Treatise of Civil Policy, Treatise · Question 5
QUEST. V. Whether or no P. P. the Author of Sac. San. Regum Majeſtas, called the ſacred and Royall Prerogative of Kings, proveth that God is the immediate Author of Soveraignty, and that the King is no creature of the peoples making?
COnſider firſt that the excommunicated Prelate ſaith, cap. 2. p. 19. Kings are not immediatly from God, as by any ſpeciall Ordinance ſent from Heaven by the miniſtery of Angels and Prophets, there were but ſome few ſuch; as Moſes, Saul, David, &c. yet ſomething may immediatly proceed from God, and be his ſpeciall worke without a revelation or manifeſtation extraordinary from Heaven, ſo the deſignation to a ſacred function is from the Church, and from man; yet the power of Word, Sacraments binding and looſing, is immediatly from Jeſus Chriſt. The Apoſtle Matthias was from Chriſts immediate conſtitution, and yet he was deſigned by men, Act. 1. The ſoule is by creation and infuſion, without any ſpeciall ordinance from Heaven, though nature begeteth the body, and diſpoſeth the matter, and prepareth it as fit to be conjoyned with the ſoule, ſo as the father is ſaid to beget the ſonne. Anſ. 1. The unchurched Prelate ſtriveth to make us hatefull by the title of the Chapter, That God is (by his title) the immediate Author of Soveraingty; and who denyeth that? Not thoſe, who teach that the perſon who is King, is created King by the people, no more then thoſe who deny that men are now called to be Paſtors, and Deacons immediately, and by a voice from Heaven, or by the miniſtery of Angells Kings elected & made by the people, though the Office in the abſtract be immediately of God.and Prophets, becauſe the Office of Paſtors and Deacons is immediately from God. 2. When he hath proved that God is the immediate Author of Soveraingty. What then? ſhall it follow that the ſoveraigne in concreto may not be reſiſted? and that he is above all Law; and that there is no armour againſt his violence but prayers and teares. So God is the immediate Author of the Paſtors, of the Apoſtles Office, ergo, it is unlawfull to reſiſt a Paſtor, though he turne robber? ergo, the Paſtor is above all the Kings Lawes? this is the Ieſuite and all made, ergo, there is no Armour againſt the robbing Prelate but prayer and teares. 2. He ſaith in his Title, that the King is no Creature of the peoples making. If he meane the King in abſtracto, that is, the royall dignity, whom ſpeaketh he againſt? Not againſt us, but againſt his owne father Bellarmine, who ſaith aBellarmine l. 5. c. 6. not 5. De Laicis.that Soveraignty hath no warrant by any divine Law. If he meane that the man who is King is not created and elected King by the people, he contradicteth himſelf and all the Court Doctors. 3. It is falſe that Saul and David, their originall of Royalty was onelyonly from God by a ſpeciall Ordinance ſent from Heaven; for their office is, Deut. 17. 14. from the written Word of God, as the killing of Idolaters, v. 3, 7. as the Office of the Prieſts and Levites, 8, 9, 10. and this is no extraordinary Ordinance from Heaven, more than that is from Heaven which is warranted by the Word of God. If he meane that theſe men, Saul, and David, were created Kings by the onelyonly extraordinary revelation of God from Heaven, it is a lye; for beſide the Propheticall anoynting of them, they were made Kings by the people, as the word ſaith expreſly; except we ſay that David ſinned in not ſetting himſelfe downe on the Throne, when Samuel anoynted him firſt King; and ſo he ſhould have made away his Maſter King Saul out of the world; and there were not a few called to the Throne, by the people; but many, yea all the Kings of Iſrael and Iudah. 4. The Prelate contendeth that a King is deſigned to his royall dignity, immediatly from God, without an extraordinary revelation from Heaven, as the man is deſigned to be a Paſtor by men; and yet the power of Preaching is immediatly from God, &c. but he proveth nothing, except he prove that all Paſtors are called to be Paſtors immediatly; and that God calleth and deſigneth to the Throne ſuch a perſon immediatly, as he hath immediatly inſtituted by the power of Preaching, and the Apoſtleſhip, and hath immediatly infuſed the ſoule in the body, by an act of Creation; and we cannot conceive how God in our daies, when there are no extraordinary revelations, doth immediatly create this man a King, and immediatly tie the crown to this family rather then to this; this he doth by the people now, without any Propheticall Vnction; and by this medium, to wit, by the free choice of the people. He needeth not bring the example of Matthias more than of any ordinary Paſtor, and yet an ordinary Paſtor is not immediatly called of God, becauſe the Office of an ordinary Paſtor is from God immediatly, and alſo the man is made Paſtor by the Church.
