Jus regiminis, being a justification of defensive arms in general and consequently, of our revolutions and transactions to be the just right of the kingdom.

CHAP. X.

Whole Kingdoms and Nations have Power to reform. Faith equally plighted between King and People ought equally to be kept. Care of Religion, Peace, Justice, Safety, Liberty, &c. are incumbent on all the People, espe∣cially on the Ordines Populi. The common and true Cause of Rebellion is abuse of Power, not Disobedience to the lawful Commands of Kings. Obe∣dience to unjust Commands of Cesars is sin, and to assist in such is to make themselves Participes Criminis. Opposition to Popes or Kings tyrannizing, is not Rebellion against Christ's Vicars or Vicegerents, but opposition to wicked Men acting wickedly. Defensive Arms justified by Authorities.

NOW, who should have Power to reform things done amiss by Kings but all the People, to whom he hath sworn as solemnly, as they to him, and both to God Al∣mighty, who is witness between them. So Josiah the King, with the Priests, Prophets, and all the People both small and great went up into the house of the Lord, and made a Covenant before the Lord to walk after the Lord, &c. and all the People stood to the Covenant; 2. King. 23. 2, 3, 4. Why should the Common consent of all the People be so solemnly required? Why should Israel and Judah be so strictly obliged to the observation of Gods Holy Laws and Commandments? Why should they so sacredly promise to be the Lords People, unless Power and Authority were given to them also to free themselves from Covenant▪breaking and from Perjury, and to defend Holy Church? Wherefore was a Covenant made with the People, that they should be the People of God zealous of good Works, if they must obey the unjust Commands of Kings, it may be to worship strange Gods, or to permit monstrous sins to reign among them, if it be not lawful to put to their assistance, and endeavour to hinder and reform? And why should they be blamed, or Judgments poured upon them if they have no Power from on High to perform what was so solemnly required, and so solemnly promised? that God should so solemnly require their Vow and Promise, and yet not give them Power and Authority to perform, is mon∣strous to conceive. God never requires more than he gives; Brick without Straw, that is the Property of Pharaoh and his hard Task-masters: Its much more agreeable to truth, that all Covenants of like nature and purport are equally obliging both to King and People, and the care and Authority of each over the other for adjusting of performances, is reciprocal and equal; it being a Gospel Principle, That Gods pecu∣liar People (which are his true Church) ought to be sollicitous, not only to abstain from evil themselves, but also to prevent it in otheers: A notable Example whereof is before men∣tioned in the People of Israel, Josh. 22. who out of abundant Caution, minding the Concerns of their Brethren as their own, when they heard that the Reubenites, Gadites, and half the Tribe of Manasseh had erected an Altar, not for worshipping (as they tru∣ly protested) but for memorial and witness: So fearful they were of Gods Wrath fal∣ling on them, that they soon dispatched an Embassy to their Brethren to prevent their sin as before. Hence it is that the Prophets of old standing in the Gate of the Chil∣dren of the People, whereby their Kings came in, and by which they went out, did so often put them in mind of their Duty, and of keeping Covenant; and not only that they should not sacrifice to Baal, but that they should destroy both Baal and his Priests, and root them out of the Land whether the King will or no; for when Ahab had killed the Prophets of God, Eliah the Prophet congregated all Israel, not tumultuously, but by publick Au∣thority and common consent, unto Mount Carmel, and the Prophets of Baal Four hundred and fifty, and the Prophets of the Grove Four hundred, which did eat at Jezabels Table, and had convinced them of their Idolatry, and to be false Prophets, the People at his command killed them all at the Brook Kishon, 1 King. 18. whereby it appears, that the King neglecting his Duty, all Israel as obliged ought to discharge theirs. On the contrary, as often as Kings violated their Covenants, or profaned the Worship of God; and the People of Israel (as we said before of Covenants, where the breach of one party manifestly prejudiced, the other Covenanters threatning Ruin and Destruction to the Innocent) through Negligence, sinful Connivance, or any other sinister By-end, or Respect did not re∣strain him, their Judgments came also upon the People as well for their non-performance,

