Diadema Regis in manu Dej Esaj. 60.3.  
DIEV ET MON DROIT Ps. 36.6.  
FLOS Jesse, judaeque Leo, sacra quem LYRA Laudat  
FLORES atque LYRAM CAROLIQUEtuere LEONES    

THE ROYAL CHARTER GRANTED UNTO KINGS, BY GOD HIMSELF. And collected out of his holy Word, in both Testaments.  
By T.B. Dr. in divinity.  
Whereunto is added by the same Author, a short Treatise, wherein Episcopacy is proved to be Jure Divino.  Matt. 22.21. dam Caesari quae sunt Caesaris. Job 14.7. There is hopes of a Tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, &c. Sublato Episcopo tollitur Rex. King Jame's Bas. Dor. 
LONDON, Printed in the Year 1649.   

Chara dei Soboles magnum Jovis incrementum.  
THe offspring of so many Loyal showers of blood and tears, and Heir apparent to all the love and affection that Your royal Father had first purchased, and then entailed upon You by a deed of martyrdom: The Anchor of hope which we expect daily to be cast upon England's shore, by the hand of providence: Hope hath for a long time brought up the rear, but now she's in the van of all Your squadrons; and when the Sun is once set in an Island, how can it rise again but out of the water? may the sighs of Your People fill Your sails with such a prosperous gale, as may land You safely upon English ground, and seat You in Your father's Throne; ●ay the flower of Jesse▪ and the true Lion of the Tribe of Judah, whom the sacred Harp so often praised, defend all Your lions, Harp and lilies.  
Never was there a Prince, whose People were all Prophets, and whose Prophets did all centre in their Princes future happiness before: whilst the Enemy stands like the everywhere wounded man in the almanac, pointed at by all the celestial signs; never was their an Army, who gloried so much in their strength, when they are not able to stand, by reason of the slipperiness of the ground undar their feet, made so, by the tears of the People, and the blood of their sovereign. Nothing but Your majesty's royal Fathers sufferings could have made Him so famous and them so imfamous: Nothing but that could have made the People know the difference between a Golden sceptre, and an Iron Rod. Your Father had been now living, had He been less wise: and he had not been put to death, had not His People loved him too well. Was ever Prince put to death by two such hands? They forced the Laws to take away their own life; they made wisdom to slay her own children, by whom she should be justified; and the love of the People the murderer of their own darling: who can help it? to cure the King's evil requires a royal hand. I do not teach my pen so high ambition as to undertake such cures: but it may be ink will serve to cure a tetter or a wring-worm, if it do but so, I shall think my pains well bestowed, and my duty highly approved of, if, when I have presented this royal Charter to Your royal hand, it may be graced with Your Princely eye; being it proceeds from as loyal a heart as can direct a pen how to subscribe the penman  
Your majesty's most faithful and loyal Subject T.B.   

To the Reader.  
Reader,  
THis wretched kingdom, lately the envy of other Nations, and now the object of pity to all but to herself; upon whom, Peace had long doted, and dandled their kingdoms in her lap; whose natives, as though they had clipped the wings of Peace, so that she could not fly away from them, nor make the happiness of peace, once common to all the world, now an enclosure, within the broad ditch of their narrow Seas, and the strong fence of their innumerable Ships, having attained to all the prosperity and happiness that such sunshine days could ripen; she fell from thence into the most bitter War, that the greatest plenty could uphold, and thence into the greatest miseries, that the highest pride could cast her down; and now lies plunged in all the miseries of a civil War: whose direful effects are as remediless, as those, whose causes are not to be found, and as far from redressing, as is the malady for which no reason is to be given: though we cannot fathom the depth of these our unserchable miseries, nor dive into the bottom of this Ocean of calamities, yet let us wonder a little, how we could squander away so great a share of that felicity, which we once enjoyed; out ourselves of possessions so full stocked with blessings, trifle away, not sell, our birthrights of Peace, for a mess of pottage, that hath death in the pot.  
If for Religion we have fought all this while, when did the Church change her weapons? must prayers and tears be turned into pike and musket? did God refuse to have his Temple built by David a man after his own heart, because only his hands were bloody? and will he now be contented to have his Church repaired, and her breaches made up with skulls and carcases? must blood be tempered with mortar that must bind the stones of his Temple in unity? or are the smitings of brethren, strokes fit to polish her stones withal? Hath God refused the soft voice to remain in thunder? or hath his spirit left the gentle posture of descending down upon his Apostles, to the approaching of a mighty and rushing wind? To go about the reforming of a Church by human strength, is as quite opposite to the nature of Reformation, as is the going about the repairing of a Castle wall with a needle and thread. He that looks for such inestimable goodness within Iron sides, may as well look to find a pearl in a Lopster. No, no, the Church must not be defended with Helmets, the risisters of blows, but with mitres which have received the cleft already; not by broken pates, but by cloven tongues: not by men clad in buff, but by Priests clothed in righteousness: Decitions in matters of faith, must not be determined by armour of proof; nor did the sword of the spirit ever make way to the conscience by cutting through the flesh. He therefore who takes up arms against his sovereign, with pretences of defending his Religion, doth but take such courses, as are condemned by the same Religion he would defend; and indeed he doth but make Religion his stalking-horse, to blind him, whilst he aims at that, which he would have least suspect him, which when he hath effected, he means to get up upon the horse and ride him at his pleasure: they pretend the good of the Church, when, you may be assured, they intend nothing more, than the goods thereof, and like dissembling Lapwings, make a show of being nearest the nest, when they are furthest of it.  
If we Fight for our Liberties, what Liberties are they that we Fight for? if for Liberty of Conscience, what do you mean thereby? if by Liberty of Conscience you mean, that it shall be lawful for every one to choose his own Religion, or to be of his own opinion, those are things which we ought not to have, much less to Fight for; for then let us not blame every panim that bakes his cake to the Queen of heaven, or every ignorant votary, who creeps to his own Image, or makes his own idol; for in this kind of Liberty, we do but sacrifice unto the net wherein we see ourselves caught, and burn incense to the drag that hales us to destruction. Christians are not to be at such liberty, loose Christians are but lost men; true Christians will be contented to be bound up in the unity of the same spirit, and the bond of peace: if the bond be broken, the sheaf of corn is but so many loose ears, and no way fit to be carried into the Lord's barn: if we be sons and daughters, let us belong all to one house, if we be servants, let us be all of one family, if we be lively stones, let us be all of one building, if we be several grapes, let us be all of one cluster, if we be several clusters, yet let us be all of one vine; if we be saints, let us have a communion, for this is it which is called the communion of Saints, this is it which is called Religion, which cometh of the word Religando, which signifieth to bind. Wherefore for a man not to think himself bound to those Articles which the Church proposes, is to be of no Religion, and to fight for this, is to fight for nothing: and if by Liberty of the Subject, you mean liberty from oppression, I know not any man or woman of any quality or condition what soever, that knows what belongs to any such thing, except it be some few, who have liberty to do what they will with all the rest.  
If we fight for the property of the Subject, I believe the Subjects have so altered the property of their goods, that had they but their old properties restored, they would not think it good sighting for a new; their expectations being so much deceived, that instead of fighting for the property of the Subject, they rather see themselves subject to have all things in common.  
If we fought for the Laws of the Land, whose Laws are they? are they not the Kings? will he not maintain the foundation of his house from sinking? will he not maintain his legs under him? are they not supporters of that body politic whereof he is the head? nay, doth he not maintain himself when he maintaineth them? for the King and his laws may be compared to God and his word, both inseparable: for as God is the word, and the word is God; so the King is the Law, as the life thereof, and the the Law is the King, as the body of that soul, wherefore there needed not any fighting against the King for this, except it be by those, who would be Kings themselves.  
And for privileges of Parliament, I remember to have read of Jack Cade, in the reign of Richard the second, who coming up as far as London-stone, and resting himself thereon, vowed that within three days, there should be no other Law, but what did proceed out of his mouth: now if it stand with the privileges of Parliament to have a few Jack Cades, relying on their London-stones, to tell them what they must do, and they will have; if it stands with the privileges of Parliament; to have Tumults to drive away their King, Armies to awe themselves; Countries to send up their Inhabitants in multitudes with Petitions in their hats, cudgels in their hands, and threatenings in their mouths; so that the King was fain to slash the Citizens from White-Hall, and then the Parliament, the countrymen from Westminster-Hall, than they have fought to some purpose: but suppose that the Parliament did really Fight for all these particulars; so did the King too; so that the King may safely expostulate with His Parliament, as S. Paul did with the rest of the Apostles, are ye fighters for the Protestant Religion? so am I: are you for the Liberties of the Subject? so am I: are you for the Laws of the Land? so am I: are you for the properties of estates? so am I: are you for the privileges of Parliament? so am I: and in all these things I have laboured more abundantly than you all; where lies the quarrel then? it must consist then in nothing but this, that they do not believe one another, in that they both fight for one and the same thing, the means of reconciliation is taken away: for should they differ in their grounds, the Law may be Judge between them, reason may be judge, the world may be judges: but rebus sic stantibus, instead of having reason to fight, we do but fight against reason, both contend for the same power, like the two women that contended for the same child: Solomon judged the child to belong to her who would rather part with it all, then have the child divided: Now the Parliament would have this powerful child divided, half to the King, and half to themselves: the King rather than so, is contented to lose all: in whom there is most affection and pity, in him is the right of true parentage: but because there are no Solomons in this age, let us go the downright way to work. The two Houses gave out that they fought in defence of the King's Person, Crown and Dignity, do ye believe them? don't ye believe the King did? the Parliament said they ●ought only to bring him to his Parliament, was the Parliament at Holmeby house? or was it at Carisbrook-Castle in the Isle of Wight? was he in honour, or was he dignified by being there? have they not fought then all this while upon a false ground? have not they given themselves the lie? and will you believe them still? but instead of being instructed by Solomon's divided child, they divided their Solomon. O countrymen, do but remember what ill luck the Nation hath had, by imprisoning their Kings: when they had imprisoned the old lion and the young within their grates, the 3 Henry and his son; did they not, like the enclosed wind, make the whole Land shake? had not the whole Kingdom a shrewd fit of an ague then? did they not (lik● fire too close besieged with clouds) sally out in thunder and lightning, to the terror and destruction of all thos● who stood in the way? what successe● had the imprisonment of Edward 2▪ upon his imprisonment followed his deposement, and the murder of his person was a consequent of the deposement of his dignity, but what becam● of those who did it? is there one remaining of the name of Mortimer? was not that Mortimer, who was the cause of his Imprisonment, beheaded? were not all those who had a hand in it condignly punished? Nay, was not the immediate heir of this too much conniver at his father's sufferings, and too ready accepter of his father's office▪ imprisoned, deposed and murdered in like manner? and what success (I pray you) had the imprisonment of Richard the 2? it cost the kingdom whole ages of miseries, 80 of her Nobility, and 100000 of her Commons, & the disposing of all her royal Roses in their buds, and before they were half blown, until they was but one of a colour left in the royal Garden of Great Britain; and they being Married, made such a composure of Red and White, as blushing at the former mischiefs: and it is worth your observation, how that the last two Kings (to save their lives) resigned their Crowns, and so lost both; whereas the former, by keeping his Crown upon his head escaped the blow. Let all these base begotten meteors appear glorious for a time, till by their yielding more and more to air, they fall to earth; whilst Kings, like Suns in firmaments, look biggest when they are going down, with confidence that they shall rise again.  
Lastly, Henry 6. and his son must be Imprisoned and murdered, to make way for Edward 4. and Edward 4. his two Sons and heirs must be Imprisoned & murdered to make way for Richard 3. and Richard 3. murders these two little Children, and Henry 7. slays Richard 3. with infinite of his followers, for his usurpation: if you go on with your work, you see your wages; God's hand is not shortened, but stretched out still, and he is as great an enemy to such proceedings as ever he was: He is yesterday, and to day, and the same for ever: Do ye think that ever ye shall have Peace till the King be restored? ye may as well expect the needle of the compass to leave its treppidation before it point at the North Pole, as to find quietness in the Land before the hearts of the people turn to their sovereign. Do you not see that the Parliament cannot bring any thing to maturity, and what's the reason? but because their labours will not admit a Treaty with the Sun. Good men should endeavour to take off, not verify that saying of Maximilian the Emperor (as Johannes Auentinus witnesseth de bello Turcico) viz. that the Emperor of Germany was Rex regnum, because his Princes were so great: the King of Spain was Rex hominum, because his people were so obedient: that the King of France was Rex asinorum, because they bare such heavy burdens but the King of England was Rex Diabolorum, because the people use to treat their Kings so wickedly. Now Reader, whether thou be'st christian, or kind, or courteous, or otherwise; whether thou be'st for one, or other, or neither, or both, yet as thou art an Englishman, suffer not thyself to be so abused, and thy Country so ruined, by the names of King and Parliament, Religion, and Liberty, privileges and Properties, for many a Snake lies under the strawberry leaves of such pretences, and stings you ere you be aware, and feeds you with poisons instead of dainties; but return to your old obedience, if you would return to your old Peace, and if you would have God speed the Plough, begin to cry, GOD SAVE THE KING, that we may once more hear the voice of joy and gladness amongst us, that our Oxen may be strong to labour, that there may be no decay, no leading into captivity and no complaining in our streets; that every man may sit quietly under his own vine, and his own hands pluck his own grapes, that the mowers may fill their scythes with their own rights, and the reapers bind up their sheaves in the bonds of justice.  
One word to thee O thou Great City, the pantapolis of all miseries: the seminary of Rebellion, the magazine of Gunpowder Treasons, the treasury of the wages of iniquity, the Tower against David, wherein hangs so many shields and bucklers; the Mart town for conspiracies; you nursed up this Rebellion when it was but tender; you both fed and taught it, when it was but young: you maintained it in its wantonness, when it was in its youth; when it came unto its full strength, ye gloried in your production; and now Rebellion is in its declining age, you ceres its wrinkles, you lend it artificial eyes, leaden its grey hairs, lend it your staff for fear it should fall; and now at last you help it to crutches when it cannot otherwise go: take my advice, and judge not salubrity by sweetness, a plain dealing friend is like those sauces which a man praises with tears in his eyes; though you have brought it to this, yet cast off the old man of sin, and put on the new man of righteousness. An Eagle reneweth her age, saith David, David saith so, and therefore you must believe it: but how it is done? you must be advised by Plyny; when the Eagle hath surfeited by reason of her age, not being able to digest so great a quantity of blood as formerly she was wont, she baths and molts herself in a fountain, until all her feathers fall away, and beats her beak against a rock, until it loosens and falls off, and thus with renewing of her bill and feathers, in a manner, she becomes young again, Now after seven years sucking of the blood of innocents, if ye find your aged stomachs to be filled up to your consciences, like the eagle's bath and moult yourselves in the tears of repentance, until your peacock's plumes come down, and strike with the fists of contrition, upon your hard and stony hearts, so you shall become new men; new to God, new to his Vicegerent, new to yourselves; which will be the best news, that hath been cried in your streets these many years. And as you have been principium & caput, so be but finis hujus rebellionis, and habebis laudem ex illa, Rom. 13. and as it hath been your fault to begin this Rebellion, so let it be your virtue to make an end of it, for if you will not make an end of it, there will be an end of you.   

THE CONTENTS.  