The P. Prelate ſaith, a thing is immediatly from God three waies.Sacr…. Sa. reg. Ma. 5. 2. pag. 20. 21, 22, 23. 1. When it is ſolely from God, and preſuppoſeth nothing ordinary or humane, antecedent to the obteyning of it. Such was the power of Moſes, Saul, David. Such were the Apoſtles. 2. When the collation of the power to ſuch a perſon is immediatly from God, though ſome act of man be antecedent; as Matthias was an Apoſtle. A baptized man obtaineth remisſion and regeneration, yet aſperſion of water cannot produce theſe excellent effects. A King giveth power to a favourite to make a Lord or a Baron, yet who is ſo ſtupid as to averre the honour of a Lord commeth immediatly from the favourite, and not from the King. 3. When a man hath by ſome ordinary humane right, a full and juſt right, and the approbation and confirmation of this right is immediatly from God.
The firſt way, Soveraignty is not from God. The ſecond way, Soveraignty is conferred on Kings immediatly, though ſome created act of Election, ſucceſion, conqueſts intervene, the interpoſed act containeth not in it power to conferre Soveraignty; as in Baptiſme, Regeneration, if there be nothing repugnant in the ſuſcipient, is conferred, not by water, but immediatly by God. In ſacred Orders deſignation is from men, power to ſupernatur all acts from God: election, ſuccesſion, conqueſts remotely and improperly conſtitute a King. To ſay in the third ſence that ſoveraignty is immediatly from God, by approbation or confirmation onelyonly, is againſt Scripture, Prov. 8. 15. Pſa. 82. 8. Ioh. 19. then the people ſay; you are Gods, your power is from below. And Pauls, (ordained of God) is (approved and confirmed onelyonly of God) the power of deſignation, or application of the perſon to royalty is from man; the power of conferring royall power, or of applying the perſon to royall power is from God. A mans hand may apply a faggot to the fire, the fire onelyonly maketh the faggot to burne.
Anſ. 1. Apoſtles both according to their Office, and the deſignation of their perſon to the Office were immediatly and onelyonly from God, without any act of the people, and therefore are badly coupled with the royall power of David and King Saul, who were not formally made Kings, but by the people at Mizpeh and Hebron, 2. The ſecond way God giveth Royall Power by moving the peoples hearts to confer royall power, and this is virtually in the people, formally from God. Water hath no influence to produce grace, Gods inſtitution and promiſe doth it; except you dream with your Ieſuites, of opus operatum, that water ſprinkled, by the doing of the deed conferreth grace, niſi ponatur obex, what can the child doe, or one child more then another baptized child, to hinder the flux of remiſſion of ſins, if you meane not that Baptiſme worketh as Phyſick on a ſick man, except ſtrength of humours hinder? and therefore this compariſon is not alike. The people cannot produce ſo noble an effect as royalty, a beame of God. True, formally they cannot, but virtually it is in a ſociety of reaſonable men, in whom are left beames of authoritative Majeſty, which by a divine inſtitution they can give, Deut. 17. 14. to this man, to David, not to Eliab; and I could well ſay the Favorite made the Lord, and placed honour in the man whom he made Lord, by a borrowed power from his Prince; and yet the honour of a Lord is principally from the King. 3. It is true, theelection of the people conteineth not formally Royall dignitie, but the Word ſaith, they made Saul, they made David King: ſo virtually election muſt conteine it. Samuels oyle maketh not David King, he is a ſubject after he is anointed; the peoples election at Hebron maketh him King; 2. differenceth him from his brethren; 3. putteth him in Royall ſtate; yet God is the principall agent. What immediate action God hath here, is ſaid and dreamed of, no man can divine, except Prophet P. Prelate. The foreign Royall authoritie is given organically by that act by which he is made King: another act is a night-dreame, but by the act of election David is made of no King, a King. The collation of foreign Royall gifts, is immediately from God: but that formally maketh not a King, if Solomon ſaw right, ſervants riding on horſes, Princes going on foot. 4. Judge of the Prelates ſubtiltie, I dare ſay, not his own, heThe people have a reall action more then approbation in