as on Kings for theirs, which mostly hapned, for that the People are more apt to fol∣low the Examples of their Kings, than to repent and amend, or mind him of the Errors of his ways. Wherefore did the Hoast of Israel, with Saul and his two Sons fall down slain in Mount Gilboa by the Philistines? 1 Sam. 31. Would God (think you) re∣venge the Sins of the King upon the People if innocent? Far be it from the Judge of all the Earth to stay the Righteous with the wicked, Gen. 18. 25. or take vengeance on the People for the Sins of the King; the Soul that sinneth it shall die, Ezek. 18. 4. Every Man shall be put to death for his own Sin, Deut. 24, 16. was it not rather because the People did not resist, or restrain, but assisted Saul their King, violating the Law of God, and wickedly persecuting the Man after Gods own Heart, and killing the Priests of the Lord.

Saul desiring to inlarge thē Borders of the Tribe of Judah at his entrance into Ca∣naan, broke publick Faith with the Gibeonites, and destroyed many of them (the Children of Israel having sworn unto them) by which he broke the third Commandment, God being witness to his Covenant with the Gibeonites: he broke also the sixth Commandment, and so the breach of both Tables God himself would revenge; the breach of which Covenant and Oath was justly laid to Saul and his Family. Now Saul being dead, and David constituted King, 2 Sam. 21. 1, 2. God sent a Famine in the days of David three Years, Year after Year upon the whole Land; and David inquired of the Lord, and the Lord answered, It was for Saul and his bloody House, because he slew the Gibeonites, which Famine ceased not till David delivered seven Sons of Saul to the Gibeo∣nites, whom they hanged in Gibeah of Saul unto the Lord, v. 6. 8. But was the Famine o∣ver all the Land for Sauls fault only? No, both King and People were both punish∣ed, the one for breaking Covenant, the other for not resisting, and not hindring the King, or as being accessary to do this Evil. How came it to pass that God never punish∣eth the sins of the King upon the People, nor the sins of the People upon the King, and yet he sent a Famine on the whole Land, Saul the chief Actor being Dead, (and consequently Actio moritur cum persona;) but because the People suffered so manifest a Sin to be committed by their sinful connivance, and used no endeavours to resist or hin∣der him as they ought▪ Can Punishment by any right be inflicted on any for a Crime whereof they are not guilty? Alieni secleris quenquam poenas pati Jura non sinunt, 2 Kings 14. 6. Wherein did the Israelites sin, if not by tolerating Saul to do as he did, when they ought and might have hindred him?

When Menasseh had polluted the Temple of the Lord, and shed Innocent Blood, which the Lord would not pardon, 2 Kings 24. 4. why did the Lord threaten not only Menasseh, but his People with Judgments; but because they being under the same Covenants with Ma∣nasseh, they would not restrain the King from persisting in his wickedness, but did con∣nive, countenance and assist him in his Impieties, 2 Chron. 33. 17.

Herod and Pilate condemned Christ, the Priests delivered him to Death; yet the Curse fell upon the whole Nation; and why? because the People might have delivered him as well as they did Barrabas, and did not, but impricated Curses upon themselves and their Children.

It is the duty of all Nations to take care not only that Criminals be punished, but that no Crimes be committed; which made Hezekiah pull down the Brazen Serpent, though set up by Moses, (when it came to be abused:) 2 Kings 18. 4. It being the duty of the People by common consent to hinder Kings as much as in them lies, from violating the Law of God, and from injuring his Church and Saints; and if they do not, they are guilty of the same crime, and liable to the same punishment. Resist they may, by op∣posing words to words, force to force, stratagem to stratagem, (always avoiding perfi∣diousness, which is always disallowed and hateful to God and Man.) For in War it matters not whether it be managed by open Force or secret Stratagems. By People is not meant the Many▪headed-Monster-Multitude, but by the Universal People is to be understood those who have any share in the Government, or any Authority from the People conferred upon them by any Laws made by publick consent, as inferior Ma∣gistrates either chosen by the People, or any other way constituted to take care of publick Peace, and concerns of the Laws of the Land, and worship of God in their several qualifications, be they Tribunes of the People, Ephori, Praefects, Praetors, Judges, Justices of the Peace, Constables, Captains of Thousands, Captains of Hundreds, Captains of Fifties, or other inferior Officers or Magistrates, which are as Consorts of the Empire, and are in the vacancy of the publick Sanhedrims, Dyets, Parliaments, &c. As it were the Epitome of every Kingdom, and Ephori of Kings, and Conservators of the Publick Peace thereof, to and among whom all the publick concerns of a Nation are referred, of 〈1 page duplicate〉〈1 page duplicate〉

