing receiued one displeasure they make themselues redy for an other, promysyng to them selues nothyng in their whole lyfe but the bearing of a continuall Crosse. In the meane tyme also they muste doo good to them that doo them wrong, and wyshe well to those that curse them,Rom. xli.xxi. Math. v.xxxix. and (whyche is their onelyonly victorie) stryue to ouercome euyll with good. Being so minded they wil not seke eie for eie, tooth for tooth, as the Pharises taught their disciples to desire reuenge, but (as we are taught of Christ) they will so suffer their body to be mangled, and their goodes to be maliciously taken from them, that they will forgeue and of their owne accorde pardon those euels so soone as they are done to them. Yet this euennesse and moderation of mindes shall not withstād, but that the frendshyp toward their ennemies remaining safe, they may vse the helpe of the magistrate to the preseruyng of their goodes, or for zele of publike commoditie may sue a giltie and pestilent man to be punished, whom they know that he can not be amended but by death. For Augustine truely expoundeth that all these commaundementes tend to this ende,Epist. 5. ad Marcell. that a righteous and godly man should be ready to beare patiently the malice of them whome he seeketh to hauehave made good men, that rather the number of the good maye encrease, not that he shoulde with like malice adde himselfe also to the numbre of the euell: then, that they more perteyne to the preparation of the hart, which is inwardely, than to the worke which is done openly: that in secrete may be kept patience of mynde with goood will, but openly that may be doone whiche we see may be profitable to them to whom we ought to beare good will.

But this whiche is wonte to be obiected, that contendynges in lawe are altogether condemned of Paule,i. Cor. vi.vi. is also false. It may easily be perceiued by his wordes, that there was an immeasurable rage of striuing at lawe in the Chirch of the Corynthians: so farre foorth that they did make the gospell of Christ and the whole religion which they professed, open to the cauillations and euell speakyng of the wycked. This is the fyrst thyng that Paule blameth in them, that by their intemperance of contentiōs they brought the Gospel in sclander among the vnbeleuers. And then this point also, that in suche sort they striued among themselues brethren with brethren. For they were so farre from bearyng of wronges, that they gredily gaped one for an others goodes, prouoked one an other, and beyng vnprouoked did hurte. Therfore he inueyeth agaynst that rage of contendyng, and not simply agaynste all controuersies. But he pronoūceth that it is a fault or a weakenesse, that they dyd not rather suffer losse of their goodes than to trauayle euen to contentions for the preseruyng of them: namely when they were so easily moued with eueryevery damage, and for moste small causes did runne to the court of lawe and to controuersies, he sayth that this is a profe that they were of a mynde to ready to anger and not well framed to patiēce. Christians verily ought to do this, that they had alway rather to yelde of their owne right than to go to lawe, from whens they can scarcely get out agayne but with a mynd to muche moued and kindled to hatred of their brother. But when a man seeth that without losse of charitie he may defend his owne, the losse whereof shoulde be a sore hindrance vntounto him: if he do so he offendeth nothing against this sayeng of Paul. Finally (as we hauehave taught in the beginnyng) charitie shall geue eueryevery man best counsell, without whiche whatsoeuer controuersies are taken in hande, and beyonde which whatsoeuer do procede, we holde it out of controuersie that they be vniust and wicked.

The fyrst duetie of subiectes toward their magistrates is, to thynke moste honorably of their office, namely which they acknowlege to be a iurisdiction committed of God, and therefore to esteme them and reuerence them as the ministers and deputies of God. For a man may fynd some, whiche yelde themselues very obedient to their magistrates, and would not that there were not some whome they should obeye, because they so know it to be expedient for the common benefite: but of the magistrates themselues they thinke no otherwise than of certaine necessarie euills.i. Pet. ii.xvii. Prouer. xxiiii.xxi. But Peter requireth somewhat more of vsus, when he commaūdeth that the kyng be honored: & Salomon, when he commaūdeth God and the kyng to be feared. For Peter vnderunder the worde of Honoryng conteineth a sincere and well demyng estimation: and Salomon ioynyng the kyng with God, sheweth that he is full of a certaine holye reuerence and dignitie. This is also a notable commendation in Paul, that we obey not onelyonly for wrathe but for conscience.Rom. xiii v. Wherby he meaneth that subiectes ought to be ledde not onelyonly with feare of princes and rulers to be holden in their subiection (as they are wont to yeld to their armed enemie, which see that vengeance shal redily be taken vponupon them if they resist) but because the obediences that are shewed to them are shewed to God himselfe, forasmuch as their power is of God. I speake not of the men, as if the visor of dignitie dyd couer foolishenesse, or sluggishnesse, or cruelties, or wicked maners and full of mischeuous doyng: but I say that the degree it self is worthy of honor and reuerence: that whosoeuer be rulers may be estemed with vsus, and hauehave reuerence, in respecte of their beyng rulers.