making a King. ſtealeth from Spalato, but telleth not, The applying of the perſon to Royall authoritie, is from the people; but the applying of Royall authoritie to the perſon of the King, is immediately and only from God: as the hand putteth the faggot to the fire, but the fire maketh it burne. To apply the ſubject to the accident, is it any thing elſe but to apply the accident to the ſubject? Royall authoritie is an accident, the perſon of the King the ſubject: the applying of the faggot to the fire, and the applying of the fire to the faggot, are all one, to any not forſaken of common ſenſe. When the people applyeth the perſon to the royall authoritie, they but put the perſon in the ſtate of royall authoritie; and this is to make an union betwixt the Man and royall authoritie; and this is to apply royall authoritie to the perſon. 5. The third ſenſe is the Prelates dreame, not a Tenet of ours; we never ſaid that ſoveraigntie in the King is immediately from God by approbation or confirmation only, as if the people firſt made the King, and God did only by a poſterior and latter act ſay Amen to the deed done, and ſubſcribe, as Recorder, to what the people doth: ſo the people ſhould deale kingdomes and crownes at their pleaſure, and God behoved to ratifie and make good their fact. When God doth apply the perſon to royall power, what? is this a different action from the peoples applying the perſon to royall dignitie? It is not imaginable: but the people by creating a king, applyeth the perſon to royall dignitie; and God by the peoples act of conſtituting the man king, doth by the mediation of this act convey royall authoritie to the man, as the Church by ſending a man, and ordaining him to bee a Paſtor, doth not by that, as Gods inſtruments, infuſe ſupernaturall powers of preaching: theſe powers ſupernaturall may be, and often are in him before he be in orders; and ſometimes God infuſeth a ſupernaturall power of government in a man, when he is not yet a king, as the Lord turned Saul into another man, 1 Sam. 10. 5. 6. neither at that point of time when Samuel anointed him, but after that, v. 5. After that thou ſhalt come to the hill of God, 6. the ſpirit of the Lord ſhall come upon thee, and thou ſhalt prophecie with them, and ſhalt be turned into another man. Nor yet at that time when he is formally made King by the people; for Saul was not King formally, becauſe of Samuels anointing, nor yet was he King becauſe another ſpirit was infuſed into him, v. 5, 6. for he was yet a privat man, till the States of Iſrael choſe him King at Mizpeh. And the word of God uſeth words of action to expreſſe the peoples power, Iudg. 9. 6. And all the men of Sechem gathered together, and all the men of Millo, foreign regnare fecerunt, they cauſed him to be King. The ſame isThe ſame word that is aſcribed to the people in making a King, 2 Sam. 16. 18. is given to God, 1 King 12. 28. ſaid, 1 Sam. 10. 15. they cauſed Saul to reigne, 2 K. 10. 5. foreign We ſhall not King any man, 1 Chron. 12. 38. They came to Hebron foreign to King David over all Iſrael, Deut. 17. three times the making of a King is given to the people. 7. When thou ſhalt ſay, foreign I ſhall ſet a King over me: if it were not their power to make a King, no law could be impoſed on them not to make a ſtranger their King, 1 King. 12. 20. all the congregation Kinged Jeroboam, or made him King over all Iſrael, 2 King.Kinging of a perſon aſcribed to the people. 11. 12. They Kinged Joaſh, or made Ioaſh to reigne. 6. The people are to ſay, You are Gods, and your power is below, ſaith the Prelate: what then? ergo, their power is not from God alſo: It followeth not, ſubordinata non pugnant. The Scripture ſaith both, the Lord exalted David to be King, and, All power is from God: and ſo the power of a L. Major of a Citie: and the people made David Kings in a ſpeciall manner from God, but it followeth not, ergo, not from the people.King alſo, and the Citie maketh ſuch a man L. Major. It is the Anabaptiſts argument; God writeth his law in our heart, and teacheth his own children, ergo, bookes, and the miniſterie of men are needleſſe: So all Sciences and lawfull arts are from God: ergo, Sciences applied to men, are not from mens free will, induſtrie and ſtudies. The Prelate extolleth the King, when he will have his Royaltie from God, the way that John Stiles is the husband of ſuch a woman.