CHAP. I. GOd himself was the first founder, and the first that instituted the Office of Kings. pag. 1  
CHAP. II. The people cannot make an Anointed King. 9  
CHAP. III. The meaning of the Anointing of Kings. 11  
CHAP. IV. The reason why they are called the Lord's Anointed. 19  
CHAP. V. Bad Kings are the Lord's Anointed as well as good. 25  
CHAP. VI. It is not lawful upon any pretences whatsoever to depose, or so much as touch the Lord's Anointed. 29  
CHAP. VII. What is meant by touching the Lord's Anointed. 39  
CHAP. VIII. That Kings now adays are to be had in the same veneration and esteem as the Kings of Judah and Israel were, notwithstanding our Christian Liberty. 50  
CHAP. ix.. That a King failing in his duty, and not performing those things which he hath sworn unto at his Coronation (so solemnly) yet the people are not disobliged in their obedence unto him. 57  
CHAP. X. Touch not mine Anointed, Psal. 105. meant by Princes, and not otherwise. 65  
CHAP. XI. The Objection of the ten Tribes revolting from Rehoboam, Answered. 72  
CHAP. XII. The Objection of Jehu slaying his Master Joram, and taking the kingdom upon him Answered. 79  
CHAP. XIII. A discourse concerning the necessity and excellency of Monarchy. 83  
CHAP. XIV. That there is no such thing as a Free-State in the World. 93  
CHAP. XV. A Discourse concerning Episcopacy, proving it to be Jure Divino. 112    

The royal Charter GRANTED UNTO KINGS, By God himself:  

CHAP. I.  
Who was the first founder, or the first that Instituted the Office of KINGS.  
We say some people were the first that desired them, and moved for them, and had them, and chose them. And all the people went to Gilgall, and there they made Saul King before the Lord in Gilgall. 1 Samuel 11.15. 1 Samuel ●. 5.  
Soft and fair, good people; do not ●istake yourselves; you desired, and moved for, and would have, and had a King▪ but God gave him you: I gave thee a King, O Israel, in mine anger, and I too● him 〈◊〉 ●n my wr●th. Hosea 13.10, 11. According to this we read, Acts 13. 2●▪ They desired a King, and God gave unto the● Saul, &c. And for your making of ● King at Gilgall; your making was bu● approving, and applauding him, tha● was made already; for Saul was bot● made a King, and confirmed King, an● executed his Office, before the people a●● said to have made him King in Gilgal▪ He was anointed King over Israel: 1 Sam. 1▪ 1. he was confirmed by signs. 1 Sam. 10.2, 3, &c. He executed his office. 1 Sam. 11.7, ●▪  
God first, sent.  
And secondly, showed.  
And thirdly, chose.  
And fourthly, Anointed.  
And fifthly, found them out a Kin● before ever i● is said, they made him.  
First, God sent him; I will send thee man out of the tribe of Benjamin, and thou sh●●● anoint him to be Captain over my People.  
Secondly, God showed him; for n●●ther the people, nor any of the Sain● nor the Elders of Bethlehem, no, nor Sam●●l himself, knew not where to find this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Kings, till God said, This is he, he shall ●ign over my People, 1 Sam. 9.17.  
Thirdly, God chose him himself; and ●●muel said to all the people, See him ●●om the Lord hath chosen: Sam. 10.24. 〈◊〉 the people ma●e him themselves, or ●●uld make him, what needed they to ●●ve come unto Samuel to bid him; make 〈◊〉 a King to judge us? Sam. 8.5. and to 〈◊〉, give us a King? which deprecation ●as indeed no otherwise, then as if they s●ould have desired Samuel to have asked a King for them of the Lord; for so it ●●ems by the sequel, for immediately h●reupon Samuel went unto the Lord, and declared their importunity, and the Lord said, that he should harken unto the ●●●ce of the people in all that they said unto him, ●●rse 7. and this most certain and agreea●le unto 1 Sam. 1. where Samuel tells 〈◊〉 people; ye have this day rejected your 〈◊〉, &c. and have said unto him, set a King 〈◊〉 us.  
Fourthly, God Anointed him; Samuel took a viol of oil & poured it on his head, 〈◊〉 kissed him, and said, is it not because he 〈◊〉 Anointed thee to be Captain over his in●●●itance: Sam. 10.1.  
Fifthly, God found him out for them, where he was hidden from them; for when all the Tribes of Israel were come together, and the Tribe of Benjamin was taken, and the families of that Tribe drew near; & the family of Matry was taken out of those families, and Saul the son of Kish from thence: 1 Sam. 10.20▪ 21. (the smallest Tribe, the least family, the poorest Benjamite, as showing us that Kings were not to have derivation from the mighty people, but from the Almighty God: Sam. 9.21.) the people sought him, but they could not find him, so that they were fain to inquire of the Lord for him,, and the Lord showed them were he had hid himself in the stuff: 1 Sam. 12.22. so that all that the people of Israel had to do, either in the Election, Institution, Nomination, Creation, or Invention of their first King, was (when God had done all this) to shout, and say, God save the King: 1 Sam. 10.24. And for their making a King, after all this in Gilgall, it could be no otherwise then their approbation of him, who was thus made by God already.  
Neither was God only the founder of the first King of the Jews, but of all the rest also: He was David's founder too, I have found David my servant, with my holy oil have I anointed him: Psal. 89.20. It was well for David, for he should have been but a poor King, if he had been but of the people's finding; and it may be they would not have known what to have made of him when they had found him. David was not filius populi, but Dei, the son of God, not of the people: Psalm 89.26. He was neither exalted of the people, nor chosen of the people; I have exalted one chosen out of the People, said God, (verse 19) but the exaltation was God's, and the choice not of, ●ut out of the People.  
King's are not children of the most voices; but children of the most high: Ps. 82.6. yet the approbation of the People may serve ad pompam, but not ad necessitatem; it may add something to the solemnity, but nothing to the essence of the constitution; what was divinely given, may be humanly received, and so are Kings.  
Neither will we speak of the King, or the first of the Kings of Jud●h or Israel, ●ut we will go along with the first King ●hat ere was read of (if there be not Books ancienter than the Books of Moses) and that was Melchizedec King of Salem; this Melchisedec is said to have neither Father nor Mother, it could not be said so in regard of his person, for we all know who he was, and who his Father and Mother were; he was Sem, the eldest son of Noah, but it was said so, in respect of his Office; showing us, tha● Kings, they are not the offspring of men, but an emanation from the Deity; and teaching us, that as Kings are not of the Poeples making, so they ought not to be of the people's marring, and as they are not the founders, so they ought not to be the confounders of them; Cujus est instituere, ejus est abrogare, they that institute, may abrogate, they that make, may unmake, what thou buildest thyself, thou Mayst lawfully pull down; thou Mayst diruere edificar●, mutare, Quadrata rotundis, but if thou destroyest that which another hath built, thou Mayst chance to be sued for dilapidations: If a Limner draw a picture, he may alter and change it, and if he dislike it, race it out at his pleasure; or i● a Carver or Ingraver mislike his own handiwork, he may destroy it when he pleases; but if God makes a man after his own Image, and creates him after his own similitude, we offend God in a high degree, when we cut off, or deface the least part, or member of his handiwork.  
Now Kings are lively representations, living statues, or pictures, drawn to the life, of the great Deity; these pictures, for their better continuance, are done in oil, the colours of the Crown never fade, they are no water colours; as Kings with their own statues, will not be angry, though time and age devour them; yet they will not suffer them spitefully to be thrown down, or shot against; so God, though he will suffer Kings to die like men, and fall like other Princes; yet he will not suffer his character, spitefully to be rased, or his Image defaced; but though he will have them die like men, yet he will have them live like Gods. And if all this be not proof sufficient, you shall hear God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost affirm as much. God the Father plainly affirms, John 10.34. Dixi dij estis, I have said ye are God's; but if the stroke had been in the People, than it should have been, Nos diximus, dij estis, we have said ye are God's. God the son told Pilate Thou shouldest have no power except it were (data desuper) given from above; but if the people had given him that power, than it should have been, Thou shouldst have no power, except it were (data desubter) given from beneath; and I am sure the Holy Ghost tells us, per me Reges regnant, by me King's Reign; but if they reigned by the suffrage of the People, than it should have been per nos, according to the modern dialect, they Reign by us▪ and as long as we think fit, and when we think it fit no longer, they shall reign no more; they received their authority from us, and we may recall it when we please, and depose them when we list; for they are but proxies and attorneys of the people: see Buch. de jure Regni Fickerus & Renecherus &c. little thinking how by this powerful doctrine of theirs, they (quite contrary to the word of God) destroy the higher powers, and give the whole Trinity the lie at once: and if these testimonies are not sufficient, I know why they are not, because they never were confirmed by Act of Parliament.   

CHAP. II.  
Whither the People can make a King or not.  
IF the question be asked, whether the people do make the King or not? I could no more grant it, than I should grant, that the people made heaven; but if you ask me, whether the people can make a King (such a one as they use to make) if they have not one already of God's making, they may; such are Kings, and no King; not Reges, but Regentes ad placitum, Kings by Election, are always Kings upon condition, and where the condition is so little worth, the obligation is the less, and but small security will be required: for my own part I should be a shamed to were a Crown on my head, when the people must reign, and the King stand under the penthouse; and I had as live they should make me a Jack a lent, for Apprentices to throw their cudgels at me, as to make me a King to be controlled by their Masters, and every Tribune of the People; for as an invitation to a dinner where there is no meat, is but a distasteful banquet, so the name of a King without its adjuncts, is but a savourlesse renown; and indeed such as they are not Actu Reges, ●hey do but agere Regem, they are not actual Kings, they do but act the part of a King, and I hold him that acts the part of a King an hour upon the stage, to be as real a King for his time and territories, as the best King by election, who is chosen but for his life; herein consists the difference, as the one must act his part as the Poets please, so the other must act his part as the people please; they must have their parts given them, they must act it accordingly, they must not so much as tread the Stage awry; their subejects are both spectators and judges, and it lies within the favour of the next society, whether or no the son shall come to act the father's part. Such Kings as these the people may make; but to make a sacred and an Anointed King, an established and successive Monarch, a King that hath this Heredit●tem in him, a King that hath this Noli me tangere about him; whose Writs were always termed, Sacri apices, whose commands divalis jussio, whose presence Sacra Vestigia, whose thorn is the Lords, whose sceptre is his Rod, whose Crown is his favour, and whose representation is of himself; the People can no more make such a deity, than so many tapers can make a glorious sun, or so many sparks of sprey and faggots, can make a firmament of Stars.   

CHAP. III.  
What is meant by Anointing of KINGS.  
ANointing, in several places of Scripture, betokens some spiritual grace, as James 5.14. Call the Elders of the Church, and let them pray over the sick, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: which the Roman-catholics call extreme unction, though now adays, we only make use of the extremity, and leave out the unction: and therefore some will have the anointing of Kings to signify some spiritual grace also, which shall enable him with Religion and aptness to govern well; which when they cease to do, their anointing falleth off, and they cease to be Kings; if they be not good, they are none of God's anointed, and if they be not his anointed, they care not whose they are. This doctrine hath caused the shedding of more blood than there is now running in the veins of living Christians; whereas the truth is, it is neither Religion, nor virtue, nor grace, that is meant by this royal Anointing: Cyrus was Christus Domini as well as Josias, and Saul as well as David: If Religion were that that did the deed, than Cyrus had not been the Lord's Anointed; if virtue, than not Saul; if grace, neither: If Religion makes Kings, than there should have been of old no Kings, but those of Judah; and now no Kings, but those of Christendom. It is Jus regnandi that is meant by this royal anointing, and royal unction, confers no grace, but declares a just title only; Vnxit in Regem, he anointed him King, includes nothing but a due title, excludes nothing but usurpation; gives him the administration to govern, not the gift to govern, well; the right of ruling, not of ruling right: Kings are anointed with oil, to show, that as they have Thrones to signify that they are the Cesterns of Justice; and Crowns to signify that they are the fountains of honours; and sceptres to signify that the hands which hold them, are the Magazines wherein the whole strength and ammunition of Kingdoms are reposed: so Anointing is a sacr●d signature betokning sovereignty, ob●dience to the Throne, submission to the sceptre, allegiance to the Crown, and supremacy to the oil must needs be given, for oil will have it: pour oil and Wine, and Water, and vinegar, or what other liquor you please together, oil will be sure to be the uppermost: the three first ceremonies make him but high and mighty, and puissant, but the last only, makes him sared, and therefore some have maintained that a King is mixta persona cum Sacerdote, whether he be so or no I will not here insist; but sure I am, that their is much divinity in the very name, and essence of Kings; which duly considered and believed, that Kings are thus sacred (as we ought, and God's word informs us) we would take heed how we touch, take warning how he tear and rend in pieces, as much as in us lies (with those leaden Messengers of death (with their gunpowder commissions) to fetch the higher to the lower powers, and make the King a Subject to the subjects' wills) the sacred person of so great a Majesty; whereas the cutting off but a piece of the lap of Saul's garment, hath checked a greater spirit, than the proudest riser up against his sovereign: We would not speak so despicably of the Lord's anointed; what is the King? he is but a man, he is but one, he hath a soul to be saved as well as others; for though all this be true, yet the end for which all this is said, is most false and abominable, for though it be true, that the King is but a man, yet it is also true, that that man is the light of Israel, 2 Kings 8.19. we must take heed how we put it out. And though it be true, that such a piece of silver, is but a piece of silver, yet as it bears Caesar's image, and superscription upon it, it is more significant; & if thou either pare or impair it a jot, if thou art found either clipping, or diminishing of it in the least degree, ●hou dost it to the prejudice of thine own life; so though a King be but a man ●s in himself, yet as he ●ears the representation of God, and hath his character stamped upon him, he is somewhat more, if you will believe him that said ●e are God's, Psalm 82.6. and therefore we must take heed how we debase or detract ●rom them who represent so great a Dei●y, who by reason of their proximity ●nd nearness unto God in some respects, ●re most commonly of more discerning spirits then ordinary men: for Mephi●osheth, when his servant had so grievivously slandered him to David, he makes but a short complaint, My servant hath ●landred me; but (as if he should say, I need not tell thee much, thou hast wisdom enough to find it out) My Lord the King is as an angel of God, do therefore what is good in thine own eyes: Therefore because thou art as an angel of God, and thyself art a good intelligence, as all Angels are, do what is good in thine own eye; as if he should have said, if thou dost only that which seemeth to be good in other men's eyes, it may be they will persuade thee that the thing was true, wherein my servant slandered thy servant poor Mephibosheth, and he suffer wrongfully. I am of opinion that God gives to every King to whom he communicates his name and authority, this extraordinary gift of discerning; but because they do not some times make use of it to the end it was bestowed upon them, viz. (the better government of their several Dominions) but are contented to see and discern with other men's eyes, and to have false spectacles put upon their noses, whereby many a good man suffers: God in his justice gives them over, that in their own particular, and wherein their own greatest good is chiefly concerned, they shall make least use of their own judgements and advise, and wholly give themselves to be over-swayed by the advice of those, whose judgements perhaps is not so good as their own, and whose intentions (it may be) are no better than they should be.  
It is written that the hearts of Kings are in the hands of the Lord, and he disposeth them as seemeth best to his heavenly wisdom; certainly I would ●ake a little advice from that heart, ●hat is so directed by that hand; the King's head never plotted Treason against the Crown, and no man can wish ●etter to His Majesty then the King. I ●peak not this in derogation either of the Great, or privy council (for it is ●ritten, in the multitude of councillors there 〈◊〉 safety) but in defence only of these ●ons of oil, who are supreme in both. And as it is true that the King is but ●ne man, so it is also true, that one man ●s worth ten thousand of the people; ●hou art woth ten thousands of us (though all ●is worthies were in place) 2 Sam. 18.3. ●nd though it be true, that the King hath a soul to be saved as well as others, ●et it is also true, that he should have ●o body to be crucified by his Subjects, ●nd out of his disesteem of the person, the ceremonies of State (as Anointing, ●itting in Thrones, holding of sceptres, ●nd Coronation itself) being to be ●xploded now a days; and who looked ●or it otherwise, when the lawful and ●ecent Ceremonies of the Church, were ●alled relics of Popery, and rags of the Whore of Babylon: was it otherwise ●o be expected, but that they would call these ceremonies of State, Theatrica pompa: stage-plays, 
See Buch. de Jure. Reg.  toys: Tush say they, what need all these● fopperies, a King's Throne is his Justice, his Crown his Honour, his sceptre, and chiefest strength, the people's hearts, his holy oil, is his Religion, and zeal to God's glory; and so it is: what then? may we not have the signs, and the things signified also? because the true receiving of the Communion, is the receiving of the Body, and blood of Christ by faith; therefore shall we have no bread and wine? or because that true baptism is the washing away of original sin, with the laver of regeneration; therefore shall we have no water poured on the Child? we have Scripture for these ceremonies, and I am sure we have no Scripture for the abolishing of them, but rather Scripture for their continuation for ever. Reges in solio, collocat in perpetuum: God establishes Kings upon their Thrones for ever, Job 36.7.   