Of this then also foloweth an other thyng: that with myndes bente to the honoring of them, declare their obedience in profe to them: whether it be to obey their proclamations, or to paye tribute, or to take in hande publike offices and charges that serue for common defence, or to doo any other of their commaūdementes. Let eueryevery soule (saith Paul) be subiect to the hyer powers.Rom. xiii i. Tit. xxxi. i. Pet. ii.xiii. For he that resisteth the power, resisteth the ordināce of God. The same Paule writeth to Titus: Warne them yt they be subiecte to rulers and powers, that they obey the Magistrates, that they be redy to eueryevery good worke. And Peter saith, Be ye subiect to eueryevery humaine creature (or rather as I translate it, Ordinance) for the Lordes sake, either to the kyng as moste excellent, or to the rulers that are sent by hym, to the punishement in dede of euell dooers, but to the praise of well doers. Moreouer that they shoulde testifie that they doo not fayne subiection, but are sincerely and hartily subiect, Paule addeth that they should commende to God the safetie and prosperitie of them vnderunder whom they lyue.i. Tim. ii.i. I exhorte (sayth he) that there be made praiers, besechynges, intercessions, thankesgeuynges for all men, for Kynges, and for all that be set in superioritie, that we may liue a peasable & quiet life with all godlynesse and honestie. Neither let any man here deceiue himselfe. For sithe the magistrate can not be resisted, but that God himselfe must also be resisted: although it may be thought that an vnarmed magistrate may frely be despised, yet God is armed whiche will strongly take vengeance on the dispisyng of hymselfe. Moreouer vnderunder this obedience I contemne moderation, which priuate men ought to bynde themselues to kepe in cases touchyng the publike state, that they do not of their owne head entermedle in publike businesses, or rashely breake into the office of the Magistrate, and enterprise nothyng publikely. If any thyng shall in a publike ordinance be behouefull to be amended, let not themselues rayse vprores, nor put their handes to the doyng of it, whiche they all ought to hauehave fast bounde in this behalfe: but let them cōmit it to the iudgement of the magistrate, whose hand alone is here in at libertie. I meane, that they presume to do nothing vncōmaunded. For when the commaundement of the ruler is adioyned, then are they also furnished with publike authoritie. For as they are wont to call the coū sellers of a king, his eares and eies: so not vnfittly a man may cal them the handes of the prince, whome by his commaundement he setteth in authoritie for the doyng of thynges.

Nowe forasmuche as we hauehave hetherto described a magistrate suche as is in dede the same that he is called, namely the father of the contree, and (as the Poete calleth hym) the pastor of the people, the keeper of peace, the protector of righteousnesse, the reuenger of innocence: he is worthily to be iudged a madde man, that alloweth not suche a gouernement. But wheras this is in a maner the experience of all ages, that of princes some beyng carelesse of al thyngs to the foreseyng wherof they ought to hauehave ben hedefully bent, doo without all care slouthfully wallowe in delites: other some addicted to their gaine, doo set out to sale all lawes, priuileges, iudgementes, and grauntes: other somme spoile the poore communaltie of money whiche they may after waste vponupon mad prodigall expendynges: other some exercise mere robberies, in pillyng of houses, defilyng of virgins and matrones, murtheryng of innocentes: many can not be persuaded that suche shoulde be acknowleged for princes, whoes authoritie they ought to obey so farre as they may. For in so great haynous vnworthinesse, among doynges so much contrarie to the duetie not onelyonly of a magistrate, but also of a man, they beholde no forme of the image of God whiche ought to shyne in a Magistrate: when they see no token of that minister of God, whiche was geuen for praise to the good and for vengeance to the euell: so neither do they also acknowlege such a Gouernor, whoes dignitie and authoritie the Scripture commendeth vntounto vsus. And truely this felyng of affection hath alway ben naturally planted in the myndes of men, no lesse to hate and abhorre tyrantes, than to louelove and honor lawfull kynges.