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which sort in a manner were the Seventy Elders in the Kingdom of Israel, among which there was a Chief Priest, which did judge de Arduis Regni, which were not to be Hobby-horsed in and out by the High Priest, according as they would or would not serve a sinister turn; and they were chosen out of the Seventy Families which went down into Egypt, the Elders of which were first chosen and made Heads over the People, Rulers of Thousands, Rulers of Hundreds, Rulers of Tens, and the hard causes they brought unto Moses, Exod. 18. 25.

We read often in Scripture of all Israel, of all Judah, and Benjamin &c. when in all probability every Individual did not at all times meet, of which sort and kind there is in all well constituted Kingdoms several Congregations of the Kingdoms, Officers of the Kingdom, as the Privy Council, Peers, Patricians, Judges, Sessions, Assizes, Lord Lieute∣nants, Deputy Lieutenants, Mayors, Bayliff's of Towns and Cities, as the ordinary Councils and Officers of a Kingdom; and as Councils extraordinary chosen out of them all to con∣sider de Arduis Regni, which are Officers of the Kingdom, and called by several names in several Kingdoms, as Dyets, Parliaments, &c. which provide that no detriment come to either Church or State, in which tho' every individual be inferior to the King, yet the Joynt Body, being the Representative of the whole Kingdom, is superior, and to be pre∣ferred before him. For as the Council of Basil and Constance decreed, that a General Council was superior to the Pope, and the Chapter to the Bishop; for that they which receive any Authority from any Company of Men, must needs be inferior to that Compa∣ny, though he be personally superior to every Individual of that Society. So without all doubt, Israel which petitioned for, and chose Saul from among themselves to be their King, as a publick Actor for the common good of them all, was superior to Saul. When we attribute any power to the People, it is to be understood of the Officers, Princes, El∣ders, Parliaments, Dyets, that have a share in the Government and in the Legislative Power. Take Athaliah 2 Chron. 24. for an Example, in which Act the Kingdom was not oppo∣sed, but Tyranny; which Conspiracy though acted so very privately, and as it were by stealth, yet blamed neither by God nor Man, but justified by all Writers both Sacred and Prophane, and the success answered the end designed.

As the King, so all Israel as one Man, the several Cities as parts of the Kingdom, and their Magistrates did covenant with God to keep his Laws, &c. Joshua when old and near his end, congregated all Israel in Sechem in the Presence of the Lord, (for the Ark of the Covenant was there,) and called for the Elders of Israel, and for their Heads, and for their Judges, and for their Officers, and they presented themselves before God, Josh. 24. 1. And he said unto them, fear the Lord and serve him, &c. and the People answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the Lord to serve other Gods, ver. 14. 16. And Joshua said unto the People, ye are witness your selves, that you have chosen you the Lord to serve him. And they said we are Witnesses, ver. 22. So Joshua made a Covenant with the Lord that day, and set them a Statute and an Ordinance in Sechem. And Joshua wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God, and took a great Stone, and set it up there under an Oak that was by the Sanctuary of the Lord; and Joshua said unto all the People, Behold this Stone shall be a Witness unto us, for it hath heard all the words of the Lord which he spake unto us, it shall be therefore a Witness unto you, least you deny your God, ver. 24, 25, 26, 27.

Hence it is evident, that as every individual Person, so more especially all Officers in a Kingdom, that have any publick Authority, ought every one in their several stations to take care that God's Law be fulfilled, and of the Peoples happiness; which Officers are Officers of the Kingdom from whom they have their Authority, according to Laws of their own making, and to them they are accountable.