CHAP. IV.  
Why they are called the Lord's Anointed.  
THe Lord's Anointed, is as much as to say the Lord's Christ, and Christi signifieth Anointed ones: In the Hebrew you shall read it, who shall ●ay his hand upon the Lord's Messiah? for the Lord's Anointed 1 Sam. 26.9. in the Greek, who can lay his hand upon the ●ords Christ. King's are taken into the ●●ociety of God's name, Dixi dii estis, I ●ave said ye are gods; and here into the society of Christ's name, and all to ●errefie subjects from lifting up their ●ands against the Lord's Anointed, as ●uch as if he were God or Christ himself.  
Again, Kings are not termed uncti ●omini (for that were no prerogative to ●hem at all) but Christi Domini, for not ●nly persons, but things also, were A●ointed under the Law; not only Kings, ●ut Priests and Phrophets likewise, nei●her did it rest there, but it extended to the Tabernacle itself, and ran down to the vessels thereof, even to the very Fireforks, Ashpans, and snuffers; but unto whom said he at any time, tu es● Christus meus, Heb. 1.4, 5. but unto Christ, and Kings? to Christ once, Luke 2.26. to Kings thirty two times throughout the Bible; four times by God himself; Kings are called Christ● mei, mine Anointed; six times to God, Christi tui, thine Anointed; ten times of God, Christi ejus, his Anointed; twelve times in terms terminant, Christi Domini, the Lord's Anointed: and therefore the old Translator observed it rightly, when in the same word, in the Hebrew, and the Greek, he speaks of the Priest, he translates it unctus; but when of the King (Always) Christus.  
And as they are not uncti, but Christi▪ so they are not Christi populi, but Christ● Domini; not the people's Anointed, but the Lord's Anointed; there may be a master of the ceremonies, but ther● must be no master of the substance; they are the Lord's Christ's, and they hol● their kingdoms under him, in King● service; neither are the kingdoms o● the earth anybody's else but Gods: T●● kingdoms are God's, Dan. 4.17. neither ●are they at any man's disposing but his, He giveth them to whom he pleaseth (loco citato) therefore for whose they are, they are the Lords; and for what they ●re, they may thank him and none else.  
Secondly, they are the Lords, because that by him, and in him, and ●hrough him, they have their Dominion, and regiment, from him they have ●heir Crowns, from his hands their Coronation; Diadema Regis in ●manu Dei, Esay 60.3. the Royal Diadem is in the hand of God, and out of that hand ●e will not part with it so much, as for ●nother, to place it upon the King's ●ead; but it must be tu Posuisti (tu Domine) Thou, O Lord, hast set a Crown of pure gold upon his heard, Psal. 21.3. The Emperors used to stamp their coin with a hand coming out of the Clouds, holding a Crown, and placing it upon their heads; We have no ●uch hieroglyphics in our coin, as a hand coming out of a cloud; but we have grace from heaven: Dei gra●ia, so that there is not a King but may say with the Apostle, Gratia Dei, sum qui sum, by the grace of God I am that I am; and indeed Kings are Kings, as Paul was an Apostle, not of men, neither by man, but by God.  
Thirdly, they are the Lord's Christ's; because, not only their Crowns, are in the hands of the Lord, but he puts the sceptre into theirs; nay, the sceptres which Princes hold in their hands, are God's sceptres, being there, virga Dei i● manibus ejus, It is God's rod that is in their hands, Exod. 17.9. and therefore right is the Motto▪ (and reason is it that they should be esteemed the Lord's Anointed) DIEV ET MON DRO IT, GOD AND MY RIGHT; none else have to do with it, the sceptre of a kingdom, in the hands of a King, is the livery and seisin which is given him by God, of the whole Militia, within his Dominion, they that take away that, put a reed into the hand of Christ's Anointed; and why should it be expected that they should deal otherwise with Christ's Anointed then they did with Christ himself, first put a reed in his hand, and afterwards a Spear into his heart.  
Fourthly, Kings are the Lord's Anointed, because, they sit upon his Throne: sideba● Solomon in Throno▪ Dei, Solomon sat upon God's Throne 1 Cor. 29.23. but if Solomon should have lived in these our days, instead of his six steps ●o his great Throne of gold, and Ivory; he should have six steppers to his Throne, for the Gold and Ivory sake; instead of having a footstool of Gold under his feet; he should have much ado to keep a Crown of pure Gold upon his head: instead of hands to stay his Throne, he should have hands enough to pull it down, and cast it to the ground: and instead of two, and twelve lions, fixed on each side, as a guard unto his Throne, he should have found many lions, without regard, running up and down, seeking how they might destroy him.  
Lastly, Kings are the Lord's Anointed, because they are Anointed with his own oil, Oleo sancto meo, with my holy oil have I Anointed him, Psal. ●9. 20. It is not with any common, or vulgar oil, or oil that any lays claim ●o but himself: but it is Oleo meo, my oil▪ neither is it oil, that was fetched o●● of any common Shop, or Warehous●, b●t it is Oleo sancto, with holy oil, oil out of the Sanctuary: And no question but this is a main reason (if they would speak out) why some have such an aching tooth at the Sanctuaries, because they maintain in them, oil for the Anointing of Kings: but if the alabaster box were broken, the ointment would soon be lost: If they could persuade the King out of the Church, into the barn, they would soon pull a Reed out of the thatch, to put into his hand, instead of a sceptre; or if they could get him to hear Sermons under a hedge, there would not be materials wanting to make a Crown of thorns to pleat it on his head. Thus you see the the reasons, why Kings are called the Lord's Anointed, because the Lord hath appropriated them unto himself, not in a common and general way, but in a particular and exclusive manner: my King, my kingdom, my Crown, my sceptre, my Throne, my oil, where is there left any place for claim? pride may thrust down Angels out of heaven, and violence may crucify the Son of God; But (all these things considered) who can stretch forth his hand against the Lord's Anointed, and be guiltless? 1 Sam. 26.9.   

CHAP. V.  
Whether bad Kings be the Lord's Anointed, or not.  
THey are: for they are of the Lords sending, and appointment, as well as the good. I will set an evil man to rule over them (said God) and I gave them a King in mine anger, Hosea 13.11. which King was Saul, which Saul was a Tyrant, which Tyrant was the Lord's Anointed; when he was at the worst, you cannot have two better witnesses than David, and the Holy Ghost, 1 Sam. 26. Cyrus was a Heathen Persian, and one that knew not God, yet for all that, Haec dicit Dominus, Cyro Christo meo, Thus saith the Lord to Cyrus mine Antinted, Esay 43.4. Nero was no good Emperor, but a Monster of mankind, yet Saint Peter, in whose day●s he wrote his Epistle, commanded all Christians to submit to him, 1 Pet. 2.13.  
Hasaell, whom the Lord foresaw, and foreshowed unto his Prophet Elisha, to be the destroyer of his people of Israel, and one, that should make them like the du●● by threshing, 2 Kings 13.7. on that wil●set their strong holds on fire, slay their young men with the sword, dash their children again●● the wall, and rip up their women with child▪ insomuch that it made the Prophet weep, to foresee all the miseries that should happen, 2 Kings 8.12. insomuch that it made Hasaell himself (when he was told thereof) cry out, is thy servant a dog, that he should do all these things ● vers. 13. yet for all this, God will have him to be King, and it be but to scourge his people, the Lord hath showed me that thou shalt be King over Syria, vers. 13.  
Julian, when from his Christianity, he fell, to flat paganism, yet this Anointing held, no Christian ever sought, no Preacher ever taught to touch him, or resist him in the least degree; for whilst the cruel and bloody Emperors were persecuting the poor Christians, they were fitting their necks for the Yoke, and teaching on another postures, how they might stand fairest for the stroke of Death. An● this was not Quia deer ant vires, because they could not help it, for the greatest part of Julian's Army, and the most part of his Empire were Christians: For saith Tertullian in his appologeticall defence of the Christians of those times, una nox pauculis faculis, &c. One night with a few firebrands will yield us ●ufficient revenge, if we durst, by reason of ●ur Christian obligation: and shows, how they neither wanted forces, nor numbers, and that neither the Moors, or the Persians, or any other Nation whatsoever, were more mighty, or more populous than they: and how they filled all places, towns, Cities, Emperia●l palaces, senates, and Seats of Judgement; and that they could do any thing, in their revenge, if it were any thing lawful; but this Anointing was the thing that kept the swelling down, and hindered the corrupt humours from gathering to a head: And therefore it is not as Stephanus Junius, Franciscus, Hottomanus, Georgius, Buchananus, Ficklerus and Renecherus, with the rest of the pillars of the Puritan Anarchy, do answer (being graveled at the practice of the primitive Christian●▪ and those precepts of the holy Apostle) that the Church then (as it were swathed in the bonds of weakness) had not strength enough to make powerful resistance; and therefore, so the one taught, and the other obeyed: but if this doctrine were allowable, then would inevitably follow these two gross absurdities.  
1. That the pen of the holy Ghost (which taught submission even to the worst of Kings) was not directed according to the equity of the thing, but the necessity of the times.  
2. That either the holy Ghost must turn politician, and become a timeserver, or else the Church must lose the means of its being, and subsistence. Whereas▪ we know the contrary so well, that when Acies Ecclesiae, was so far from its bene ordinata, that when all the soldiers fled, and the lifeguard routed, the Lord of host (the general himself) taken Prisoner, yet then, like the Sun looking biggest in lowest estate, so the son of righteousness, think ye not that I can pray unto my Father, and he will send L●gions of Angels; and ra●her th●n God's children shall be oppressed by a company of Egyptians (if it be his pleasure to deliver them) he can, without the drawing of one Sword, turn Rivers into blood, produce an Army of frogs to destroy them: and rather than they should be necessitated for lack of means, ●end swarms of Flies, that may serve ●hem in the stead of so many rescuing Angel●, and therefore it was not any ●ecessity, that the Church was, or could ●e in, that procured in the Apostles, or the first Christians, either that doctrine, ●r that use; it was not disability, but duty; not want of strength, but a reve●end regard of the Lord's Anointed, that wrought these effects in both: Let the people be never so many and mighty, and the Princes of the people never so wicked and cruel, mos gerendus est, we must obey them; not in the performance of their unjust commands; but in submission to their just authority; if not by our active, yet by our passive obedience: if not for their own sakes, yet propter▪ Dominum, for the Lord's sake; if not for wrath, yet for conscience sake, Rom. 13.5. if it goeth against thy conscience, say, ●s the people were wont to say, when they fell down before the ass that carried the Image of the goddess Isis, upon his back, non tibi sed Re●igioni; if thy conscience condemns thee, God is greater than thy conscience, and we must look what he commands, as well as what she dictates; the one may be mislead, the other cannot mislead; sacrifice may be either pleasing, or displeasing to the Lord, but obedience was never faulty; thou Mayst offer the sacrifice of Fools, when thou thinkest thou dost well; but upon how sure grounds goes he, who can say with the Prophet in all his actions, If I have gone a stray, O Lord, thou hast caused me to err? never deviating from the express of his word. Now God gives us express command, that we should not touch his Anointed, what condition soever they are of: N●lite tangere Christos meos, touch not mine Anointed; and where God's rules are general, we must not put in exceptions of our own; for the wickedness of a King can no more make void, God's ordinance, of our orbedience unto him, than man's unbelief can frustrate God's decree in us, Rom. 3.3. Let Saul be wicked, and let wicked Saul be but once Anointedd, David states the question neither concerning Saul, nor his wickedness, but whether he being the Lord's anointed (there's the business) it is lawful to stretch forth a hand against him (who can stretch his hand against the Lord● Anointed and be guiltless? 1 Sam. 26.9.   

CHAP. VII.  
Whether upon any pretences whatsoever it be lawful to depose, murder▪ or so much as touch the Lord's Anointed.  

Sam. ●4. 5.  THere was the first time that ever it was put to the Vote, ●hether a King might be put to death ●r not, but it was resolved upon the ●uestion in that Parliament; Ne perdas, ●estroy him not; it is well that David●ad a negative voice, or else it had been ●ut a bad precedent for Kings: it is well ●hat the men with whom David had this ●arley, would harken unto reason, and ●et that sway them, otherwise David●ight have been forced to fly as fast ●way from his own men, as he did first ●rom Saul: for there wanted no lay-preachers then, to preach the destruction ●nd slaughter of Princes, under the pre●ences of wicked government and tyran●y; who had the trick then, as well as ●ow, to couch their foul meaning in ●ood words and Scripture phrase, with a dixit dominus, when the Lord said no such thing; as David's Zealots, 1 Sam. 24. 5●This is the day whereof the Lord said unto thee, I will deliv●r thine Enemy into thine hand, an● thou shalt do unto him (what?) as shal● seem good unto thee, that is thou shall murder him, that was their meaning: though the word was a good word; and we do● not read where the Lord said any such thing at all: So Abishai, 1 Sam. 26.8. God hath delivered thine Enemy into thine hand: what then? therefore let me smite him; no such matter; David denies the consequence, as if he should have said God hath delivered him into my hand, but ● will make no such bad use of his deliverance, I had rather hereby show him hi● own error, and my innocency, than any way stretch forth my hand against him, for he is the Lord's anointed; and when sleep had betrayed Saul to David's power, in the trench, and made the King a subject for David's innocence; he esteemed himself but as a Partridge in the wilderness, when he might have caught the Eagle in the nest: he passified Saul's Anger, by enabling his power to hurt, sent him his spear (it seems he did not think it fit to keep the King's Militia in ●●s hands) and humbly begs, Let not my ●ud fall to the earth; when, if it had not ●●en for David, Abishai would have smi●●n Saul unto the earth at once, so that 〈◊〉 needed not to have smitten him the ●●cond time: but David would not, de●●●oy him not saith he, and his reason. ●as, Quis potest? Who can stretch forth ●●s hand against the Lord's Anointed ●●d be guiltless?  
Another most notable demonstration 〈◊〉 David's innocency, and subjection, ●●to a hard Master, a most tyrannical ●●ing, cruel Saul; we have 1 Sam. 24. ●hen in the Cave of Engiddi, David●ight have cut off Saul's head; like pre●●ous ointment, he descends only to 〈◊〉 skirts of his garment, and with a ●uid feci? checks himself, and beshrews ●s heart that he had done so much, and ●pon a little looking back of Saul (as 〈◊〉 he had put on rays of Majesty) Da●●d bows, and stoops with his face to 〈◊〉 earth to him, when he might have ●id his honour in the dust, called him 〈◊〉 Father; when that father came to ●●crifice him upon the mountains, and ●Isaac-like) nothing but See my Father, ●hen he could see nothing but fire, and sword, and himself also the Lamb, ready for the sacrifice. A true Isaac (though many young men stayed behind with the ass) will after his Father, though he have fire in the one hand, and a knife in the other, ready for to sacrifice his follower. A right David, and he that is a man after God's own heart, though he could bite to death, and gnaw into the very bowels of his sovereign, yet he will assume no further power to hurt, then to the biting of a Flea; after whom is the King of Israel come out? after a Flea? after whom doth Saul pursue? after a dead Dog? when he might have caught the Lion in the toil. I could easily be endless in instances of the like nature, as our Saviour Christ's obedience to the death, under the reign of Tiberius, his Disciples under Nero, Claudius and Caligula, whose governments were as opposite to the propagation of the Gospel, as themselves were enemies to the propagators of it; yet we see they neither attempted the alteration of the one, or the destruction of the other; yet Christ could do much if he pleased, and if the Napkins of Saint Paul, and the shadow of Saint Peter could cure diseases, if a word out of their mouths could strike men and women dead in the place; if an oration at the Bar, could make a King tremble on the Bench, then surely you will confess that his Disciples could do something: Yet nothing was done or attempted against those wicked, cruel, and pagan Emperors, one instance shall suffice for all: what mischief or injury could be done more to a people, than Mebuchadonozer King of Babylon did unto the Jews, who slew their King, their Nobles, their Parents, their Children, and kinsfolks, burned their Country, their Cities, their Jerusalem, their Temple, and carried the re●idue (who were left alive) Captives with him to Babylon. And now behold (then) Nebuchadonozers good subjects: will you hear what advice the Prophet Daniel gives them for all this? Baruch. 1.11. Pray you for the life of Nebuchadonozer King of Babylon, and for the life of Balthasor his son, that their days may be upon earth, as the days of heaven, and the Lord will give us strength; (what to do? to wage war against him?) and lighten our eyes (what, with new revelations how they may be revenged? O no) that we may live under the shadow of Nebuchadonozer King of Babylon, and under the shadow of Balthasor his son, and that we may serve them many days, and find favour in their sight: truly showing that a King is Alkum, Prov. 30.31. one, against whom there is no rising up; that is, not upon any pretences whatsoever: there can be no pretences whatsoever more fair and specious, than those of defending the Church, and red●essing the commonwealth. For the first, if Religion be any thing pushed at, think you that Rebellion will keep it up, or that it ever stood in need of such hands? when God refused to have his Temple built by David, because he was a fighter of the Lord's battles, think you that he will have his Church defended by fighters against the Lord's Anointed? to defend Religion by Rebellion, were to defend it by means condemned, by the same Religion we would defend; and to reform or redress the commonwealth, by insurrection and Rebellion, were to rectify an error with the greatest of all mischiefs; no government worse than a civil War, and the worst governor is always better than the best rebel: Rebellion is as the sin of Witchcraft, and stubbornness is as Idolatry: and how perilous a thing it is, for the Feet to judge the Head, the subjects to choose what government and governors they will have, to condemn what, and whom they please, to make what pretences and surmises they have a mind to, this kingdom by woeful experience hath had sad resentments. Imbecilities and weaknesses in Princes, are no arguments for the chastisements, deposing, or murdering of Kings; for then giddy heads will never want matter or pretences to cloak their Rebellion. Shall Moses, because Pharaoh was an oppressor of God's people, and had hardened his heart, and would not let the Israelites depart, therefore inflict punishments upon Pharaoh, or so much as depart without his leave? though Moses could inflict punishments upon the whole Land, yet his Commission never went so far, as to touch Pharaoh, in the least degree, though swarms of flies came into the house of Pharaoh, and Frogs entered into the King's chamber; yet we read not that they seized on Pharaoh's person; there were Lice in all their quarters, saith the Psalmist, and there became Lice in man and beast, upon the smiting on the dust, but none were smitten of the person of the King: boils and blains were upon all the Egyptians, and upon the Magicians, so sore, as they could not stand in the presence of Pharaoh, but they were not on Pharaoh, that he could not stand himself; Pharaoh his eldest son may die, but Vivat Rex, Pharaoh must not be touched. Did Absalon do well to conspire against his Father, though he defiled Uriah's bed, and cloaked adultery with murder? should the Priest, Peers, Prophets, or people, offer to depose Solomon, because he had brought strange Wives into the Land, and as strange Religion into the Church? shall Elias entice A●abs subjects to Rebellion, because he suffered Jezebel to put Naboth to death, and killed the Lord's Prophets? shall Peter take vengeance upon Herod because he put him in prison, beheaded John the Baptist, and killed James? shall Reuben be no Patriarch, because he was unstable as water? shall Simeon and Levi lose their Patriarchal dignity because they were brethren in iniquity, & instruments of cruelty, because in their anger they slew a man, and in their self-will digged down a wall? shall Judith be deposed from his rule and government for making a bargain with a Harlot upon the high way? shall Issacher not be numbered amongst the other twelve, because he was none of the wisest? no reason; they were Patriarchs as well as the rest, which was the immediate government before Kings; and (indeed) were Princes themselves: princeps Dei es inter nos, Gen. 23.6. Thou art a mighty Prince amongst us: and thus much shall suffice, (and I hope sufficient) to show, that no faults or pret●nces whatsoever, can make it lawful to depose, or so much as to touch the Lord's Anointed.   