P. Prelate. Kings are of God, they are Gods, children of the moſt Ib. c 24.High, his ſervants, publike Miniſters, their ſword and judgement Gods. This he hath ſaid of their royaltie in abſtracto, and in concreto; their power, perſon, charge, are all of divine extract, and ſo their authoritie and perſon are both ſacred and inviolable. Anſw. So are all the congregation of the Iudges, Pſal. 82. v. 1. 6. all of them Gods: for he ſpeaketh not there of a congregation of Kings. So are Apoſtles,Kings are from God, yet from the people alſo. their office and perſons of God; and ſo the Prelates (they thinke) the ſucceſſors of the Apoſtles▪ are Gods ſervants, their miniſterie, word, rod of diſcipline not theirs, but of God: the judgement of Iudges, inferiour to the King, is the Lords judgement, not mens, Deut. 1. 17. 2. Chro. 19. 6. Hence by the Prelates Logick, the perſons of Prelates, Majors, Bailiffes, Conſtables, Paſtors, are ſacred and inviolable above all lawes, as are Kings. Is this an extolling of Kings? 2. But where are Kings perſons, as men, ſaid to be of God, as the Royaltie in abſtract… i…? The Prelate ſeeth beſide his booke, Pſal. 82. 7. But ye ſhall die as men.
P. Prelate. We begin with the Law, in which as God by himſelf preſcribed the eſſentialls, ſubſtantialls, & ceremonies of his pietie & worſhip, gave order for juſtice & pietie, Deut. 17. 14 15. the King is here originally & immediately from God, and independent from all others, (ſet over them) Them, is collective, that is, all & every one. Scripture knoweth not this State principle; Rex eſt ſingulis major, univerſis minor. The perſon is expreſſed in concreto, whom the Lord thy God ſhall chooſe. This peremptorie precept diſchargeth the people, all, and every one, diffuſively, repreſentatively, or in any imaginable capacity to attempt the appointing of a King, but to leave it entirely and totally to God Almighty.
Anſw. Begin with the Law, but end not with Traditions. If God by himſelfe preſcribed the eſſentialls of pietie and worſhip, the other part of your diſtinction is, that God not by himſelf, but by his Prelates, appointed the whole Romiſh Rites, as accidentalls of pietie. This is the Ieſuites doctrine. 2. This place is ſo far from proving the King to be independent, and that it totally is Gods to appoint a King, that it expreſly giveth the people power to appoint a King: for the ſetting of a King over themſelves, ſuch a one, and not ſuch a one, makes the people to appoint the King, and the King to be leſſe and dependent on the people, ſeeing God intendeth the King for the peoples good, and not the people for the Kings good. This text ſhameth the Prelate, who alſo confeſſed, P. 22. That remotely and unproperly ſucceſſion, election, and conqueſt maketh the King, and ſo its lawfull for men remotely and improperly to invade Gods chaire.
P. Prelate: Jeſuites and Puritans ſay, it was a priviledge of the Jews that God choſe their King. So Suarez, Soto, Navarra.