If the Ark of God be to be brought back, then all of the Congregation of Israel are to be sum∣moned and consulted, and to give their help. 1 Chron. 13. 2 Chron. 15. So if a Temple be to be built to the Lord, the chief of the Fathers and Priests of the Tribes of Israel, and the Captains of Thou∣sands and of Hundreds with the Rulers are summoned, and moved to offer willingly, 1 Chron. 29. So that there is no power committed to Kings to alter or change the Laws, Covenants, or Worship of God. So in the Covenants under Joah and Josiah, between God, the King and the People, all the Kingdom were present, and all were particularly bound to keep and stand to the Covenant; so that not the King only, but the Kingdom, nor the Kingdom in general only, but all the Parts thereof, promise Faith and Allegiance to God Almighty. Not the King only, but Israel; not Israel only, but the Cities and chief Governours of them did secretly bind themselves to God, to do him homage and leige Services against all Infractors of his Laws. 2 Kin. 11. 23. 2 Chron. 23.

For Example, Libnah revolted from Jehoram, because he had forsaken the Lord God of his Fathers, 2 Chron. 21. 10. So Mattathias, and all they that fled from the Persecution

of Antiochus, joyned themselves together, and smote sinful men in their anger, and wicked men in their wrath; and they pursued after the proud men, and the work prospered in their hands. So they recovered the Law out of the hand of the Gentiles, and out of the hand of Kings; nei∣ther suffered they the sinner to triumph, 1 Macc. 2. 42, 47. saying, We will not hearken to the Kings word to go from our Religion, either to the right hand or to the left, verse 22. So his Son Judas Maccabeus was valiant for the truth, and fought for the People and the San∣ctuary, so prosperously, Deo favente, against Antiochus, that he recovered Jerusalem, and restored the pure worship of God from the Gentiles, 1 Macc. 3. Though others took part and were obedient to Antiochus, and they fell together with the Persecutor for their so doing by the edg of the Sword.

When Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, he sold them into the hand of Jabin, King of Canaan, whom they served twenty years, (a fair prescription for a Kingdom) wor∣shipping strange Gods; among whom especially were the Tribes of Reuben, Ephraim, Benjamin, Dan, Asser, &c. who adhered to Jabin. Nevertheless Deborah, who judged Is∣rael at that time, levied force with the assistance of the other Tribes of Zabulon, Napthaly, and Issachar, over whom they made Barack Captain, and went along with them, being ten thousand men, and discomfited the Hoast of Sisera, Captain of Jabin, and restored the true Worship of God to Israel: and then sang Deborah, &c. Judg. 4. 5.

Happily some may say, that these Facts of Deborah, Jael, Mattathias, and Libnah, ought not to be drawn into imitation and practice, as being stirred up by motions ex∣traordinary, like that of Phineahs, and the Book it self but Apochypha, and not so Au∣thentick as Scripture. What then? It's certain, that not only the King, but all Israel and the parts thereof, viz. the several Cities and their Magistrates (as in Josh. 24.) covenanted before God, and did swear to worship the true God according to his Law; which Covenant is expresly in force to this day in all Christian Kingdoms, where King and People Covenant each with other, and tacitely or interpretatively; also where Kings Rule Vi & Armis, or by fraud, or any other unjust way, which is down-right Tyran∣ny. The People are the People of God, and obliged in the first place to God, and then to the Kingdom, and to the King: and though the King have the formality and execu∣tive part of Power (all Writs, Executions, Proclamations, &c. issuing in his Name,) yet the People have the true Dominion originally. Sunt enim universa in Regis Imperio, non in Patrimonio. Seneca lib. 7. de Benef. c. 6, 7. Omnia Rex imperio possidet, singuli do∣minio.

Consult all Histories, search all Antiquity, and you will find the true cause of all Rebellion, in all Ages, and in all Countries, to have risen originally, and most especially, from the abuse of Power first, and not from the disobedience of Subjects to the lawful commands of Kings. If Kings command unlawful things, as they have no Authority so to do, so Subjects have no Obligation to obey. When Covenants between Prince and People are of such a nature as cannot be broken or violated by either King or People, without doing manifest Injury to the other: The injured party may seek his Redress and Relief, though it be vim vi repellendo, which is always to be understood of unjust Force. For if the Force be unjust, the Defence must be lawful; and, contrariwise, if the Force be just, the Defence must be unlawful. So that Kings and Princes, if transgres∣sors, are as truly Transgressors and Invaders against their Kingdom and their Laws, as the People are against them and the Laws when they transgress.