But if we loke to the worde of God, it will leade vsus further, that we be subiect not only to the gouernement of those princes which execute their office to warde vsus well and with suche faithfulnesse as they ought, but also of all them, which by what meane soeuer it be, hauehave the dominion in possession although they performe nothyng lesse thā that which perteineth to the duetie of princes. For though the Lord testifieth that the magistrate is a speciall great gift of his liberalitie for, preseruyng of the safetie of men, and appoynteth to magistrates themselues theyr boundes: yet he dothe therwithall declare, that of what fort soeuer they be, they hauehave not their authoritie but from him: that those in dede, which rule for benefite of the cōmon weale, are true examplars and paternes of his bountifulnesse: that they that rule vniustly and wilfully, ar raysed vp by hym to punishe the wickednesse▪ of the people: that all egally hauehave that maiestie wherwith he hath furnished a lawful power. I will procede no further, till I hauehave added some certayne testimonies or that point.Iob. 14.… Ose. xxiii. ii. Esa. 3.4. & 10.5. De. 28.29 Yet we nede not muche to labor to proue that a wicked King is the wrath of God vponupon the earth, for asmuche as I thinke that no man will say the contrary, and otherwise there should be no more sayed of a Kyng than of a common robber that violently taketh away thy goods, and of an adoulterer that defileth thy bed, of a murtherer that seketh to kill thee, wheras the Scripture reckeneth all such calamities among the curses of God. But let vsus rather tary vpō prouing that, which doth not so easily settle in the mindes of men: that in a most noughty man, & most vnworthy of al honor, if so that he hauehave the publike power in possession, remayneth that noble and diuine power which the Lorde hath by his worde geuen to the ministers of hys righteousnesse & iugement: and therfore that he ought of hys subiectes to be had in as great reuerence & estimation, so much as perteineth to publike obedience, as they would hauehave the best King if he were geuen them.

First I would hauehave ye Reders to perceiue and diligently marke that prouidēce and singular doinges of God, which is in the Scripture not without cause so oft rehearsed vntounto vsus, in distributing of kingdomes & making Kinges whom it pleaseth him. In Daniel, it is sayd: The lorde chāgeth tymes & courses of tymes,Dan. ….… he casteth away & maketh Kinges. Agayne: That ye liuing may know that the Hiest is mighty in the kingdome of men, & he shal geue it to whō he wil. With which maner of sentences wheras the whole Scripture aboundeth, yet that same prophecy of Daniel specially swarmeth ful. Now what maner of Kyng was Nabuchadonezar, he that conquered Hierusalem, it is sufficiently knowen, namely a strōg inuader and destroyer of other.Ero. 29.19 Yet in Ezechiel the lord affirmeth that he gaue hym the lande of Egipt for the seruice yt he had done to hym in wastyng it.Dā. 2.37. And Daniell sayd to hym: Thou Kyng arte the Kyng of Kynges, to whome the Kyng of heauens hath geuen a mightie, and strong, and glorious kyngdome: to thee, I saye, he hath geuen it, and all the landes where dwell the children of men, the beastes of the wood, and fowles of the ayre: he hath deliuered them into thy hande, and hath made thee to beare rule ouer them. Agayne he sayed to hys sonne Belsasar: The hyeste God hath geuen to Nabuchadonezar thy father kyngdome and royaltie,Dan. 5.1… honor and glory: and by reason of the royaltie that he gaue hym all peoples, tribes, and languages were trembling and fearfull at his sighte. When we heare that a Kyng is ordeined of GOD, let vsus therof call to remembrance those heauenly warnynges concernyng the honoring & fearing of a Kyng: then we shal not dout to accompt a most wicked tyrant in the same place wherin the Lorde hath vouchesaued to set him. Samuell, when he gaue warnyng to the people of Israel, what maner of thyngs they shold suffer at the handes of their Kynges, sayd:1. Samu, 8.11. This shalbe the right of the king that shall reigne ouer you: he shal take your sonnes and put them to his chariot, to make them his horsmen, & to plow his land, & reape his croppe, & to make instrumentes of warre. He shal take your daughters, that they may be his dressers of ointmentes, his cookes & bakers. Your lāds, your vineyardes, & your best Oliue plattes he shal take away and geue to his bonde seruantes. He shall take tithes of your sedes and vineyardes, and shall geue them to his eunuches and bonde seruantes. He shall take away your bonde men, your bonde women & your asses, and set them to his worke. Yea and he shall take tithes of your flockes: and ye shalbe his bonde seruantes. Uerily Kinges should not hauehave done this of right, whome the Law did very wel instruct to al continence: but it was called a right ouer the people whiche it behoued them of necessitie to obey, and they might not resist was if Samuell had sayd, The wilfulnesse of Kinges shall runne to such licenciousnesse, which it shall not be your part to resist, to whome this onelyonly thing shalbe left, to obey their commaundementes and harkē to their worde.