Anſw. 1. The Jeſuites are the Prelates brethren, they are under one Banner, we are in contrary Camps to Ieſuites. 2. The Prelate ſaid himſelf, Pag. 19. Moſes, Saul, and David, were by extraordinary revelation from God; ſure I am, Kings are not ſo now. The Jews had this priviledge, that no nation had. 1. God named ſome Kings to them, as Saul, David, he doth not ſo now. 2. God did tie Royaltie to Davids houſe by a Covenant, till Chriſt ſhould come, he doth not ſo now. Yet we ſtand to Deut. 17.
P. Prelate. Prov. 8. 15. By me Kings reign. If the people hadThe place, Prov. 8. 15. proveth not but Kings are made by the people. right to conſtitute a King, it had not been King Solomon, but King Adonijah. Solomon ſaith not of himſelf, but indefinitely (By me) as by the Author, efficient, and conſtituent, Kings reign. (Per) is by Chriſt, not by the people, not by the high Prieſt, State, or Presbytery, not Per me iratum, by me in my anger, as ſome Sectaries ſay. Pauls foreign, an Ordinance by high Authoritie not revocable: So Sineſius uſeth the word, Ariſtotle, Lucilius, Appian, Plutarch, foreign in me, and by me, as Doctor Andrews. Kings indefinitely, all Kings: none may diſtinguiſh where the Law diſtinguiſheth not, they reign in concreto: that ſame power that maketh Kings, muſt unmake them.
Anſ. 1. The Prelate cannot reſtrict this to Kings only, it extendeth to Parliaments alſo. Solomon addeth foreign and Conſules, foreign all the Sirs, and Princes foreign and Magnificents, and Nobles, and more foreign and all the Iudges of the earth, they reign, rule, and decree juſtice by Chriſt. Here then Majors, Sheriffs, Provoſts, Conſtables, are by the Prelate extolled as perſons, ſacred, irreſiſtible: Then, 1. the Iudges of England rule not by the King of Britain, as their Author, efficient, conſtituent, but by Ieſus Chriſt immediately, nor doth the Commiſſary rule by the Prelate. 2. All theſe, and their power, and perſons, rule independently, and immediately by Ieſus Chriſt. 3. All inferiour Iudges are foreign, the Ordinances of God not revocable. Ergo, The King cannot deprive any Iudge under him; he cannot declare the Parliament no Parliament; once a Iudge and alwayes, and irrevocably a judge. This Prelates poor pleading for Kings deſerves no wages. Lavater intelligit ſuperiores & inferiores Magiſtratus, non eſt poteſtas niſi a deo, Vatablus confiliarios. 2. If the people had abſolute right, to chooſe Kings by the Law of Iſrael, they might have choſen another, then either Adonijah, or Solomon, but the Lord expreſſely, Deut. 17. 14. put an expreſſe Law on them, that they ſhould make no King, but him whom the Lord ſhould chuſe: Now the Lord did either by his immediately inſpired Propher, anoint the man, as he anointed David, Saul, Iehu, &c. or then he reſtricted, by a revealed promiſe, the Royall power to a family, and to the eldeſt by birth: and therefore the Lord firſt choſe the man, and then the people made him King: birth was not their rule, as is clear, in that they made Solomon their King, not Adonijah the elder; and this proveth, that God did both ordain Kingly Government to the Kingdom of Iſrael, and choſe the man, either in his perſon, or tied it to the firſt born of the Line. Now we have no Scripture, nor Law of God, to tie Royall dignitie to one man, or to one family; produce a warrant for it in the Word, for that muſt be a priviledge of the Iews, for which we have no Word of God, but we have no immediately inſpired Samuels, to ſay, Make David, or this man King; and no Word of God to ſay, Let the firſt born of this family, rather then another family ſit upon the throne; Therefore the people muſt make ſuch a man King, following the rule of Gods Word, Deut. 17. 