CHAP. VII.  
What is meant by touching the Lord's Anointed, or stretching forth the hand against the Lord's Anointed.  
NOt dare to touch the Lord's Anointed, is an awful reverence, and a supposed difference to be kept, between every Subject and his sovereign, especially in point of violence. A Mother doubting the discretion of her Children, and being to leave some curious lookingglass in a place, doth not command her children that they should not break it, but that they should not touch it; knowing full well, that if they have the liberty to meddle with it in the least degree, they may break it before they are aware, and destroy it when they think least of any such matter▪ So God is very chary of his King, wherein he beholds the representation of himself, and knowing him to be but brittle, and though the most refined earth, yet but glass: he commands his people that they should not touch his Anointed; knowing that if they were permitted but to tamper with him in the least degree, their rude hands may break it in pieces, when they do but think to set it right.  
A touch is but of one man, though but with one of his fingers, yet this must not be; Nolite tangere, it is not said ne tangete, wherein only the act of touching is forbidden, but Nolite tangere, whereby the will is also prohibited: how wary should we be in touching, when the Lord is so cautious in his prohibition?  
Now stretching forth the hand may signify a combination of many into one confederacy, the hand being a part of the body, composed of five members (one and all) but this must not be; a most unhappy instrument is that hand that turns itself into the bowels of its own body; if the head break out be chance, the hands must not presently be in the head, clawing, with envenomed nails, the corruption there, lest that itching desire, turn into smart in the end, lest when the peaceable day springing from one high, shall happily visit us, that now sit in darkness and in the shadow of death; we then see our bloody hands, and this (once happy) kingdom, the only pillow, whereon peace had laid her head, streamed (like the Egyptian Rivers) all with blood: in a word, by touching the Lord's Anointed; or by stretching forth the hand against him, is meant any kind of violence▪ that is used against sacred Majesty; and the signification thereof is of a large extent; for we stretch forth our hands when we do but lift up our heels in scorn against him; Who so lifteth up his heel, Psalm 41.9.  
Secondly, we stretch forth our hands against the Lord's Anointed, when we do but raise up arms in our own defence; Whosoever resisteth the power, resisteth the Ordinance of God, and draweth damnation upon himself. Rom. 3.  
Thirdly, We stretch forth our hands against the Lord's Anointed, when we stretch not our tongue and voice, when we hear of any traitorous plots or conspiracies against the Lord's Anointed, and so bring such conspiracies to light: It is a foul thing to hear the voice of conspiracy, and not to ●tter ●●: Lev. 5.1. as good lay thy hand upon the Lord's Anointed, as lay thy hand upon thy mouth & conceal the treason.  
Fourthly, We stretch forth our hands against the Lord's Anointed, when we do not stretch forth our hands for the Lord's Anointed, when we see him assaulted with any danger, or traitorous opposings. Should a man see his own Father fiercely assaulted, and should not presently run into his rescue, but should suffer him to be slain before his face, would we not equally exclaim against him with the murderers, Qui non Vetat peccare x potest, jubet, he bids, that doth not forbid with all his power ●like a true son) such outrages and vio●●nces, to be committed against the Fa●●er of his Country.  
Fifthly, We touch the Lord's Anoin●ed, when we touch his Crown and dig●ity, entrench upon his Regalia, hold or withhold his sons or daughters, kill or ●ake prisoners his men of war. We must take heed of defacing the garment, as well as of hurting the person, for they are both Sacred; the precious ointment, wet not Aaron's head alone, but it ran down upon his beard, and down unto the skirts of his garment, making all Sacred that was about him; such touchings therefore are worse, than when we touch the person with the greatest violence, for then the Anointed are most touched, when they are touched where the Anointing is, which is their State and Crown, dearer to them then their lives; touch both, the murder of the person, is but a consequence to the deposement of the dignity.  
Sixthly, We touch the Lord's Anointed, when we take away his revenue and livelihood from him, the Devil thought that he had stretched forth his hand exceedingly against Job, touched (and touched him to the quick) when he had procured God's permission, that the Sabeans and Chaldeans should take away his Oxen and Asses, his Sheep and Camels, and plundered him of all he had; God called this a destruction unto Job, Job. 2.3. and that before ever a hand was stretched forth to touch either his bone, or his flesh.  
Seventhly. Is there no stroke but what the hand gives? Yes, the tongue can strike as well as the best: Jere: tells us so, Venite percutiamus eum lingua: come let us smite him with the tongue, Jer. 18, 18. and David said, His tongue was a two-edged sword: There is, (saith Solomon) that speaketh (and that waiteth too) like the piercing of a sword: It is bad enough in any, or against any man, but worst of all against the Lord's Anointed; for it is said Thou shalt not revile the Gods, nor speak evil of the Ruler of the People: Saint Paul, but for calling a High Priest, painted wall, (though) when he caused him to be smitten Contrary to the Law, yet he eat his words, and confessed his error; and now many, that would seem to be followers of Paul, are revilers of Kings, and make no bones thereof. The same God that commanded Laban, in respect of his servant, Vide ne quid loquare durius, ●ee thou give him no ill language; certainly expects that Subjects should set ● watch before their mouths, to keep the door of their lips, lest they offend with their tongue, in speaking ill of Princes.  
Eightly, As the tongue can strike without a hand, so the heart can curse without a tongue: Eccl. 10.2. Curse not the King, no not in thy heart, for a Bird in the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter: the hand implies both; never was the hand stretched forth to any evil act, but the heart was the privy Counsellor, & the tongue the chief persuader unto such enormities; therefore it is good, obstare principiis, to crush the cockatrice egg, kill it in the heart, lest those pravae cogitationes want room, and then out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh, and persuades the hand to be the destruction of the whole body; if hand, and heart, & tongue, & pen were thus regulated, we need not long look for peace, or despair of an accommodation, but whilst the hand is up, and the heart is set at liberty, and the tongue saith, Our tongues are our own, 〈◊〉 ought to speak, who is Lord over us? and every pen is a ready writer, in matters pertaining to the King: in vain it is to seem Christians, whilst we are such Antichrists: the Bible under our arm▪ falls to the ground, whilst we stretch forth our hand against the Lord's Anointed: why do we take God's word into our mouths, if we let it not down into our hearts, to do as that word directs us? Christian liberty never cut the string, that tied the tongue to those observances. Of these things there might be applications made, but lapping as they go along is best for dogs, where there are Cordials in the River.  
It seems by the story, that Kings may be coursely dealt withal, if men make no bones of being guilty; they stand like the forbidden tree, in the midst of the Paradise of God, men may touch them, but they had better let them alone; if God had placed (at the first) Cherubims, and a flaming sword, turning every way to defend that tree, how could there have been a trial of Adam's obedience? So if God by some instinct, ●ad chained the hearts of men, and tied ●heir hands, and bound them to the ●eace, so that they could neither in ●hought, word, nor deed, have committed violence against his Vicegerent, how could there have been a trial of the Subjects duty? the tree had no guard, ●or fence about it, but only, thou shalt not ●at thereof, if thou dost, thou shalt die the death. Princes have no better security ●or themselves, than the almighty's command for their preservation, Nolite ●angere, &c. Touch not mine Anointed, ●o break the first, was but death, the second is damnation; if you resist the ●igher powers, you resist the highest God, and he that resisteth shall be damned, Rom. 13.2. the commandment concerning the tree of Paradise, was only thou shalt not eat thereof; but we are forbidden to touch so much as a leaf of our forbidden tree, much less to shake down all his fruit; there is hopes of a tree, saith Job, that if it be cut down, yet it will sprout again, but not only a finger, a hand, but an axe must be laid to the root of the tall Cedar of our Lebanus; yea, they must be rooted up like the names of Taronius; they will not leave so much as a of stump Nebuchadnezar's tree chained to the earth, up must all root & branch, till all the royal branches lie like sprey upon the ground: these men had rather be destroyed themselves, then say the Lord's Anointed is not to be destroyed. Go on blind zealots, harken to your wives, and let them persuade you to disobedience, and the devil them, as Eve did Adam, and the devil her, behold the objects she presents unto your view; how good they seem, how fair they look, how pleasant they are to thine eye, how wise you think you shall be, how full of knowledge, when poor wretches, you shall find all these promises turned into Fig-leaves, to hide your nakedness: all these golden Apples of Palestine once touched, evaporated into stench and blindness: and that your disobedience hath given you nothing but curses, and brought you nothing but sorrows and death upon yourselves and children, and profitted you nothing but the turning of an Edom into a wilderness, till you be glad to eat the herbs of the field, and by the same fault, fall into the same punishment with our neighbours of Germany, ●ye with grass in your mouths. These ●●ings fell upon Adam for his disobedi●●ce unto God, and the like will fall ●pon us (the sons of Adam) for our dis●bedience unto God's Anointed. O then ●et us not by any means lift up our ●ands against the Lord's Anointed, lest ●like Adam) we fall from our state of ●nnocence, and be guilty: guilty of all the blood that hath, and shall be spilled ●pon this land; guilty of the tears of ●o many fatherless children and wi●owes: and if we will not be obedient ●nto a Prince of men, guilty of all the eternal thraldom and submission unto ● Prince of Devils: take then the advice of the wise Solomon, Prov. 30.32. If thou ●ast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or if ●hou haste thought evil, lay thy hand upon thy ●outh: Fear God, honour the King, have nothing to do with them that are subject unto ●hange, for their destruction cometh suddenly; and so will yours. Let no man deceive himself, he who is not good in his particular calling, can never be good in his general calling, he is no good man, that is no good servant, and if he be no good subject, he is no good Christian, he that honoureth not the King, doth never fear God; and except he obeys both, he obeys neither.   

CHAP. VIII.  
Whether Kings now adays are to be had in the same veneration and esteem, as Kings were under the Law, by reason of our Christian liberty.  
CErtainly the murmuring of Corab, Dathan and Abiram, with their complices: Thou seekest to make thyself altogether▪ a Prince over us, the Lord is among us, we are all alike holy unto the Lord, (and therefore Moses and Aaron must be no more excellent than the rest of the people) was no prophecy to be fulfilled in these our days, for if it had, surely our Saviour would never have paid tribute for himself and Peter, Mat. 17.27. which was a symbol of their subjection to heathen pagans; for this cause pay ye tribute, Rome. 13.6. we have those who are apt enough to make arguments with our Saviour, bearing this conclusion, then are the children free, Mat. 17.26. but few that will imitate his peaceable example, to fish for money, rather than offend the higher powers, Mat. 17.27. ●nd if you conjecture that our Saviour ●id this merely for quietness sake, behold the question rightly stated. Is it lawful to give tribute to Cesar or not? Mat. ●2. 17. seriously propounded (Master we ●now that thou art true (and therefore we ●ope thou wilt not deceive us with a ●ie) and teachest the way of God in truth 〈◊〉 and therefore thou wilt not cause us ●o err through the deceiveableness of ●nrighteousnesse) neither carest thou for ●ny man (and therefore thou wilt not ●e afraid to speak the truth) thou regar●est not the persons of men) therefore fea●ing only God, thou wilt boldly, & faith●ully without partiality, or fear, plainly ●ell us, whether it be lawful or not) ●learly determined and concluded upon; Da Caesari quae sunt Caesaris, Mat. 22.21.  
If Christian liberty, should lose the ●eignes of civil government, than Christ would never have acknowledged Pilate's power to have been of God, John 19.11. If subjection unto Kings were a hindrance to the propagation of the Gospel, than Saint Peter would never have exhorted the Christians to submit themselves to every ordinance of man. 1 Pet. 2.9. We have too many submitters nowadays unto every ordinance of men, but they are not unto such ordinances, whereof the King is Supreme, 1 Pet. 2, 13.  
Object. It is better to obey God then man, and therefore for his sake we cannot obey every ordinance of man.  
Sol. The Apostle doth not in this place discourse of obedience, but of submission: obedience is to be given to things, only lawful; submission is to be given to any ordinance whatsoever, though not for the things sake, which is commanded, yet propter Dominum, for the Lord's sake who doth command, so absolute submission: where God commands one thing, and the King commands another thing. We may refuse his will, and there is perfect obedience, when God commands one thing, and the King commands the contrary, we may not resist his authority, and therein is true submission; and this the Apostle doth not only assure us to be the will of God, but puts this well doing in the stead of knowledge and wisdom, whereby the ignorance of foolish men may be ●ut to silence, 1 Pet. 2.15. when freedom ●ands of tiptoes, her coat is too short ●o cover her maliciousness, therefore the Apostle exhorts us to behave our ●elves As free, but not using our liberty, as a ●loak for maliciousness, 1 Pet. 2.16.  
If Christian liberty did break the ●choole of civil Government, than ●aint Paul would never have been ●uch a schoolmaster to the Romans, Rom. 13. Let every soul be subject to the ●igher powers: an excellent rule for ●ur obedience, every soul, no exem●tion by greatness, or holiness, or ●ny by-respect whatsoever, but if he ●ave a soul, let him be subject to the higher powers: if two powers clash one against another, here we know which to stick ●o in our obedience, that is, which is ●ighest (and that Saint Peter plainly tells ●s is the King, whether to the King as Supreme, 1 Pet. 2.13.) There is no power but ●f God, the powers that be, are of God, who●oever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God, and they that resist shall ●eceive to themselves damnation. vers. 2. What Christian then can have his con●cience so misled, as to resist those powers out of conscience, when the Apostle plainly tells us, verse 1. We must needs be subject, not only for wrath (that is, fo● fear of them) but also for conscience sak● because God commanded it.  
There were Anti-monarchists, and Anti-dignitarians even in the Apostle● time, but if it had been laudable, or agreeable to Christian liberty, the Sain●Jude in his Epistle, verse 8. would never have called the despisers of Domini●● and evil speakers of Dignities, filthy dreamers, and defilers of the flesh (as he put them, so we find them both together) he never would have compared them to bruit beasts, verse 10. he never would have pronounced woes unto them, as unto the goers into the ways of Cain: greedy runners after the error of Balaam, for reward; and perishers (as in the gainsaying of Corah) ver. 11. he would never have compared them to clouds without water: carried about with wind: to fruitless withered trees, twice dead, plucked up by the roots: to raging waves of the Sea, foaming out their own shame: wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever. verse 12, 13. he never would have described them unto you so fully, to be Murmurers, Complainers, walkers after their own lusts, widemouthed, speakers of great swelling words, having of men's persons in admiration, by reason of advantage, separatists, sensual, (and though they pretend never so much unto it) having not the spirit, verse 16.19.  
Christian liberty frees from the ceremoney of the Law, not from the substance of the Gospel: whereof we see submission & subjection unto Kings, is a great part thereof. The Roman yoke, and the Romans hands which held the plough, ploughing upon the Christians backs, and made long furrows, and for a long time, were both adverse to the propogation of Christ's Gospel, yet during all that time, neither Christ, nor any of his Disciples, ever attempted either the change of the one, or the displaying of the other; and shall we think ourselves more wise than he, who is the wisdom of the Father? or better advised then by him, who is the everlasting counsellor? or that any man's doctrine can settle us in more peace and quietness than he, who is princeps pacis, the Prince of peace? will you have more Orthodox Fathers than the Apostles? or the Children of this generation to be wiser than the Fathers of old? Christ and his Apostles with all the ancient Fathers taught, and subscribed to this doctrine: First, Christ, Da Caesari quae sunt Caesaris: then Saint Paul, Render to all their due, tribute to whom tribute is due, custom, to whom custom, fea● to whom fear, honour to whom honour, and all to Cesar: Then Saint Peter, submit yourselves, &c. Fear God, honour the King, &c. sic passim in Scripturis.  
Dear Christians, are we better pleased with the glittering tinsel of a painted Baby from a pedlar's shop, then with the rich, and inestimable Jewels of Divine truth? will we suffer ourselves to be cozened with the guilded slips of error? and what enthusiasms every pretended spirit, if not every cobbler, Weaver, groom, or coachman, shall dictate, who are but velut igneae, and velut flatus, as it were of fire, or as it were a mighty and rushing wind, but nothing sensible, some hot exhalations of the brain set on fire, by the continual motion, and agitation of the tongue. Good God, have we thus learned Christ? Is this the fruit of so clear a Gospel? and the return of all our holy mother's care, and pains for education? shall we take God's word into our mouths and preach Sedition, Rebellion and Insurrection, contrary to that word which we pretend to preach? to maintain Religion by Insurrection, is to maintain it by means, condemned by the ●ame Religion we would maintain.   