But chefely there is in Ieremie a notable place and worthy to be remēbred, which although it be somwhat long, yet I wil be contēt to rehearse, because it most plainly determineth this whole question. I hauehave made the earth and men,Ier. xxvii v. sayth the Lorde, and the liuing creatures that are on the ouerface of the earth in my great strength and stretched out arme, and I wil deliuer it to hym whom it pleaseth in myne eyes. And now therfore I hauehave geuen all these landes into the hand of Nabuchadnezar my seruante, and all nations and great Kinges shal serue hym, tyll the tyme shall come of that lande. And it shalbe as a nation and a kingdome that hath not serued the Kyng of Babell, I wil visit that nation in swerde, famine, and pestilence. Wherefore, serue ye the Kyng of Babell and lyue. We se with how greate obedience the Lorde wylled that cruell and proude tyrant to be honored, for no other reason but because he possessed the kingdome. And thesame was by the heauenly decree, that he was set in the throne of the kyngdome, and taken vp into kingly maiestie, which it was vnlawful to violate. If we hauehave thys cō tinually before our myndes and eyes, that euen the worst Kynges are ordeyned by the same decree by which the authoritie of Kynges is stablyshed: these seditious thoughtes shal neuer come into our mynde, that a Kyng is to be handeled according to his deseruinges, and that it is not mete that we shoulde shewe our selues subiectes to hym that doeth not on hys behalfe shewe hymselfe a Kyng to vsus.

In vayne shall any man obiect that thys was a peculiar commaundemente to the Israelites. For it is to be noted with what reason the Lorde confirmeth it. I hauehave geuen (sayeth he) the kyngdome to Nabuchadnezar. Wherefore serue ye hym and lyue. To whome soeuer therfore it shalbe certayne that the kyngdome is geuen, let vsus not dout that he is to be obeyed. And so sone as the Lord aduaunceth any man to the royall estate, he therein declareth hys will to vsus that he will hauehave hym reigne.R…oue. xxviii.ii. Iob. xii.xviii. I…re. xxix vii. For therof are generall testimonies of the Scripture. Salomō in the xxviii. Chapter. Many Princes are because of the wickednesse of the people. Againe Iob in the xii. chapter. He taketh away subiectiō frō Kinges, and girdeth them againe with the girdle. But thys being confessed, there remayneth nothing but that we must serue and liue. There is also in Ieremie the Prophet an other commaundement of the Lord, wherin he commaundeth hys people to seke the peace of Babylō, whether they had ben led away captiue, and to pray to hym for it, because in the peace of it shoulde be their peace. Beholde the Israelites beyng spoiled of al their goods, plucked out of their houses, led away into exile, and cast into miserable bondage, are commaunded to pray for the safetie of the Conqueror: not as in other places we are commaunded to pray for our persecuters: but that ye kingdome may be preserued to himselfe and quiet, that they themselues may also liue prosperously vnderunder hym. So Dauid being already appointed Kyng by the ordinance of God, and annointed with his holy oyle, when he was without any hys deseruing vnworthyly persecuted of Saul, yet the hed of him that layed waite for hys lyfe, he estemed holy, which the Lord had hallowed wyth the honor of kingdome.1. …. xxiiii.vii. Farre be it from me (sayd he) that I shoulde before the Lord do thys thyng to my Lorde the annointed of the Lorde, that I should laye my hande vponupon hym, because he is the annointed of the Lord.1. Samu. xxvi.ix Againe, My soule hath spared thee, and I hauehave sayd, I wyll not laye my hande vponupon my Lorde, because he is the annointed of the Lord. Againe, Who shal lay his hande vponupon the anointed of the Lord, and shalbe innocēt? So sure as the Lord liueth, vnlesse the Lord strike hym, or his day be come that he dye, or he goe down into battell: farr be it from me that I should lay my hande vponupon the annointed of ye Lorde.