Do Subjects obey the commands of their Princes, which they may lawfully com∣mand, and which they of right ought to obey, without intrenching on God's com∣mands? Do they pay them Tribute, Sute, and Service, not contrary to God's Laws, as they ought? So to obey Cesar is just, lawful, and praise-worthy. But to obey Ce∣sar's, exceeding their just bounds, commanding without warrant of Law, affecting, and designing a greater Impery without the consent of the governed; or, if they invade or violate the Laws of God, perverting the right Worship of God, (who is above all Kings and Governments) it is unjust; and to assist Cesar's in such cases is unlaw∣ful, and they that do, make themselves partakers of other Men's Crimes.

Anno Domini 1300. Pope Boniface VIII. challenged some Regalia which belonged unto Phillip the Fair, King of France, whereupon Philip sharply reproved the Pope by his Letter, even in those days when the Pope was accounted the Vicar of Christ on Earth, and Head of the Universal Church, according to Communis error, Juris loco erat. Notwith∣standing, the Sorban answered, That both King and Kingdom might safely withdraw themselves from their Obedience to the Pope without any guilt of Schism, because not Separation, but the Cause, made Schism; and that they did not oppose the Vicar of Christ, but a wicked Man, guilty of many Crimes. Sieur de Mezerai: Annales Franciae Archivae

Camerae Ratiociniorum Lutet. L. Barbar. Ph. de Senat. If the Cause be just, the Sepa∣ration is from the high Priest or Bishop, not from the Church. Or more properly from Bo∣niface, not from the high Priest. Unless such distinctions and discriminations are allowed for true and Authentick, how can the Souls of whole Kingdoms be distinguished and separated from the Church?

If Kings invade the Rights of God Almighty, and oppress his People (who are the Temple of God) with servitude, denying their Rights, Priviledges, and Liberties which God hath given them, and for which Christ died, we may much more use the same distinction, and in opposition to such Kings, or rather Tyrants, we may justly say, That not the King, but the Tyranny, is opposed.

Anno 1408. Benedict XIII. did grieviously oppress the Gallican Church with Tributes and Exactions; whence a Convocation of the French Clergy being called by Charles VI. they decreed, That the King and Kingdom ought not to obey Benedict, as being an He∣retick and Schismatick, and unworthy of any honour; which the States of the Kingdom allowed, and the Parliament of Paris approved by their Arrest. Annales Car. 6. Monstre∣letus. Moreover, they whom Benedict did excommunicate as Enemies of the Church, they judged them forthwith absolved of such Excommunications; and that thereby they were not excluded or deprived of any Benefit or Priviledge of the Church. Ibid. The like we read to have been done as at other times in France, so in other Kingdoms.

Which evidently shews, That if Kings, and Princes, or States, do tyrannize, or ex∣tend their Power beyond it's just bounds, Subjects may without any just imputation of Delinquency or Rebellion withhold their Tributes, withdraw themselves from their Obedience, or resist their Tyranny: It being one thing to resist an evil Pope, ano∣ther thing to resist the Church; one thing to resist a King, another thing to resist a Kingdom or Tyranny.

We read, That Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and made a King over themselves: And Libnah revolted from Jehoram, 2 Kings 8. 20, 22. yet after the true Worship of God was restored, we find Libnah numbred among the subjects of Ezekiah, Chap. 19. 8. If this distinction be of force when the Pope (who arrogantly assumes to himself Superiority over Kings and Princes, invades their Rights, or the Rights of the Church, is it not much more just, if Princes, I might say Vassals, invade the Rights and Regalia of the great God of Heaven and of Earth? It stands therefore sure, that Princes commanding unlawful things, or forbidding Holy things, or introducing a False or Idolatrous worship, the People, or rather Parliaments, Dyets, Senates, the several Officers, or inferior Magistrates, having a share in the Government, and intrusted with the common concerns of the Kingdom by the People, both may and ought to hinder or resist unlawful commands. All, or at least the Governing Magistrates of King∣doms and Cities, as first impowered by God, and then constituted by Princes by Authority derived from the People, ought to promote in their several Stations and Provinces, first the Glory of God, and of Holy Church, and then the Good and Welfare of Kingdoms, Cities, and Free States; and if they do not, it is in them Crimen laesae Magistatis, and they become participes criminis by such their sinful connivence.