CHAP. ix..  
Whether a King failing in his duty and not performing those things which he hath sworn unto at his Coronation (so solemnly) the People are not disobliged in their obedience unto him, and may, thereupon, depose or put him to death.  
IF Kings held their Crowns by Indentures from the People, then were the People disobliged to their obedience unto him, upon his failing (in those things whereto he hath been sworn) on his part; but if they receive their Crowns immediately from God, and that by him alone King's Reign (as hath been heretofore proved at large) than all the failings that can be in a King, can but make him a bad King; but still he must remain a King; the Oath assures us of his being a good King, not of his being a King; for he was King before he took it: Coronation is but a ceremony, and his Oath is but at his Coronation; the issue of ceremony, must not disinherit the right heir, of all that substance: King and kingdom, are like man and wife, whose marriages are made in heaven, who are betrothed by God himself; Now as in the ceremony between man and woman, the husband in the presence of God and Angels, and all the Congregation promiseth (which is as solemnly binding as any Oath) that he will live together with her after God's holy Ordinance in the state of matrimony, that he will love and cherish her, maintain and keep her, and forsaking all other, keep himself only unto her: Now if he perform all these things, he doth well, he is both a good husband, and a good Christian (considering the vow that he hath made) but if he doth not live with her according to God's holy Ordinance, nor love, nor cherish her as he should, nor maintain and keep her as he ought; Shall it be lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? Matt. 19.3. much less can it be lawful for the wife to put away her husband upon every distaste; It was God that made them male and female: Mat- 19.4. and therefore it is fit they should continue together so; They twain are but one flesh; Matt. 19.5. therefore they cannot be divided; God joined them both together: Matt, 19.6. therefore no man can put them asunder. Now to apply this to the King wedding himself to his People at his Coronation; the King (solemnly) takes his Oath at his Coronation before all the People, that he will live together with them according to the laws of the Land, that he will protect and defend them to the uttermost of his power, with all other protestations contained in the said Oath, which if he doth perform, he doth well, and is both a good man and a good King; but if he should not govern them according to the Laws of the Land, and if he should not cherish and defend his People, shall it be lawful for this wife to make away this husband? God forbid! God made him King, them Subjects, therefore they must continue so, like man and wife, for better for worse, they two are both one, the head may not be divided from the body, and quae deus conjunxit, nemo separet; there have been bills of divorcement given unto these King● husbands in former times: but of those bills, I may say, as our blessed Saviour said of the bills of divorcement which Moses commanded; it was propter duritiem cordi●, Matt. 19.7. Deut. 24.1. for the heardnes of men's hearts; and then again, this durities cordis, never went so far as that the woman might put away her husband, but only the husband his wife, and that only in the case of Adultery; & if it had been otherwise, it had but a late beginning, a bad foundation: for our Saviour saith, Matt. 19.8. In principio autem non erat sic, It was not so from the beginning; and a hard heart is but a bad foundation for a good Christian to build upon. I will conclude this application with words not of my own, but of Saint Paul, which words are a commandment, Neither is it I (saith the Apostle) 1 Cor. 7.10, but the Lord, that gives you this commandment, Let not the wife depart from her husband; no, if she be an heretic, or which is worse a heathen; If the woman hath a husband which believeth not if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him: 1 Cor. 7.13. If I would resist my sovereign in any kind, it should be ●or my Religion, but when my Religi●n tells me that I must not resist him in ●ny case; then I think I should but do ●in doing so) like the boasting Jew, Ro. ●. 13. who boasted of the Law, and dis●onoured God through breaking of that law, which he had boasted of: What if some did not believe, shall their unbelief make the faith of God of none effect? saith Paul Rom. 3.3. God forbid: no more can the wickedness of a King, make void God's Ordinance of our obedience unto him: our obedience must look upon God's command, not upon the King's good behaviour; God doth not command things because they are fitting, but it is fit that we should obey, because he commands them; neither ought we to have respect so much unto the goodness, as unto the Authority of a King; for Kings do not consist in this, that they are good, but in this, that they are Kings; for as it is possible for one to be a good man, and a bad King, so it is often seen, that a bad man may be a good King; and it is an observation here at home, that the best Laws have been made by the worst of Kings. It is an observation, that divers kingdoms have long continued in peace and happiness under bad laws, and worse governors. Well observed; when unwarrantable attempts to better both, and inconsiderable courses to mend all, hath brought all to ruin and confusion. He that sets a kingdom in combustion, to advance his own opinion, and prefer his private judgement, doth but set his house on sire to roast his eggs.  
God makes Kings of several conditions, sometimes he gives a King, whose wisdom and reach in Government is like Saul's, head and shoulders higher than all the People: And then, when we have wise Kings, and learned Judges, Psalm 2.10. we shall be sur● to have all those Breakers of their bonds asunder, and those casters away of their cords from them; verse 5. to be bruised with a Rod of Iron, and broken in pieces like a potter's vessel; verse 9  
Sometimes God will send us a little child, sometimes a Child in years, otherwhile a Child in understanding, which of both it be, Vae regno (saith Sol.) cui puer dominabitur; woe to the kingdom, over which a child Reigns. for then the whole kingdom is sure to be put upon the rack. Sometimes God in his ●udgement sends a Tyrant amongst us, 〈◊〉 will set an evil man to rule over them, saith God himself, & then we are never in hope ●o be from under the lash; and some●imes in mercy he sends meek and ●hild Princes (like Moses) who carried his People in his bosom, one that shall only make use of his Prerogatives, as Christ did of his miracles in cases of necessity; one who shall say with the Apostle Saint Paul, ● I have no power to do hurt, but to do good, to edification, but not ●o destruction: one who shall continue his Reign, as Saul began, Videre ne quid sit populo, quod fleat, who will hear and ask why do the People cry? deserve well and have well; shall we receive good from the hands of the Lord, and shall we not receive evil Princes? though they be ●amarae sagittae, yet when we consider that they are edulci manu domini emissae, we should not refuse them, but be contented with whomsoever his mercy or his justice sends, or throws upon us: Never was there a bad Prince over any People but he was sent by our heavenly Father for a scourge to his children; and shall we kiss, or snatch the Rod out of our father's hand? To conclude, there is nothing can disoblige the People from their King, because his Authority over them is a domino, from the Lord, bu● their obedience towards him is prop●e● dominum, for the Lord's sake; though i● himself there be all there asons that ca●● be given to the contrary, many will be glad to hear the Father of their Country, say, I and the Lord will go, and to be sol● elect, and to hear his Father tell him, de●● providebit, as Abraham said to his Son Isaac; but if he takes fire and sword in hand threatening his follower, how many followers will he have? I had rather, with Isaac, follow my Father ● know not wherefore; and with Abraham, obey my God, contrary to my own nature, and beyond all hope, then to serve so great a God and his Vicegerent by rules drawn by my own fancy and reason.   

CHAP. X.  Psal. 105.15. 
Touch not mine Anointed, meant by Kings.  
BY the words touch not mine Anointed, is meant Kings and Princes: neither ●n any other interpretation, whatso●●er, be obtruded upon this text, with●●t a great deal of impudence and igno●●nce; If there were no other argument 〈◊〉 be used but this, to a modest man, it ●ere sufficient. viz. That not any ●hurch, nor any churchmen, nor ●●y Christian, nor any Father, nor any ●xpositor whatsoever, did ever give it ●ny other interpretation, before such ●●me as the Jesuit and the Puritan, and ●●ey both at a time, and that time, bea●ing not above 100 years' date neither, ●egan to teach the world that it was lawful to murder Kings; and no mar●ell if this found some querke or other ●o turn the stream of Scriptures sense, ●ut of its proper channel, and constant course; the two birds of a feather, persecutors of one another, like two fighting Cocks who quarrel among●● themselves, being both of the same kind, and yet both agree in taking council together against the Lord and against his Anointed: or like Pilate and Herod they could not agree but in the principles of condemning the Lord● Christ.  
But it is objected, that as a little child upon a giant's shoulders, may see farther than the giant himself, so a weaker understanding coming after those Fathers, and taking advantage of such helps, getting up upon the shoulders of time and learning, may see more than they did, or hath been seen in former ages; and therefore it is no wonder, i● a man without aspersing himself with the least immodesty, may pretend to set more, than all those who went before him had observed, and what hath this child pick-a-poke spied? a birds-nea●●● can there be a simpler thing imagined, whereby to give impudence the chair, and throw all the ancient father's flat upon their backs, than this so common and so much approved of instance to usher innovation, not only into the Church, but also into the very soul of Scripture itself? for what if it be granted, that a child upon a giant's shoulders sees further than doth the giant himself, doth the child know better what he sees than doth the said giant? must not the child ask the giant what is what, of all that he beholds? must not the child be informed by the knowing giant, of the difference between the mountains & the valleys, the water and the sky, a cock & a bull? if the child be thus ignorant, what doth the child's getting up upon the giant's shoulders advantage the child in points of controversy? except it be such a child as Saint Christopher had got upon his shoulders, that was Judge of all the world: if the child be not so simple but understands all these things; then believe me he is no child in understanding, but a giant himself in knowledge, and so the similitude, the child, and the giant come tumbling all down together; seat a child never so high, he is but a child still, and sits but at the feet of a Gamaliel, when he is upon the shoulders of a giant; no child was ever thought worthy thy to pose all the Doctors, but the Child Jesus.  
Now to clear the Text from those blots and blurs that are thrown upon the words, going before this Text of Scripture, touch not mine Anointed, viz. I have reproved Kings for their sakes, Ergo, the word Anointed could not betoken Kings, because Kings were reproved, for their sakes who were the Lord's Anointed: now say they, the word Anointed must necessarily signify the people of God, for whose sake these Kings were reproved, and so it doth; but yet my Corahmites, Dathamites, and Abiramites, you must not think to be all alike holy unto the Lord, as that ye are all concerned in this nolite tangere: There is no question but that in some sense the elect of God are anointed ones of the Lord, but not peculiarly the Lord's Anointed: they are filii Oliis, sons of oil, as the Prophet terms them, but not Christi mei, or Christi tui, or Christi ejus, or Christi Domini, which were attributes that were never given by the holy Ghost to any but to Christ, and Kings: the Priests who were anointed (really) never were termed in Scripture the Lord's Anointed, and the proudest, and most ●ebellious people that ever were, whose ●rrogance claimed an equality with, ne●er (in sacris) strove to be above their Priests. Now if you expect clearness ●n the fountain, do not ye trouble the waters, and you shall behold the springs of truth arise; 'twas the elect and ●hosen of the Lord that were here meant by anointed, and it was the seed of Abraham, and it was not Kings that were meant by this word Anointed in the text. But it was not all the elect of God, that must not be touched, it was not all the seed of Abraham who have this noli me tangere about them, but it was Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, for whose sake God reproved Kings, as they are plainly nominated in the same Psalm, and none else; if there be mention made of the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were the seed of Abraham; who were else mentioned? and though we cannot comprehend these three under the notion of nominal Kings, yet we may be pleased to consider them as real Princes, Principi Dei es inter nos, as it was said to Abraham, thou art a mighty Prince amongst us, so Kings may be reproved for their sakes; they may be Kings too, and yet the Lord's Anointed for whose sake Kings were reproved, for we do not dispute about the name, but the thing: now wheresoever you find this word nolite tangere, you shall find this word, saying, going before it, which of necessity must have some reference to some other place of Scripture to which it must allude, and in reference to which it must be spoken, for the word, saying, makes it rather a question of some author, than the Psalmist's own, this allusion you may easily perceive, Gen. 26.11. where it is set down, how that God touched the heart of Abimelech King of the Philistines, in the behalf of Isaac, one of the three named in the Psalm; so that King Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man, shall surely die: So Abimelech and King Herod were both reproved for Abraham's sake, Gen. 12.10. and to what place of Scripture can this nolite tangere be more aptly applied, then to this, where we find the same words reiterated? or what clearer testimony can be given of the Scriptures alluding to this saying, Touch not mine Anointed, then to Gen. 16.29. where totidem verbis, it is said to Abimelech in the ●ehalfe of Isaac, we have not touched thee ●●ou blessed of the Lord; what difference ●etween these words, and touch not mine Anointed?  
Besides the marginal notes of all our Bibles directs us to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, as to the Anointed of the Lord, ●nd as the Princes of God's people, which must not be touched, and for whose sakes Kings were so much reproved; the word, King, in the text, doth not exclude ●hose who were Princes, but it only includes those Princes who were called Kings, and were reproved for their sakes who were Kings themselves re, though not nomine so that all the ground that will be gained hereby, will be, that one Prince was reproved for another, though not called Kings.  
To conclude, as no Christians ever interpreted this place of Scripture but of Kings and Princes, until Jesuits and Puritans, undertook that it is lawful to murder Kings: So no English Author ever interpreted it otherwise, till within this 7 or 8 years; when Presbyters and Independents began to put this doctrine in execution, and if the former of these two would wash their hands in innocency, as relating to this last unparalleled act of Regicide, let them remember Charles the Proto-Martyr of God's Church, and People, His own words, in his Book of Meditations, wherein He tells them, how vain is the shift of their pleading exemption from that aspersion, to grant Commission for shooting of bullets of Iron and Lead in his face, and preserving Him in a Parenthesis of words.   

CHAP. XI.  