Finally we owe this affection of reuerence yea and deuotion to all our rulers, of what sort soeuer they be. Which I do therfore the oftener repete, that we may learne not to searche what the men themselues be, but take this for sufficiente, that by the will of the Lord they beare that personage, in which the Lord himself hath emprinted and engraued an inuiolable maiestie. But (thou wilt say) Rulers owe mutuall duties to their subiectes. That I hauehave alredy confessed. But if thou therupon cō clude, that obediences are to be rendred to none but to iuste gouernementes, thou art a foolish reasoner. For, husbandes also are bounde to their wiues and parentes to their children with mutuall duties.Eph. vi.i Ephe. v.xxvi. Lett parentes and husbandes depart frō their dutie: let parentes shew themselues so hard and vnpleasable to their children, whom they are forbidden to prouoke to anger, that with their peuishnesse they do vnmeasurably wery them: let the husbandes most despitefully vse their wyues, whom they are commaunded to louelove,1. Pet. iii.vii. and to spare them as weake vessels: shall yet therefore either children be lesse obediēt to their parentes or wyues to their husbandes? But they are subiect both to euil parentes and husbandes and suche as do not their dutie. Yea, wheras all oughte rather to endeuor themselues not to looke behynde them to the bagge banging at their backe, that is, not to enquire one of an others duties, but eueryevery man set before hym that which is his own dutie: this oughte chefely to hauehave place among those that are vnderunder the power of other. Wherfore if we be vnmercifully tormēted of a cruel Prince, if we be rauenously spoiled of a couetous or ryotous Prince, if we be neglected of a slouthfull Prince,Dani. ix.vii. finally if we be vexed for godlinesses sake of a wicked and vngodly Prince: let vsus first cal to minde the remembrance of our sinnes, which vndoutedly are chastised with suche scourges of the Lord. Therby humilitie shal bridle our impatience. Let vsus thē also call to minde this thought, yt it perteineth not to vsus to remedy suche euells▪ but this only is left for vsus,Pro. xxi.… Psalme. lxxxii.i. Psal. ii.…. yt we craue ye helpe of ye Lord, in whoes hand are the hartes of Kinges, & the bowinges of kingdomes? He is ye God that shal stande in the assemblie of gods, and shall in the middest iudge the gods from whoes face al Kinges shal fal, and be broken, and al the iudges of the earth that shal hauehave not kissed his annointed, that hauehave written vniust lawes to oppresse the poore in iugemēt, and do violence to the cause of the humble,Esa x.i. to make widowes a pray, and robbe the fatherlesse.

And here both his maruelous goodnesse, power, and prouidence sheweth it selfe: for somtyme of hys seruantes he raiseth vp opē reuēgers, and furnisheth them with hys commaundement, to take vengeance of their vniust gouernement, and to deliuer hys people many wayes oppressed out of miserable distresse: sometyme he directeth to the same end the rage of men that entēde and goe about an other thing. So he deliuered the people of Israel out of the tirannie of Pharao, by Moses: and out of the violence of Chusam king of Syria, by Othoniel: and oute of other thraldomes, by other kynges or Iudges. So he tamed the pryde of Tyrus, by the Egyptians: the insolence of the Egyptians, by the Assyrians: the fercenesse of the Assyrians,Ex. iii.vii Iud. iii.ix &c. by the Chaldees: the boldnesse of Babilon, by the Medians, and by the Persians when Cyrus hadde subdued the Medians. And the vnhākefulnesse of the Kinges of Iuda and Israel, and their wicked obstinatie toward his so many benefites, he did beate downe and bryng to distresse sometyme by the Assyrians, somtyme by the Babilonians, albeit not al after one maner. For, ye first sort of men when they were by the lawful calling of God sent to do such actes: in taking armure against Kinges, they did not violate that maiestie which is planted in Kinges by the ordinance of God: but being armed from heauē they subdued the lesser power with the greater: like as it is lawful for Kings to punish their Lordes vnderunder them. But these later sort, although they wer directed by the hand of God whether it pleased him, and they vnwittingly did his work, yet purposed in their mind nothing but mischefe.