14. and other rules ſhewing what ſort of men Iudges muſt be, as Deut 1. 16, 17, 18. 2 Chro. 19. 6, 7. 3. It is true, Kings in a ſpeciall manner reign by Chriſt. Ergo, Not by the peoples free election. The P. Prelate argueth like himſelf: By this Text, a Major of a Citie, by the Lord, decreeth juſtice: Ergo, He is not made a Major of the Citie, by the people of the Citie. It followeth not, 4. None of us teach that Kings reign by Gods anger. We judge a King a great mercy of God to Church, or State: But the Text ſaith not, By the Lord, Kings and Iudges do not onelyonly reign and decree juſtice, but alſo murther Proteſtants, by raiſing againſt them an Army of Papists. And the word, 5. foreign, Powers, doth in no Greek Author ſignifie, irrevocable powers; for Ʋzziah was a lawfull King, and yet 2 Chron. 26. lawfully put from the throne, and cut off from the houſe of the Lord: And Interpreters on this place, deny that the place is to be underſtood of Tyrants: ſo the Chaldee Paraphraſe turns it well, Potentes virga juſtitiae: ſo Lavater, and Di… datus, Tho…. 12. q. 93. art. 3.and Thomas ſaith, this place doth prove, That all Kings, and Iudges, Laws, derivari a lege aeterna, are derived from the eternall Law. The Prelate eating his tongue for anger, ſtriveth to prove, That all power, and ſo Royall power, is of God: but what can he make of it? we beleeve it, though he ſay Sectaries prove, by foreign, That a man is juſtified by faith onelyonly: ſo there is no powerPag. 30. but of God onelyonly: but feel the ſmell of a Ieſuite; it is the Sectaries doctrine. That we are juſtified by faith onelyonly; but the Prelates, and the Ieſuites goe another way, not by faith onelyonly, but by works alſo. And all power is from God onelyonly, as the firſt Author, and from no man. What then? Therefore men and people interpoſe no humane act in making this man a King, and not this man: It followeth, And let us with the Prelate, joyn Paul and Solomon together, and ſay, That Soveraigntie is from God, of God, by God, as Gods appointment irrevocable. Then ſhall it never follow: it is unſeparable from the perſon, except you make the King a man immortall: as God onelyonly can remove the Crown; it is true, but God onelyonly can put an unworthy, and an excommunicated Prelate from Office and Benefice, but how? Doth that prove, that men and the Church may not alſo in their place, remove an unworthy Churchman, when the Church following Gods Word, delivereth to Satan? Chriſt onelyonly as head of the Church, excommunicateth ſcandalous men: Ergo, The Church cannot do it, and yet the Argument is as good the one way, as the other; for all the Churches on earth cannot make a Miniſter properly, they but deſign him to the Miniſtery whom God hath gifted and called: But ſhall we conclude, ergo, no Church on earth; but God onelyonly, by an immediate action from Heaven, can deprive a Miniſter? how then durſt Prelates excommunicate, unmake, and impriſon ſo many Miniſters in the three Kingdoms: But the truth is, take this one Argument from the Prelate, and all that is in his Book, falleth to the ground, to wit, Soveraigntie is from God onelyonly. A King is a creature of Gods making onelyonly; and what then? Ergo, Soveraigntie cannot be taken from him: So God onelyonly made Aarons houſe Prieſts. 2. Solomon had no Law to depoſe Abiathar from the Prieſt-hood. Poſſibly the Prelate will grant all; the place, Rom. 13. which he ſaith hath tortured us, I refer to a fitter place, it will be found to torture Court Paraſites.