Objection.  
REhoboam harkened unto young men which gave him evil council, and would not harken unto his sages which gave him good advice, but answered the people roughly, wherefore they renounced the right they had in David, and the inheritance they had in the son of Jesse, fled to their Tents, and Crowned Jeroboam King: Ergo, we may do the like upon the like occasion, hahaving a precedent from the word of God, and warrantable, because God said, This thing was from the Lord, 1 Kings 13.8.   

Answer.  
All this proves only that such a thing was done, not that it was well done; for if it be a sufficient proof to prove out of Scripture, that such a thing was done, and thereupon conclude that therefore we may do the like, than this is as good an argument as the best, Judas betrayed Christ, therefore it is lawful for a servant to betray his Lord and Master; first, the Scripture blames him in a most pathetical climax, 1 Kings 11.26. Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon, whose mother's name was Zeruah, even he lifted up his hand against the King, showing how he had desperately run through all those obligations, and ties that were upon him; 2ly he & all his adherents are called Rebels for their pains, not only by Abijah his enemy, but also by the holy Ghost, who is enemy to none who are not God's enemies, 2 Chron. 10.19. And Israel Rebelled against the house of David unto this day, his adherents were termed in Scripture ●aine men, and sons of Belial, they were punished with a destruction of five hundred thousand of them, which was one hundred thousand more than there were true subjects for the slaughter, the Scripture saith, God smote Abraham, verse 5. If it be objected, that the thing could not but be well done, because God saith, 1 Kings 14. I exalted thee from among the people, and made thee Prince over my people Israel, and rent the Kingdom from the house of David, and gave it thee: than it could not but be well done of Rehoboam (by the same reason) to answer the people as he did, for it is written, that Rehoboam harkened not unto the people, for the ●ause was from God, that he might perform the saying which he spoke by Abijah unto Jeroboam the son of Neba●, 1 Kings 12.15. both were passive, and neither of them could resist the will of God; but these places of Scripture are often times mistaken, and misapplied, and interpreted either by those who are not well acquainted with the nature of Scripture language, or else by those who wilfully and wickedly laid hold of such a meaning as the Scripture may seem to give them leave; for all these and the like places of Scripture we must no● take as God's beneplacence or approbation, but only for his permission, for ●therwise we should make a mad piece ●f work of it, for God said, 1 Sam. 12. ●1. I will raise up evil against thee out of thine 〈◊〉 house, and I will take thy wives before ●●ine eyes, and give them to thy neighbour, ●nd he shall lie with them in the sight of the ●●n: doth this justify Absalon for lying with his father's wives and concubines ●n the sight of all Israel? Is there any evil ●hat I have not done it, saith the Lord? therefore did the Citizens do well to do evil, because the Lord said, I did it? God did it, that is to say, he caused it to be done, as the evil of punishment, not as the toleration of evil, so this thing was from the Lord, that is to say, the Lord suffered such a thing to come to pass as a punishment of Solomon for his Idolatry on his posterity, and yet may no way approve of any such Rebellious courses: neither was Rehoboam so much to be blamed for his answer, as may be supposed, nor the people justified in their Rebellion neither, for they grounded their discontents upon a false ground, for the people complained when there was no cause, and demanded that which was not reason; hear the whole grievance and consider it a little, 1 Kings 12.4. Thy father made 〈◊〉 yoke grievous (that was false) do t●● make it light (no reason for that) fo● the people never lived happier neithe● before nor after, than they did in thi● Kings father's time, and might have done in his time, if they had know● when they had been well, and God● judgements would have suffered them to have seen it. For,  
1. They were a populous Nation, as the sand on the Sea for multitude, 1 Kings 4.20.  
2. They lived merrily eating and drinking and making merry.  
3. The Nation was honoured abroad, for Solomon reigned over all the Kings that were round about him, verse the 21.  
4. They lived peaceably, they had peace on all sides round about them, verse 24.  
5. They lived securely and quietly, every man under his own vine, and under his own figtree.  
6. They had much Trading in his days, and much merchandise, 1 Kings 10.15.  
7. He was very beneficial to those Merchants, for he gave Solomon, not only large wisdom, but largeness of heart, and let those Merchants have commodities from them at a price, ver. 28.  
8. He maintained a brave fleet at Sea, Kings 4.21.  
9 He made silver and gold to be in Jeru●●●em as plentiful as stones, and Cedars as ●●amore trees, 2 Chron. 1.16.  
10. These felicities were not only in the ●●urt, or among the Nobility, or between the ●●tizens, but they were universal, even from ●an unto Beersheba.  
11. They were not for a spurt and no more, 〈◊〉 at one time and not at another, but all the ●●yes of Solomon.  O me prope lassum juvate posteri. 
Neither doth the Scripture make any ●ention of any such hard yoke at all, ●nly the margin of the Bible directs ●s from the complaint of the people, to ●ooke upon the first Chapter of the King's verse 7. and there you shall only find how Solomon had 12 officers over all Israel, which provided victuals for the King and his household, each man his month in a year, but here is but a very slender ground for a quarrel, when the immediate verse after the naming of those 12 officers tells us, that the multitude of people as numberless as the sand upon the Sea shore, were● merry eating and drinking as the Kin● and this place unto which we are di●●●cted (and no other) to find out t●● grievousness, appears by the context ● the same Chapter, to be mentioned 〈◊〉 an expression of Solomon's glory and wi●dome, rather than of any tyranny, 〈◊〉 polling of his people: for the whole r●lation ends with an expression, that 〈◊〉 the people were as the sand of the 〈◊〉 for number, so the largeness of the King● heart extended as the largeness of the Sea for bounty, all were partakers of it, 1 Kings 4.29. pardon me therefore if I think that Rehoboam had more reason 〈◊〉 answer the people as he ●id, than the people had just reason to complain. O ●●titudo! O the unserchable ways of God where God suffers his people to be ● rod to visit the sins of the father's upo● the children, he permits them to take a wrong cause in hand, that he may also cast the rod into the fire.  
I Pray God the Merchants of London b● not too like those Merchants of Jerusalem, who Traded so long, until they brought over, together with other merchandise, Apes and Peacocks, and the Traders begin to be too like their traffic, Apes for manners and behaviour, Peacocks for pride, and rustling until the Apes grow to be so unhappy, as to be brought to their chains, and the Peacocks, so vain glorious, as to lose their feathers: and so I leave them both, tasting the fruits of their own follies.    

CHAP. XII.  
The Objection of Jehu slaying his Master Joram Answered.  

Objection.  
THus saith the Lord God of Israel, I have Anointed thee Jehu King over the people of the Lord, even over Israel, and thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy Master, that I may avenge the blood of all the servants of the Lord at the hands of Jezebel, Ergo, if a King be thus wicked, we have God's warrant, for the deposing and putting such a one to death.   

Answer.  
But stay until you have this warrant, and then we will allow it to be lawful; for though every one is apt enough to be a Jehu in his own case, yet every one is not a God-almighty, we must not clap his seal to our own warrants; what God commands at one time, we are not to make it our warrant to do the like at all times, this is a prerogative of the Almighty, no privilege of a Subject; God may command Abraham to slay his son, but we must not go about to murder our children; God may command the Israelites to spoil the Egyptians, but we must not Rob and cozen our neighbours; Christ may give order for the taking away of another man's goods because the Lord hath need of it, but we must not make necessity our pretence for arbitrary power; these acts of the Almighty are specially belonging unto him, and we must have his special warrant before we go about any such thing.  
But setting all such plea aside, I utterly deny that either Jehu did, or that ●od gave Jehu any such authority as to ●ay King Joram. Jehu slew Joram, but ●ehu did not slay the King, for Jehu by ●●e Lords immediate appointment was ●ing himself, before ever he laid hand ●pon Joram; Joram was but then a private ●an, for in the verses going before, it 〈◊〉 set down how that Jehu was Anoin●●d King, how he was so proclaimed, ●nd accordingly how he took the state ●f a King upon him and executed the ●ffice: 2 Kings 12.13. before ever any ●ention is made of Jehu slaying Joram, ●●rse 14. therefore here is no regicidium, ●s yet here is but plain manslaughter, ●nd a lusty warrant for that too; again, ●e must not▪ only take heed of unwar●antable actions, but of false warrants, the private spirit is no sufficient war●ant to lay hold on such a public Ma●istrate; as there are false Magistrates, ●o there is a false spirit, for an erroneous ●pirit may as well condemn a good Magistrate, as a bad Magistrate may be ●ondemned by a good spirit: but there may be a higher mistake than all this, ●nd I wish it were not too common amongst us now adays, to mistake the works of the flesh, for the fruit of the spirit: Let us compare them both together, as the Apostle hath set them i● order.  

The works of the flesh.  
Adultery, Fornication,  
Uncleanness, Laciviousness,  
Idolatry, Witchcraft,  
Hatred, Variance,  
Emulations, Wrath,  
Strife, Seditions,  
Heresies, Envyings,  
Murders, drunkenness,  
Revelings.   

The fruit of the Spirit▪  
Love,  
Joy,  
Peace,  
Long-suffering,  
Gentleness,  
Goodness,  
Faith,  
Meekness,  
Temperance.   
By which of these two was Charles the First's Head cut off?    

CHAP. XIII.  
Of the necessity and excellency of Monarchy.  
A Jove principium, Let us begin with heaven, and behold its Monarchy ●n the unity of the blessed Trinity; ●hough there be three persons, yet there must be but one God: for the avoiding of that which we are fallen into, a confounding of persons, and dividing of substance. Descend lower, and consider the Angels, and you shall find one archangel above the rest, as the angel's Monarch. Lower yet, to those senseless and inanimate Rulers of the Day and Night, the Sun and Moon, and you shall not find (or so much as the appearance of such a thing) more Suns or Moons in the same firmament then one; without a prodigy or portent, of some dire, and direful event. Come down to the Regions and you shall find in the head of the highest Region a Prince of the air. Come to the lowest and you shall find amongst the winged inhabitants thereof, the sovereign Eagle, as the King of Birds. Come amongst the Beasts of the field, and the Lion will soon let you know, that there is a King of Beasts. Run into the Sea, and there is a King of Fishes. Descend into Hell and there is a Prince of Devils: and shall only man be Independent? Do we not observe the delving Labourer what pains he takes to join house to house, and land to land, till there be no more room for any competitor within his Dominions; and when he hath wrought his petty dunghills into a mixen, he thinks it Law and Reason, that the place should not admit the Dominion of more Cocks than one, this man's dies a Monarch in his own thoughts, and his son lives to enlarge his father's territories, but at last dies big with thoughts of a principality, his son lays hold of all the advantages that may help him to the accomplishment of his hereditary desires. Juno, Lucina per opem obsecro, he is a Prince, Caelo timendum est Regna ne summa occupet qui vicet ima, he must be an Emperor, Divisum imperium cum Jove Caesar habet, he must have all or none, none but Jupiter must share with him. Mundus non ●ufficit unus, when he hath all, and when all is done, the Empire after that it hath disimbogued, and incorporated into itself, all the kingdoms of the earth, terminates in an everlasting kingdom, that shall never be destroyed; quam primum appropinquaver at regnum Caelorum, as soon as the kingdom of heaven shall be at hand: and what's all this? but to show us that not only nature, but God himself, who is the Cod of Nature, affects Monarchy. The further off any government is to Monarchy, the worse it is, the nearer the better; the reason's thus, that Government which avoids most the occasion of differences, must be most happy, because most peaceable; and peace only consists in unity: now where there are many governors there must be differences: where there are few, there may be differences: where there is but one, there cannot.  
The Romans, when they shook off their Government by Kings, and were distasted with their Government, for their governor's sake; tried all the controverted Governments of the world, of two by their Consuls, of three by their Triumvira●, of ten by their Decemviri, of ten thousand by their Tribunes: when they found that the farther o●● they departed from Monarchy, the centre of all Government, the more they lost themselves in the the circumference of their own affairs, they began a little to look back upon the Government from which they had deviated all the while, but yet with squint eyes; first, a King, and no King, a thing that was like a King, but not a King; a thing that was so re, and tempore, but not nomine; he must be only so, pro una vice, unoque anno, such were their dictator's: at last this sucking Government gathered strength, and grew to be perpetual, which perpetuity in one, begot an everlasting Monarchy in all ages, which is to continue unto the end of the world; for the Prophet Daniel tells us, that at the end of the last and fourth Monarchy, which was the Roman, Christ should sit upon his everlasting Kingdom that should never be destroyed; therefore my enthusiastics, must either leave dreaming of pulling down all kingdoms, and Empires in the world, or else think themselves the kingdom of Christ, that we have prayed for all along.  
Neither is it unworthy of your observation, that as soon as ever this Monarchy was restored, there was universal peace over the whole world; and the Saviour of the world, who was Princep●● pacis, vouchsafed not to come into the world, under any of the forementioned governments; but Imperante Augusto natus est Christus, who was the first Emperor of the Romans. He who affects purity, let him begin it in his own house, and as he likes it in the model, so let him attempt it in the fabric: for my part, I have read their arguments, and am so far from being evinced by any of them, that I do not believe that there is any such thing: I have been in all the commonwealths in Europe, & I could not find any such thing as a Free-State, I could find the word, Libertas fairly written over their Gates, but within their walls the greatest Bondage & arbitrary power that could possibly be imagined in any part of the world, but no Liberty at all that I could find, but only some few there were, who had liberty to do what they would with all the rest. Geneva may of six, Genoa may have seven, Venice may have eight, the hollanders nine or ten, England may have five Members or Leading-men as they call them; but what's all this but taking the Government from off its shoulders, and putting it in some hand? and when you have done, its ten to one but you shall find one of the fingers longer than all the rest, and if you please you may call that King, and all the rest subjects; what's this but a change from a Monarchy with one Crown, to a tyranny with so many heads? If it were so that all Free-States, as they call themselves, had all equal power, it would be so much the worse, all these kinds of Government have their continuation and subsistence upon this only ground, viz. that necessity and craft drive them to come so near to Monarchy, and sometimes to an absolute Monarchy, when you reckon your hog and mogons only by the pole, and not by the polar star, that commonly is fixed amongst them, about which, all the rest move and turn. But what do we talk of Monarchy or Aristocracy or Democracy, behold a well regulated Parliament, such a one as ours ●ight have been, and aught to be; hath the benefit and goodness that is in all ●hese three kind of Governments, of Monarchy in the King, of Aristocracy ●n the Peers, of Democracy in the House of Commons, where the acerbities of any one is taken away by their being all three together, but if one will be all, ●hen all will be nothing. This stupendiously wise, and Noble way of Government had its dissolution by inverting the course it took in its original. When the first William had Conquered the Nation, the Normans would not admit that any Laws should be observed, or rules obeyed, but only the will of the conqueror; and why so? but because thereby the conqueror might take away the Estates of any Englishman, and give them to his Conquering Normans; But in process of time; when these Normans became English, they began to insist a little upon m●um and tuum, and would know the what that was belonging to the King, as a King, and to themselves as Subjects; for by the former rule, the King might as well take away the Estates from one Norman, and give it to another, as he did formerly from the English, and give to his Normans▪ wherefore they would have no more of that, but jointly and unanimously Petitioned the King to the same effect, the King thought it reasonable, condescends to their desires, consultation was about the premises, the result of the consultation was, that the King should issue out Writs to the Lords spiritual (who in those) days were thought the wisest and most conscientious) to reason with the King, and advise with him, as well concerning the bounding of the Ocean of sovereignty, as bridling in the petty Rivers of private interest. These spiritual Lords thought it a work of too high a nature for their private undertakings, wherefore they supplicated his Majesty, that the Lords temporal might be also summoned by Writ, and join with them in the same Authority; 'twas done accordingly; being done, they both thought it a business so transcendent, and of so universal concernment, that they found a way to involve the whole Nation in a joint consent, which was, that all freeholders in the kingdom, in their several precincts, might by the election of two in every County, disimbogue all their suffrages into theirs, and to remain the country's proxies, to Vote for, and to be directed by their several Countries; and thus the Commons were brought in: but behold the Viper, that eats through the sides of its own Parent; behold the ass's foal, who when she hath done sucking, kicks her own dam.  
The King brings in the Lords spiritual, the Lords spiritual bring in the Lords temporal, both bring in the Commons, the Commons destroy both, both destroy the King. Neither was Kingship (as they call it) and Episcopacy better rewarded, for being the principal, and so zealous reformers of the Gospel, to have both their Crowns and mitres broke in pieces by the same hammer of reformation; and the walls of their palaces mingled with abbey dust, casting thereby such a blot upon the very name of Reformation, that it will scarce be legible by Christians, except what went before, and what may follow after, may help the future ages to the true sense and meaning of the word: thus Rivers run backwards and drown their own Head; thus the monstrous Children who are borne with teeth in their mouths, bite of the nipple, and starve themselves for lack of sustenance; thus blind Samson's revenge themselv●s upon their enemies, by pulling down the house upon their own heads; thus the forms of the most glorious government of a Church & State, are wounded to death through the sides of Reformation: If you are not, I am sure you will ere it be long be satisfied, that all the specious pretences of popular Government, Free-State, Liberty of the Subject, are but figments and delusions of the people, obtruded by vainglorious and haughty men, who knowing that they could not be that one governor of all the rest, yet they hope to be one of many; thus foolish children set their father's barns full of corn on fire to warm their hands, when they are ready to starve for lack of bread: who had not rather live under a Government, wherein a man i● only bound to submit to him, whom it is honour to obey, then to live under a Government where every man is a slave, because every one is a Master? Finally, my opinion is this, I had rather have my liberty to kneel before a Throne, than 〈◊〉 be the tallest man in a crowd, and should ●●inke it more for my ●ase and honour.   