Let us now consider what Bishop Bilson, Bishop of Winchester, as learned and as honest a Bishop, and as sound a Divine as ever sate on that See, and who hath written a most learned Treatise of the difference between Christian Subjection and Un∣christian Rebellion, in the days of Queen Elizabeth.

The Romans did not love the name of King, and the Commonwealth of Venice, Millan, Florence and Genoa, are of the same mind: many States have Governors for Life, and for Years, and yet a Sovereignty still remaining in the People or Senate, or in the Prelates and Nobles, that elect, or assist the Magistrate; who hath his Jurisdiction allotted and prefixt unto him, and may be resisted and recalled from any tyrannous excess by the general and publick consent of the whole State.

In Germany the Emperor himself hath his bounds appointed him, which he may not pass by the Laws of the Empire; and the Princes, Dukes, and Cities, that are under him, have Power to use and govern the Sword as God's Ministers in their own charges. And though for the Maintenance of the Empire they be subject to such orders as shall be decreed in the Convent of all their States; and according to that direction are to furnish the Emperor with Men and Mony for his necessary Wars and Defences: yet if he touch their Policies, infringe their Liberties, or violate the Specialties, which he by Oath and Order of the Empire is bound to keep, they may lawfully resist him, and by force reduce him to the Ancient Government; or else repel him as a Tyrant, and set another in his place, by the Right and Freedom of their Country. Bilson's Subjection, p. 513.

Zuinglius saith, That if the Empire of Rome, or any other Sovereign should oppress the Truth, and they negligently suffer the same, they shall be charged with contempt no less than the Oppressors themselves. Zuingl. lib. 4. Epist. Zuing. & Occol. f. 186. And elsewhere, when Kings rule unfaithfully, and otherwise than the Rule of the Gospel prescribeth, they may with God be deposed; as when they punish not wicked Persons, but especially when they advance the ungodly and idle Priests, such may be deprived of their Dignity, as Saul was. Art. 42. Expl. f. 84.

So God by Jeremy threatned to destroy the men of Judah and Jerusalem, for that they suffered their King Manasseh to be un∣punished, King. 4. 21. Jer. 15. And yet the People of Israel had no declared Sovereignty over their Kings, but only a tacite and implied Sovereignty by the Laws of God and Nature. So when Saul would have put Jonathan his Son to death, the People would not suffer him so to do, but delivered Jonathan that he died not, 1 Sam. 14. When David purposed the re∣ducing of the Ark, his Speech to the People was, If it please you, we will send to the rest of our Brethren, that they may assemble themselves unto us: and all the Congrega∣tion said, that they would do so; for the thing was right in the Eyes of all the People, 1 Chron. 18.

After Solomon's death, all the Congregation of Israel said to Rehoboam, 1 Kings 12. make thy Fathers yoak which he put upon us lighter, and we will serve thee: because it lay in their choice to subject or free from the Kings Power. The People likewise took Jeremy when he had prophesied against them, and said, Thou shalt die the death, Jer. 26. And afterwards reversed their Sentence, upon Jeremy's declaring, That the words he spoke were commanded from God. Bilson 514, 517.

The Duke of Saxony and the Lantzgrave answered the Emperor,

Forasmuch as Cesar intendeth to destroy the True Religion, and our Ancient Liberties, he giveth us cause enough why we may with good Conscience resist him, as both by Profane and Sa∣cred Histories may be proved. The Ministers of Magdeburgh delcare, how the Infe∣rior may defend themselves against the Superior, compelling him to do against the Truth and Rule of Christ's Laws.

The German Lawyers made evident demonstration, That the free States by the Laws of the Empire might defend their Liberties against Cesar, to whom they were subject with that condition; so may any other Nation, if their Magistrates infringe their Laws and Liberties. In the Troubles of Germany Anno Dom. 1546.

when the Duke of Saxony and the Lantzgrave were Prescribed or Out-lawed, they remon∣strated, That if the Emperor had kept his Covenants, they would have done their Duties, but because he began first to make the breach, the fault is his. For since he attempts to root out Religion, and subvert our Liberties, he giveth us cause enough to resist him with good Conscience; matters standing as they do, we may resist, as may be shewed both by Sacred and Prophane Stories. Unjust violence is not God's Ordinance, neither are we bound to him by any other reason, than if he keep the Conditions on which he was created Emperor. Sleid. 18. p. 212, 213.