I goe on with the Prelate, c. 3. Sacred Soveraignty is to be preſerved, and Kings are to be prayed for, that we may lead a godly life, 1 Tim. 3. What then? 1. All in authority are to be prayed for, even Parliaments, by that text Paſtors are to be prayed for, and without them ſound religion cannot well ſubſiſt. 2. Is this queſtioned, but Kings ſhould be prayed for; or are we wanting in this duty? but it followeth not that all dignities to be prayed for are immediatly from God, not from men. Prelate, Prov. 8. Solomon ſpeaketh firſt of the eſtabliſhment of Government, before he ſpeake of the workes of Creation, ergo better not be at all, as be without government. And God fixed government in the perſon of Adam before Evah, or any elſe came into the world; and how ſhall government be, and we enjoy the fruits of it, except we preſerve the Kings ſacred Authority inviolable? Anſ. Moſes, Gen. 1. ſpeaketh of Creation before he ſpeaketh of Kings, and Moſes ſpeaketh, Gen. 3. of Adams ſins before he ſpeakes of redemption through the bleſſed ſeed; ergo better never be redeemed at all, as to to be without ſin. 2. If God made Adam a governour before he made Evah, and any of Mankind, he was made a father and a huſband before he had either ſonne or wiſe. Is this the Prelates Logick? he may prove that two eggs on his fathers Table are three this way. 3. There is no government where ſoveraignty is not keptinviolable. It is true, where there is a King, ſoveraignty muſt be inviolable, What then? Arbitrary government is not ſoveraignty. 4. He intimateth Ariſtocracy, and Democracy, and the power of Parliaments, which maketh Kings to be nothing but Anarchie; for he ſpeaketh here of no government, but Monarchy, P. Prelate, there is need of grace to obey the King, Pſ. 18. 43. Pſ. 144. 2. It is God who ſubdueth the people under David. 2. Rebellion againſt the King i… rebellion againſt God. Pet. 2. 17. Prov, 24. 12. Ergo Kings have a neare alliance with God.
Anſ. 1. There is much grace in Papiſts and Prelates then, who uſe to write and Preach againſt grace. 2. Lorinus your brother Ieſuite will with good warrant of the texts inferre, that the King may make a conqueſt of his own Kingdomes of Scotland and England by the ſword, as David ſubdued the Heathen. 3. Arbitrary governing hath no alliance with God; a rebell to God, his Country and an Apoſtate hath no reaſon to terme lawfull defence againſt cut-throat Iriſh, rebellion. 4. There is need of much grace to obey Paſtors, inferiour Iudges, maſters, Col. 3. 22, 23. ergo their power is from God immediatly, and no more from men then the King is created King by the people, according to the way of Royaliſts.
P. Prelate. God ſaith of Pharaoh, Exo. 9. 7. I have raiſed thee up. Eliſha from God conſtituted the King of Syria, 2 King 8. 13. Pharaoh, Abimelech, Hiram, Hazael, Hadad, are no leſſe honoured with the compellation of Kings, then David, Saul, &c. Ier. 29. 9. Nebuchadnezer is honoured to be called by way of excellency Gods ſervant, which God giveth to David, a King according to his owne heart; and Eſay 45. 1, 2. Thus ſaith the Lord to his anoynted Cyrus, and God nameth him neere a hundreth yeare before he was borne, Eſay 44. 28. He is my ſhepheard, Daniel 2. 19, 20. 17. 24. God giveth Kingdomes to whom he will, Dan. 5. 8. and p. 37. Empires, Kingdomes, Royalties are not diſpoſed of by the compoſed contracts of men, but by the immediate hand and worke of God, Hoſ. 13. 11. I gave them a King in my anger, I tooke him away in my wrath: Iob, He places Kings in the throne, &c.
Anſ. Here is a whole Chapter of ſeven pages for one raw argument ten times before repeated, 1. to Exod. 9. 7. I have raiſed up Pharaoh, Paul expoundeth it, Rom. 9. to prove that King Pharaoh was a veſſell of wrath fitted for deſtruction, by Gods abſolute Will; and the Prelate following Arminius, with treaſonable charity, applyeth this to our King. Can this man pray for the King? 2. Eliſha anoynted but conſtituted not Hazael King, and foretold he ſhould be King; and if he be a King of Gods making, who ſlew his ſicke Prince, and invaded the Throne by innocent bloud, judge you. I would not take Kings of the Prelates making. 3. If God give to Nebuchadnezer the ſame ſtill of the ſervant of God, given to David, Pſ. 18. 1. & 116. 