CHAP. XIV.  
That there is no such thing as a Free-State in the World.  
IF by a Free-State, you mean a people who have shook off their Allegiance to their Prince, there are many such Free-States to be found, but a beggars-bush, or a company of Gipsies (who propound to themselves new Laws, renouncing the old, and yet choose a King and Queen amongst themselves, pleasing one another with a self-conceited opinion of a thing they call Liberty, which is no otherwise then an ignoble bondage of their own choosing, preferring the correction of a bundle of rods (because their own hands have made them) before the sway-meant of a sceptre, which God himself hath put into their sovereign's hand) is as good a commonwealth, or Free-State as the best: but if you mean by a Free-State, a freedom from Tyranny, you will be as far to seek for any such thing in rerum natura, as for a reason why tyranny may not be in many, as well as in one: But if you mean by freedom an exemption from all such tyrannical oppressions as are expressed in the Petition of Right; I see not why such a Free-State may not be under a Monarchy: certainly I have seen such Petitions, and insistances, during the late King's reign, as having relation to freeborn people of England, and should think that the Magna Charta defended by one, who had power to make it good against the infringement of many breakers, and by a Parliament of many, authorized to the same purpose against the pessundation of it by any one, be it by the highest, may not be as good a way to make, preserve and keep a Nation free, as well as the entrusting of a Nations freedom into the hands of a few, whose Independency deny all remedies to be either above them, or below them. It may be it will not be thought tedious, if I entertain your eye and consideration with some observations of my own, in those Free-states of Christendom (as they call themselves) wherein I have been. I shall begin with the Free-State of Genoa, wherein I have been resident some time, and the rather, because whilst England was a kingdom, they could not have the face to stand in any competition with us; but now the King's arms were cut off as well as his head, how should we do to make a distinction between them and us? for both the State of Genoa, and the State of England give the very same coat of arms, and Saint George i● both our patrons: Certainly England must give the halfmoon as the younger brother; and why should not the Moon crescent follow after, now the Turkish Alcoran is come before?  
When the overspreading Roman Monarchy, like Nebuchadnezar's overgrown and lofty tree was brought only to a stump chained to the ground, and when the keys of Heaven and Hell had so well fitted the locks belonging to the Gates of Rome, as to give way to the entrance of that high Priest into the imperial seat, than was Genoa a lop of that great fall, and soon after it was wrought into a bundle or faggot of a commonwealth, until such time as Charles the Great recovered all his Right in Italy, saving only the Holy Land, whose Princely sword could never strike at the already cloven mitres, but at Helmets.  
Amongst other Counties whose subduements, acknowledged Charles to be the Great, Genoa was one; which City was no less happy than famous, in affording a man who honoured her walls, with making it known unto the world, that he came out of them under the name of Andreas Dory, a Genoese; this famous Andreas Dory was a zealous commonwealths-man, and one of the new Gentlemen, as they called themselves, (for you must understand, that when these statesmen had shaken off the yoke of sovereignty, they expelled all their Gentry or Nobility; which no sooner done, but they made a new Gentry or Nobility amongst themselves) and being a deserving man, the Emperor Charles the Great, willed this Andreas Dory to ask and have what he desired of all that he had Conquered: he asked Genoa, the Emperor gave it him, to do with it what he pleased, he gave it ●●e Citizens, together with all their ●iberties, and former freedoms, upon ●●is condition, That they should recall ●●e old Gentry in again, and settle ●●em again in all their rights and privi●edges, which being assented unto, Ge●oa became a Free-state again; but be●old the Freedom, or rather the power ●nd bonds of love and gratitude, nei●her the old or new Gentry, nor the Common people, would allow of any ●hing that was said or to be done, but what this Dory should command or say: ●or was there a more absolute and pow●rfull Monarch upon the earth than he; ●nd whilst he lived he did continue so, because the people would obey: who being once dead, the people soon found they did obey, because they must: Yet still it must be a Free-state, because Libertas was written over the Senate-House, and City-Gates, but neither within their Senate, or their walls, was there ever such Tyranny over the common people, or the Citizens, then hath been all along, and is at this day practised by some few, who spit Monarchy in the face, and make no bones to swallow down all its adjuncts? exercising their several Tyrannies with this justification, that they are the Supreme Authority, whilst they deny Supremacy; gulling the people into a sottish belief, that they are not suppressed by one hand, because it hath many fingers. I shall instance unto you one particular, which was done whilst I was there, whereby you may easily judge in what Free-state their commons live▪ There was a substantial Citizen, between whom, and a Noble Genoese there was some grudge, this Senator studies a revenge, and thus he intends it to be put in execution. He gives command to one of his Braves (for so they call their Executioners) to kill this Citizen: this slaughterman (being by reason of some former obligations) struck with some remorse, of doing so high an act of ingratitude, to one, who had so well deserved at his hands; discovers the whole plot to his so much acknowledged patron, who very much acknowledges and commends the ingenuity of this discoverer; bids him to follow him where he leads him over a trap, where the leader knew full well how to order his steps, so that he might advance safely over the place, but the follower (ignorant of these observations) must needs fall down a precipice, no less terrible, then destructive; the poor man is slain: this perfidious murderer watches his opportunity of meeting this designer of his death, in the Merchato, and gently takes him by the arm, and desires him that he might speak a word with him; they withdraw themselves out of the walk to a private corner: the Citizen tells this nobleman that his servant had betrayed him, in discovering his design to him on whom it should be executed; in detestation of which perfidiousness, he had given him the reward of a traitor (declaring the manner and form as is expressed) and desired in all humility that he would be pacified, and that whatsoever differences were between them, that he would bepleased to be his own Judge, whereupon they both became friends, no less satisfaction being acknowledged by the one, than ingenuity on the other party. Such shifts as these, are these freeborn people fain to make, to appease the wrath and fury of their Lords and Masters: In a word, as their territories is no otherwise then a continued breach of three hundred miles along the seashore, so the Inhabitants live no otherwise then do the fishes in the Sea, the greater fishes devour the less; so where there is no King in Israel, every man doth that which is good in his own eyes: it cannot be otherwise.  
From thence I went unto the Free-state of Lucca, and there I found the freemen to have six Princes every year; and the Senate choosing six men, who elect a Prince for the commonwealth every two months; this Prince ascending his Throne up these six steps, acts what he pleaseth: nor have the common people any more liberty, than the most rigid Calvinist will allow a Papist, freewill: Neither is there any other difference between this government of the Free-state of Lucca, and the Empire of Germany; but that the one have so many Prime choosers, and the other so many Prince Electors, the one keeps it within the house of Austria, and the other keeps it out of the house of the Medici's.  
I went from thence unto the Ancient commonwealth of Venice, whose government (if in any) I should approve of, because they never revolted from a better: but yet I must tell you, that at my first entrance into that City, I found the people full of complaints, of the heavy Taxes, exorbitant power and arbitrary government, which seized upon all their plate, and what other goods of value they had, for the use of the State, toward the maintenance of a War, which was both foolishly begun, and most carelessly run into by their trusties, or Representatives; for the Pope of Rome had certain intelligence that the Turk was preparing to make War against some part of Christendom; the Pope sends to all the fronteir Princes of Christendom, advising them that they should all agree as one man to make it their own case, and that they would assist one another, on what part of Christendom soever the storm should fall, and that the several ambassadors would take it into consideration, about proportioning every Prince or State according to their abilities, for their several supplies of men and money; to which they all soon condescended, except the Venetian, who told the rest, that there was a League between the Grand signior and the Venetians, and therefore they were not t● fear any such War to be intended against them; to which it being demanded, that if the Turk prevailed against other parts of Christendom round about the Venetians, whether they thought he would let the Venetians alone at last or whether the Venetians thought so or no●, whether they did not think themselves bound in honour and Christianity to defend their neighbour-Christians against so common an Enemy? to which it was answered, by the Venetians, that the very entering into such a league and covenant with them, were enough to break the peace between them and the Turk; whereupon the Juncto was dissolved, and every tub was fain to stand on his own bottom: but it fell out, that (by the machiavelianism of the Card. Richlieu, who taught and persuaded the Turk to break the League between him and the Venetians, because he would not have the Venetians to lend the Emperor so much money, but would find them ways how to disburse it otherwise) the Turks waged War only against the Venetians, and none else, whereupon they were fain to endure the whole brunt of the War themselves, and had nobody to help them: this being so grievously found fault with by the common people, and their goods taken away, ad placitum, their persons pressed de bene esse, whether they thought so or no: I would fain know what liberty these people had, who could find such faults without remedies, and lose their goods without redress? what liberty is there in having freedom in the State, and none in the condition? I shall part with my children with tears in mine eyes, and through the same water behold the word, Libertas, written upon the Rialto; what am I the better for this freedom? am I robbed of all my money, because one thief takes it away? and am I not robbed because six or seven lays hold upon me? believe it, I never heard such complaints, neither in the King or Parliaments time, of oppression and tyranny, as I heard in this City during the time that I was there; and this not only during the War, but also in the times of peace, five or six men rule the whole State, and it may be the Prince none of them neither. I shall relate unto you a story of one Loridan a Noble Venetian, who keeping a courtesan, on whom he was intended to bestow a favour, he went into a rich Shop for to buy her some Cloth of gold to make her a gown, the Prentice was only in the Shop, whom he commanded to cut out so much of such a piece as the tailor gave directions, which done, he willed the Prentice to tell his Master, that he would be accountable to him therefore; the boy excused himself, it being but a servant, and not having any such directions from his master, not doubting, but that if his Master were there, he would willingly trust him for what he should be pleased to command; the Noble Venetian takes his leave, willing the Boy to tell his Master, that he should rue the day that ever he kept such a saucy Boy to give him such an affront, and so departed in great fury: the Master of the Shop presently coming in, and hearing the relation of what had happened, tore his hair, wrung his hands, stamped upon the ground, and like a madman cried out that the Boy had undone him, and and all his posterity; takes the whole piece with him, follows this Noble Venetian to his courtesans, offers to bribe the courtesan with the whole piece, if she would intermediate for him; which with much difficulty, & many pleadings she so appeased his wrath, that he was satisfied: and this was as common for a senator of Venice to do, as for a Parliament-man to pay no debts.  
Neither is there any Law or Justice to be had against any of these statesmen: There was a nobleman who was an Austrian both by birth and family, who being a traveller, chanced to cast his eyes upon a fair and virtuous Lady, who in every respect were deserving of each other: This nobleman had no sooner made his mind known unto this Paragon for beauty, but he was soon obstructed with a corrival, who was a Nobile Venetiano; who perceiving his Mistress affections to this stranger, to be more liberally expressed then unto him, contrives his death, and soon effects it, she loving her Martyr more than either others conceived, or she herself could brook so great a cross concerning them, studies revenge, and being an Italian found herself easily prompted by her own natural inclination, she pretends much love, that she might the better put in execution her greatest hatred, she gets him into a chamber, where she prays him to rest himself in a chair, wherein he was no sooner sat, but his arms and thighs were caught with springs, & being thus fastened, she murders him with her own hands, and flies for sanctuary to the next Nunnery within the Pope's Dominions, leaving behind her, by the murdered, these words, written with her own hand in a piece of paper, Because there is no justice to be executed against a noble Venetian, I have been both Judge and Executioner myself. Men may talk what they will, and fancy what they please, but there is no more difference, in point of freedom between a Monarchy and a Free-State (as they call it) then there is between a High sheriff of a Shire, and a Committee of a County; V●rum horum mavi● accipe.  
Now for the Free-State of our Neighbour Netherlands, otherwise called the States of Holland (who have sprung up (as all other free-States will do at last) from the submissive and humble stilings of the distressed, to the high and Mighty) The particulars which occasioned their revolt from their sovereign the King of Spain I shall not insist upon, but refer you to the Spanish and netherlands Histories; only I shall hint upon the main inducements to their Rebellion; viz. Religion and freedom.  
For the first, There is not a People amongst whom the name of God is known, to whom Religion is a greater stranger, then unto these stilers of themselves, Reformed Protestants; for if this Free-state, who allow all Religions both of the Jews and Gentiles, whose several Churches own, in capital letters over their doors, the several s●cts of Religions, to which each Libertine is inclined, be Religious, than the Pantheonists were as truly reformed and religious as the Amsterdamians; but as he, who sacrificed to all the Gods in general must needs have sacrificed unto the true God, and yet know him not, because he joined others with him, who was to be worshipped alone: So that Country which embraceth all Religions, happily may have the true Religion among●● them, and yet have no Religion, because they admit of many, being there is b●● one: This I speak in reference to the Country, not to particular men. Neither is there a sort of Christians in the world who are less servants unto Christ, if it be enough to make them so, to be the greatest prophaners of his day: for the Sabbath day is only distinguished from other days, by a Sermon in the Church, and the Alehouse being full of mechanics, drinking and carousing from morning until night, the shops are open, and buying and selling all the day long, excepting half the window, which is to distinguish the day, but the door is open to let in the buyers, and the other half of the window is open to let in the light: and wonderfully strange it is and remarkable to consider how these people, who shook off their allegiance to their Prince upon pretences of Reformation, should be so besotted, as to fall into such a strange and unheard heard of profaneness of him, and the day whereon Christ himself is to be worshipped, as in their Metropolis, or chief City, to have a dog ●arket kept to the utter scandal of ●●ue Religion, and Christianity itself, ●●is is no more than what I have seen, ●●d if it were not true, it were easily re●●rned upon myself as the greatest im●●udence that could be imagined; but O ●●e partiality of the picture-drawer, ●hen he receives large wages for a si●ilitude! he insults over his own work ●nly because it is like, when the face it ●elf is most abominable.  
Now for their freedom from Ty●anny and oppression; if the Turks or Tartars had conquered them, they never would (nor never did where ever they extended their dominions) impose such taxes and rates as they have imposed on one another, incredible; even to the full value of the several commodities, which run through their natives hands; but you will ask me, how it is possible they should live then, to which I answer you, by sharking and cozening of strangers: Let any foreigners come there and ask for a dinner, and for such a dinner as they may well afford for eight pence a piece, they will ask you five shillings a man; find but the least fault with them, and they will demand twelve pence a piece more for fouling of linen; and if you seem angry at that▪ you shall mend yourself with the payment of six pence a piece over and above, for fouling the room: and seek a remedy, and you shall be told, the Prince of Orange himself if he were there could not help it: altom all, is all the reason they will give you; if in sadness you shall complain of such abuses to indifferent Judges, they will tell you, that the States do lay such heavy taxes upon the Inhabitants, that they are fain to fly to such shifts for their subsistence; thus men pleased with the itch of Innovation, are contented to scratch the blood out of their own bodies, till they feel the greatest smart; rather than their physician should let out a little spare blood, to cure the disease, and preserve them in good health; but you will say, that for all this, they thrive and prosper abundantly, so do the Algiers men, but with what credit and reputation in the eye of the world? I believe both alike: It was not their strength or policy, which brought them to this height and flourishing condition: but it was our policy of State, in ●●mulation to other Princes, which hel●ed these calves to lion's hearts, teeth, ●nd claws, until the high and mighty ●utter-boxes stood in competition with the crown: and I am afraid the siding with such Rebels, hath turned Rebel●ion into our own bosoms, as a just ●udgement from that God who is a re●enger of all such iniquities; they may call it the school of War, whilst wanting a good cause, it could be no otherwise then the Christians shambles: I should be sorry that Holland should be the Englishman's looking-glass: a spur for his feet, or a copy for his hand. I hope the hand of providence will cure us, like the physician, who cured his patient by improving his disease, from a gentle Ague, to a high fever, that he might the better help him.   