So the Ma∣gistrates and Ministers of Magdeburgh declared, That if our Religion and Liberties, left us by our Fore-fathers, be preserved, we refuse no kind of Duty that ought to be yielded unto Cesar or the Empire. Now, by the Laws themselves it is provided, that the Inferior Magistrates shall not infringe the right of the Superior; and so like∣wise if the Magistrate exceed the limits of his Power, and command that which is wicked, we need not only not obey him, but if he offer force we may resist him. Lib. 22. p. 266. Anno 1550.

If a Prince should go about to subject his Kingdom to a Foreign Realm, or change the form of a Commonwealth from Impery to Tyranny, or neglect the Laws esta∣blished by common consent of Prince and People, to execute his own pleasure. In these and other cases which might be named, if the Nobles and Commons join toge∣ther to defend their Ancient and Accustomed Liberties, Regiment, and Laws, they may not well be accounted Rebels, (modestly expressed) Bils. 520.

The People may preserve the Foundation, Freedom and Form of their Common∣wealth which they fore prized when they first consented to have a King, the Law of God giveth no Man leave to resist his Prince. But Kingdoms and Commonwealths may proportion their States as they think best by their publick Laws, which afterwards the Princes themselves may not violate.

By Superior Powers ordained by God, we understand not only Princes, but all Politick States and Regiments, some where the People, some where the Nobles having the same Interest to the Sword that Princes have in their Kingdoms, and in King∣doms where Princes beat Rule. By the Sword, we do not mean the Prince's private will

against his Laws, but his Precepts derived from his Laws, and agreeing with his Laws: which though it be wicked, yet may it not be resisted of any Subject with armed violence. Many when Princes offer their Subjects not Justice but Force, and despise all Laws to practice their Lusts, not every, nor any private Man may take the Sword to redress the Prince; but if the Laws of the Land appoint the Nobles, as next to the King, to assist him in doing right, and withhold him from doing wrong, then be they licensed by Man's Law, and so not prohibited by God to interpose them∣selves for the safeguard of Equity and Innocency, and by all lawful and needful means to procure the Prince to be reformed. 520, 521.

Bishop Bedel, a Reverend worthy Divine, in his Answer to Mr. Wad••sworth to satisfie him, quo Jure, the Protestant Wars in France and Holland are justified, saith, That the Law of Nature doth not only allow, but inforce every living thing to defend it self from vio∣lence. Then the Law of Nations permitteth those that are in the protection of others, to whom they owe no more than an honourable Acknowledgment, in case they go about to make themselves absolute Sovereigns, and usurp their Liberty, to stand for the same. And if a lawful Prince, which is not yet Lord of his Subjects Lives and Goods, shall attempt to despoil them of the same, under colour of reducing them to his own Religion, after all humble Remonstrances, they may stand upon their own Guard, and be∣ing assailed, may repel Force with Force, as did the Maccabees under Antiochus. In which case, notwithstanding the Person of the Prince himself, ought always to be Sacred and Inviolable, as was Saul to David. And lastly, if the inraged Minister of a Lawful Prince will abuse his Authority against the Fundamental Laws of the Coun∣try, it is no Rebellion to defend themselves, reserving still their Obedience to their Sove∣reign inviolate.

I mention these Two Bishops only, as being above all exceptions, against whom no just objection can be made, either for Learning, Piety, Loyalty, or right Church of England Men. Which considerations I presume kept them from being burnt in July, 1683. Which Act surprized not a few sober Loyal Men; because, if the learned Men of all the Reformed Church of Europe be consulted, they will be found Asserters of the like Principles. Alas! to sacrifice so many Worthy, Learned, Pious Mens Judgments to Fire and Fagot unheard, unrefuted, as it is not for their honour, so it is no more convincing, nor confuting, than that Doctors Argument, who would confute Bellarmine in Three words, viz. Bellarmine thou L.