16. and to Moſes, Ioſ. 1, 2. all Kings, becauſe Kings are men according to Gods heart. Why is not royalty then founded on grace? Nebuchadnezer was not otherwiſe his ſervant, then he was the hammer of the earth, and a tyrannous conquerour of the Lords people, and all the Heathen Kings are called Kings. But how came they to their Thrones for the moſt part? as David and Hezekiah? but God anointed them not by his Prophets; they came to their Kingdomes by the peoples election, or by blood and rapine; the latter way is no ground to you to deny Athaliah to be a lawfull Princeſſe, ſhe and Abimelech were lawfull Princes, and their ſoveraignty as immediatly and independently from God, as the ſoveraignty of many heathen Kings. See then how juſtly Athaliah was killed as a bloody uſurper of the throne; & this would licence your brethren the Ieſuites to ſtab heathen Kings, whom you will have as well Kings as the Lords anointed, though Nebuchadnezer & many of them made their way to the Throne, againſt all Law of God and man, through a bloudy patent. 4. Cyrus is Gods anointed and his Shepheard too, ergo his Arbitrary government is a ſoveraignty immediatly depending on God, and above all Law; it is a wicked conſequence. 5. God named him neare a hundreth yeare ere he was borne, God named and deſigned Judas very individually, and named the Aſſe that Chriſt ſhould ride on to Ieruſalem, Zach. 9. 9. ſome moe hundred yeares then one. What, will the Prelate make them independent Kings for that? 6. God giveth Kingdomes to whom he will. What then? this will prove Kingdomes to be as independent and immediatly from God, as Kings are; for as God giveth Kings to Kingdomes, ſo he giveth Kingdomes to Kings, and no doubt he giveth Kingdoms to whom he will; ſo he giveth Prophets, Apoſtles, Paſtors to whom he will; and he giveth tyrannous conqueſts to whom he will: and it is Nebuchadnezer, to whom Daniel ſpeaketh that, from the Lord, and he had no juſt title to many Kingdomes, eſpecially to the Kingdome of Iudah, which yet God the King of Kings gave to him, becauſe it was his good pleaſure; and if God had not commanded them by the mouth of his Prophet Ieremiah, might they not have riſen, and with the ſword have vindicated themſelves and their own liberty, no leſſe then they lawfully by the ſword vindicated themſelves from under Moab, Iudges 3. from under Iabin, Iaakin King of Canaan, who twenty yeares mightily oppreſſed the children of Iſrael, Iudges. 4.? now this P. Prelate by all theſe inſtances making Heathen Kings to be Kings by as good a title as David and Hezekiah, condemneth the people of God as rebells, if being ſubdued and conquered by the Turke, and Spaniſh King, they ſhould by the ſword recover their owne liberty, and that Iſrael, and the ſaviours which God raiſed to them, had not warrant from the law of nature to vindicate themſelves to liberty, which was taken from them violently and unjuſtly by the ſword; but from all this it ſhall well follow that the tyranny of bloudy conquerours is immediatly and only dependent from God, no leſſe then lawfull ſoveraignty; for Nebuchadnezers ſoveraignty over the people of God, and many other Kingdomes alſo was revenged of God as tyranny, Ier. 50. 6. 7. and therefore the vengeance of the Lord, and the vengeance of his Temple came upon him and his land, Ier. 50. 16, 17. 18. 28, 29. 30. It is true, the people of God were commanded of God to ſubmit to the King of Babylon, to ſerve him, and to pray for him, and to doe on the contrary was rebellion; but this was not becauſe the King of Babylon was their King, and becauſe the King of Babylon had a command of God, ſo to bring under his yoak the people of God. So Chriſt had a Commandement to ſuffer the death of the Croſſe, Iohn. 10. 18. but had Herod and Pilate any warrant to crucifie him? none at all. 7. He ſaith, Royalties even of Heathen Kings are not diſpoſed of by the compoſed Contracts of men, but by the immediate hand and worke of God. But the Contracts of men to give a Kingdome to a perſon, which a Heathen community may lawfully doe, and ſo by contract diſpoſe of a Kingdom, is not oppoſite to the immediate hand of God, appointing Royalty and Monarchy at his owne bleſſed liberty. Laſtly he ſaith, God tooke away Saul in his wrath; but I pray you did God onelyonly doe it? then had Saul becauſe a King, a Patent Royall from God to kill himſelfe, for ſo God tooke him away; and we are rebells by this, if we ſuffer not the King to kill himſelfe. Well pleaded.