But howsoever the very doinges of men be iudged, yet the Lord dyd as wel execute hys worke by them, when he did breake the bloody scepters of proude Kinges, and ouerthrew their intolerable gouernemētes. Let Princes heare & be afrayde. But we in the meane tyme must take greate hede, that we do not despise or offende that authoritie of Magistrates ful of reuerend maiestie, whiche God hath stablished with most weighty decrees, although it remaine with moste vnworthy men, and which doe with their wickednesse, so muche as in them is, defyle it. For though the correcting of vnbridled gouernement by the reuengemente of the Lorde, let vsus not by and by thynke that it is committed to vsus, to whom there is geuen no other commaundement but to obey and suffer. I speake alway of priuate men. For if there be at thys time any Magistrates for the behalfe of the people, (such as in olde time wer ye Ephori, that were set against the Kinges of Lacedomonia or the Tribunes of ye people, against the Romane Cōsuls: or the Demarchi, against the Senate of Athenes: & the same power also which paraduēture, as thinges are now, the three estates hauehave in eueryevery realme, when they holde their principal assemblies) I do so not forbidde them according to their office to withstande the outraging licentiousnesse of Kinges,Parlamentes. that I affirme that if they winke at Kinges wilfully raging ouer and treading down the poore communaltie, their dissembling is not without wycked breache of Faith, because they deceitfully betray the libertie of the people, wherof they know themselues to be appointed protectors by the ordinance of God.

But in that obedience whiche we hauehave determined to be due to the authorities of Gouernors, this is alway to be excepted, yea chefely to be obserued, that it do not leade vsus away from obeying of hym, to whoes wil ye desires of al Kinges ought to be subiect, to whoes decrees al their cōmaundementes ought to yelde, to whoes maiestie their maces ought to be submitted. And truely how vnorderly were it, for the satisfieng of men to runne into his displeasure for whom men themselues are obeyed? The Lord therfore is the King of Kinges: who, whē he hath opened hys holy mouth, is to be heard alone for altogether and aboue al: nexte to hym we be subiect to those men that are set ouer vsus: but no otherwise than in hym. If they commaunde any thing against him, let it hauehave no place and let no accompt be made of it: neither let vsus herein any thing stay vponupon al that dignitie wherewith the Magistrates excell, to whiche there is no wrong done, when it is brought into order of subiection in comparison of that singular and truely soueraigne power of God.Dan. v….xxii. After thys reason Daniell denied that he had any thyng offended against the Kyng, when he obeyed not hys wicked proclamation: because the King had passed his boundes, and had not only ben a wrong doer to men, but in lifting vp hys hornes against God he had taken awaye power from hymselfe. On the other side the Israelites are condemned, because they were to much obedient to the wicked commaundemēt of the King.Osc. v.xiii. 1. Kin. xii.xxx. For when Ierobeam had made golden calues, they forsaking the temple of God, did for his pleasure turne to newe superstitions. With like lightnesse their posteritie inclined thēselues to the ordināces of their Kings. With this the Prophet sharply reprocheth them, that they embraced the commmaundementes of the Kyng: so farr is it of, that the pretense of humilitie may deserue prayse, wherwith the flatteres of the court do couer themselues and deceiue the simple, while thei say that it is not lawfull for them to refuse any thyng that is commaunded them of their Princes: as though God had resigned hys right to mortal men, geuing them the rule of mankinde: or as though the earthly power were minished, when it is made subiect to the author of it, before whome euen the heauenly powers do humbly tremble for feare. I know how greate and how present perill hangeth ouer thys constantie, because Kinges doe most displeasantly suffer themselues to be despised, whoes displeasure (sayth Salomon) is the messenger of death. But sith this decree is proclaimed by the heauenly harald Peter.Ac. v.xxix That we ought to obey God rather than men, let vsus comfort our selues with thys thoughte, that we then performe that obediēce which the Lord requireth, when we suffer any thing rather whatsoeuer it be,1. Cor. vii xiii. than swarue from Godlinesse. And that our courages shold not faint, Paul putteth also an other spurre to vsus. That we were therefore redemed of Christ with so great a price as our redemption cost hym, that we should not yelde our selues in thraldome to obey the peruerse desires of men, but much less should be bond to vngodlynesse.

Prayse be to God. T.N.