CHAP. XV.  
That Episcopacy is Jure Divino.  
IN this discourse I shall not trouble myself, nor you with Titles, Names and words of Apostles, Evangelists, archbishops, Bishops, Patriarchs, Presbyters, Ministers, Angels of Churches, &c. which were all from the highest to the lowest, but terms reciprocal; and were often taken in the Church of God, and in the Scripture itself, for one and the same: for if any man, though never so mean, a Minister of the Gospel converted any Nation, the Church ever called him, the Apostle of that Country; as Austin, though but a monk, was everywhere termed the Apostle of England: and Saint Paul, being an Apostle, styles himself a Minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ: Paul bids Timothy being a Bishop, to do the work of an Evangelist; and therefore no wonder if Bishops and Presbyters be ●ften mentioned for one and the same: ●ut it is a great wonder that any man●er of men, should make this a ground ●or any argument against Episcopacy; ●hese kind of arguments instead of stri●ing fire that should light the candle, ●hey do but pin napkins over our eyes ●nd turn us round, until we know ●ot where we are; and then we grope ●or we know not who, and lay hold ●f we know not what: he that will ●ut down this overgrown upstart tree ●f error, must first clear his way to the ●oot, and brush away all those bram●les, and briers, which grow about it; ●e must not leave any thing standing ●hat may lay hold of the hatchet, and ●eviate the stroke, turning the same ●dge upon the feller, that was intended ●or the tree: if we should insist upon ●ames and titles, we should make but a ●onfounded piece of work, and run our ●elves into a most inextricable labourinth and Mazes of error; Where we might run and go forwards, and backwards, and round about, and ne'er the near: Christ's are Kings, Kings are God's: God is Christ, and Christ is Bi●hop of our souls: Bishops are Presbyters, Presbyters are Ministers, a Minister is an Apostle, an Apostle is a Minister: and so if you will quite back again. I must put off these, as David threw away Saul's Armour, non possum incedere cum iis, I love to knock down this monstrum inform ingens in lumen ademptum, with a blunt stone taken out of a clear River, which with the sling of application may serve well enough to slay this erroneous Philistine, though he were far greater than he is.  
In the first place therefore let as understand what is meant by Jus Divinum, if any man means that Episcopacy is so Jure Divino, that it is unalterable, and must continue at all times, and in all places; so that where it is left off there can be no Church, he means to give much offence and little reason; for there is no question but the Church may alter their own government (so that it be left to themselves to alter) as they shall think most convenient, as well as alter the Sabbath from the seventh day to the first of the week, or as well as they changed immersion into aspersion of the baptised, and many other things which carried as much Jus Divinum with them as Episcopacy, and yet were changed. The Jus Divinum, that is in episcopal Government, doth not consist in the Episcopacy, but in the Government, be it episcopal or what it will; but where the government is episcopal, no question but there episcopal government is Jure Divino, because a government; and if it were otherwise that government into which Episcopacy degenerateth, would be Jure Divino, as well it, provided that none touch this Ark of the Church but the Priests themselves; for if the hand which belongs to the same body pull the hat from off the head, the man loses not his right, only he stands in a more humble posture, but he is in as strong possession of his own right, as when 'twas on his head; but if another hand should chance to pull it off, the party stands disgracefully deprived of his highest right and ornament: So if episcopal Government of the Church be put down, or altered by churchmen themselves, the Jus Divinum is but removed from the supremacy of one, and fastened in the stronger hold of many members, for this is a Maxim that admits no postern; power never falls to the ground, neither in Church nor State, but look what one lets fall, another takes up before ever it comes to ground, wherefore losing nothing, they keep their own; but whether this power in Church or State in the point of convenience, be better in the hands of one or many, let whose will look to that, that's not my work; neither the names of governments nor the numbers of governors shall ever be able to fright away this Jus Divinum out of the Church government, be the government what it will, bene visum fuit spiritui sancto & nobis, keeps in the Jus Divinum, be the government never so altered, whereas forbidden and improper hands, actions, as unusual, as unwarrantable lets out this Jus Divinum, when they have changed it to what they can imagine; now whether or no it be proper for a Lay Parliament or a Representative of laymen, by the power of the Sword declining the King's Authority, will and pleasure, who was appointed by God to be a nursing Father of his Church, to alter Church-government so ancient, so begun by Christ himself in his own person, over so many Apostles, so practised by the Apostles over others, so continued all along, I mean Episcopacy, that is to say, one Minister constituted an overseer of many, and to lay hold upon tumults and insurrections, to pull down these overseers, and for men who in such cases should be governed by the Church, to pull down the Church-government without any the least consent of the church-governors; I leave it for the world to judge, only my own opinion is this, That any government thus set up, or by such practices as these altered, must needs be so far from being Jure Divino, that it must needs be Jure Diabolico; but it may be objected, that if they should have stayed until the Bishops had altered themselves, they might have stayed long enough; to which it may be answered, that had the Bishops been but as poor as Job, there would have been no such haste to change their clothes: The Ark was a type of the Church, and whatsoever was literally commanded concerning the type, must be analogically observed in the thing tipified; God sat in the Mercy-Seat that was over the Ark, the Ark contained within it Aaron's Rod, and a pot of Manna, so the Church contains the Law & the Gospel, the killing letter and the reviving spirit; others interpret the Rod to signify the government and discipline of the Church, as the Manna the Doctrine of Christ, and food that came down from heaven: I take it to signify both, and both answers my purpose, if both be therein contained, neither must be touched but by the Priests themselves; neither must we confine this prohibition to the Priests of the Law only, but we must extend it also to the Ministers of the Gospel, both which were tipified by the two Cherubims, or ministering Angels of the Almighty; these Ministers or Angels, though opposite to one another, yet they both looked alike, and neither of them upon one another, but both of them upon the Ark that was between them, there was mutuality in their looks, and their wings touched one another; so though the Ministers of the Law and the Gospel seem opposite in the administration of the same grace, yet they must come so near as to touch one another in the manner of the administration, exempli gratia; as there was in the old Law High Priests, Priests and Levites, so in the new Law, Bishops, Presbyters and Deacons; as none but Priests were to touch the Ark, so none but the Ministers should reform the Church.  
Thus much for Government; now for Episcopacy, the question then concerning Episcopacy will be, whether or no Jure Divino, one Minister (which answers to all names and sorts of churchmen, and Church-officers whatsoever) may not exercise jurisdiction and power over many Ministers within such a place or territory? if this be granted, the Bishops ask no more: if it be denied, how then did Christ Jesus, Bishop of our souls, give orders and directions to his twelve Apostles, and taught them how they should behave themselves throughout this diocese the whole world? how did Saint Paul exercise jurisdiction over Timothy and Titus who were both Bishops? and how did these two Bishops exercise jurisdiction over all the Ministers of Crect and Ephesus? was not this by divine institution? If I find by divine writ, that Christ laid the foundation of his Church in himself alone being over all the Apostles, and if I find that these Apostles, every Apostle by himself (in imitation of ou● Saviour) accordingly exercised jurisdiction and authority over many Minister● which were under them, and commanded others to do the like, as Paul, Timothy and Titus, and if I find the practice of the Church all along through the whole tract of time, to continue the like Discipline; shall not I believe this Discipline to be Jure Divino, except Christ sends down a new conje deslier from heaven, upon the election of every new Bishop? Christ lays the foundation, we build upon it, he gives us the model, we follow the pattern, the Church is built; is not this by Divine Right, because he doth not lay the several stones with his own hands? Christ promised that he would be always with his Church, and that he would send his holy spirit amongst them, which should lead them into all truth, so that the gates of Hell should not prevail against it; but if Episcopacy be Antichristian, than the gates of hell have not only prevailed against it a long time; but all along. As all Judgements are given in the King's name, and all records run Rege presente, though the King be not there in person, but in power; so the universal and uninterrupted and continued and generally received Discipline of his holy Catholic Church (which Church we are bound to believe by the Apostolical Creed) is Christo presente (Ergo Jure Divino) though Christ be not there in person, but in power; which power he conferred upon those who were to be his successors, which were called Apostles, as my Father sent me, so send I you: and he that heareth y●u, heareth me; and lo I will be with you always unto the end of the world: surely this Discipline of one over many, call it what you will, is to descend and continue unto the end of the world.  
Object. But it may be objected, How can you prove that Christ commanded any such thing, or that Christ gave to the Apostles any such power, as to make successors in their steads, with a warrant for it to continue from age to age?  
Sol. Where do you find that Christ gave the Sacrament to any but his Disciples? drike ye all of this, but they were all Apostles to whom he said so? where did you find that Christ administered the Sacrament, or commanded it to be administered unto any laymen, or women? therefore is not the Sacrament given unto them Jure Divino, because the words were left out in the conveyance? when there grew a disputation concerning Divorcements, Christ sends us to the original, Sic autem, not fuit ab initio, if Christ's rule be good, than the Bishops are well enough, for they may say concerning Episcopacy, I mean one over many (and that safely too) sic erat ab origine, some are very unwilling that this Episcopacy should be entailed by Christ upon his Apostles and their successors, out of these words, Mat. 28.20. I will be with you always to the end of the world; they will not have it to mean in their successors; but the meaning to be this, I will be with you always unto the end of the world; that is to say, in the efficacy and power of my word and Gospel, to all ages: why may it not signify this, and that too? that it doth one, is no argument but that it may do both: God made all things, in number, weight, and measure, and will you ●●●ike his word? shall sensus factus thrust out sensus destinatus out of the Scriptures? the first Ministers of the Gospel must adequate to the first Minister of the Law, and behold the same method observed in both their institutions: what difference is there between Christ's words to his Disciples, I am with you always unto the end of the world, Mat. 28.20. and God's words unto Aaron at his setting him a part for the High priest's office? This shall be a Statute for ever unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, Exod. 28.43. Certainly if the Gospel be nothing else but the Law revealed, and the Law be nothing else but the Gospel hidden; whatsoever is written or said of the Ministers of the one, must needs have reference also to the Ministers of the other: and I shall desire you to look a little back upon the words which God said to Aaron: when God speaks of the seed of Aaron, he only maketh mention of the seed after him; but when he speaks of the Statute, he saith it shall be for ever: if I do not flatter my own judgement that tells me, that this Statute of High priesthood, or Episcopacy, call it what you will, must have heirs after the seed of Abraham is expired, and did not the Catholic Church all along call the receiving of the holy Ghost, the order of priesthood? did ever any record above seven years' date call it making of Ministers? and why are they angry with the word Priest? is it because the Prophet Isaiah prophesying of the glory of Christ's Church tells us, we shall be named Priests of the Lord, but that men shall call us Ministers of God? isaiah 61, 6. If the Ministration of the Law be glorious, shall not the Ministration of the Gospel be much more glorious? 2 Cor. 1.3. and shall the Ministers of the same Gospel be less glorious? when you see a man that cannot abide to see another's glory, you may be sure he is no kin to him, or very far off; so you may be assured that these are no true sons of the Church, nor no right children, who think a chair too great state for their fathers to sit in: In the Apostles time these Bishops, or if you will, Superintendents (which are all one in signification, only a good Greek word changed by Mr John Calvin, into a bad Latin word) were styled ambassadors of the Almighty, Stars of Heaven, Angels of the Church, ●c. but now these ambassadors are ●sed like vagabonds; these Stars, are ●ot Stars but fallings, and the angel's ●re nowhere to be found bu● ascending ●nd descending jacob's Ladder, whilst ●his reputation was given unto the Church, and to its officers: the stones ●f its building were in unity, but as it ●s now it seems no otherwise, then as a corpse kept under ground seemingly in●ire, but once touched, soon falls to dust and ashes: Never was there such a monster as this ruling, and thus consti●uted Pre●bytery, the father of it Rebel●ion, the mother Insurrection, the midwife sacrilege, the nurse covetousness, the milk Schism, the coats Armour, the rattle Drums, a bloody Sword the coral, Money the babies it delights to play withal, it grows up to be a stripling, and goes to school to a council of War, its lesson is on the Trumpet, its fescue a pistol, its going out of school in rank and file, its play-days the days of battle, and blackmunday the day of Judgement; it comes of age and is Married with a Solemn League and Covenant, it begets children like itself, whose blessing upon them is the power of the Sword, an● whose Imposition of hands are broke● pates; this monster cries down th●● truly ancient Catholic and apostolic power which the Bishops exercised, and then take it up again and use it themselves in a higher nature than eve● any Bishops or Apostles themselves did or durst have done, even to the excommunication and deposement of their Kings (to the delivering of them up unto Satan, and to hangmen, if they stood but in their way) to whom the Apostles taught submission (how faulty so ever they were) and if not obedience, yet submission, to every one of their ordinances, if not for their own sakes, yet for the Lord's sake, and for Conscience sake: these men cry down the same authority, as Popish, whilst they exalt themselves above all that are called Gods, in a higher manner, than ever any Pope of Rome ever yet did: we will begin with this Monster in the very place of its Nativity, and so observe him all along through the whole tract of time; we will consider how it dealt with the first Prince, under whose Dominions it pullulated, which was under the Prince and Bishop of Geneva, and these two were both nullified in the same person, as they were both here in England by the same Parliament; verefying that max●m of ours (with that fore-running of theirs) No Bishop, No King; and then we will show you how they dealt with our Princes here at home, where ever they had a power, viz. with Mary Queen of Scots, and James and Charles the First Kings of England and of Scotland both, and then usurp a power themselves higher than Popes or Kings. Calvin with his gladiators, having expulsed the Prince and Bishop of Geneva, sets up a government so high, and unexpected, that the people would have nothing to do either with him, or his government: and thereupon they banished him the City: Calvin (in exile) bethinks himself how he might appease their fury, and give them satisfaction, and be invited in again; Calvinus de tristibus thinks it his best course of endearing himself unto the people, to make them sharers with him in the government, whereupon he invented his new fangle of Lay-Elders, and so all parties were agreed; In comes Mr John Calvin (whilst he was scarce warm in his seat) I shall present you with a story of him and of his demeanour of himself towards the temporal Throne: There was a nobleman of Italy, who liked the Reformation which he had begun so well, that he forsook his Religion, and Country, sold his Lands and fortune, converted all into money, and took sanctuary in Geneva; as soon as he came there, great rejoicing & insulting there was, that their cause was honoured with so high a convert: The grand signior falls a building; directing his Masons, he found one of them something more saucy than to what his Lordship (in his own Country) had been accustomed, little thinking that where there was promised so large a respect of souls, there had been so little respect of persons: this nobleman hereupon gives this Mason a gentle tap upon the head, the Mason flies upon him like a Dragon, and fhakes him by the beard: my Lord not being used to such course salutations, stabs him with his dagger, thinking nothing less but that so high a provocation would have pleaded his indemnity; no such matter, my Lord was soon ●aid hold on and brought to his trial: Calvin upon the tribunal, not as a ●emporall Judge in such cases (take ●eed of him) but only to be asked his opinion in cases of Conscience; the Delinquent pleads for himself, tells them ●ow insolently he was provoked, and wonders, considering such provocation, he should be questioned for so vile a ●arlet: Hereupon Mr Calvin soon starts up, and tells him, that with God (whose seat they held) there was no respect of persons, and for aught he knew, that man whom he despised to death, was as near and dear to God and his favour, as himself▪ their Laws knew no such distinction as manslaughter, and murder; but they were regulated by the Divine Law, that told them, that the man that shed man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed, that there was no exemption by greatness, nor buying it off by favour; the nobleman replied, that he had not been long enough amongst them to be acquainted with their Laws; it was answered, that the law of Nature did forbid that, of which he could not be ignorant (all this was well enough) My Lord told them how hard a case it would be, for a man out of his love and liking to the place and manners, should seek to it as a sanctuary for his conscience, and so soon find it his grave: that he was heartily sorry for what he had done, and would give any satisfaction to his wife and children that the Court should order, or his estate allow; h● intended the man no hurt, before such rough hands shook him out of himself, that he knew not what he did, and therefore he humbly begged their pardon, assuring the● for the future, that his ways should be so directly answerable to those paths they walked in, that he would not by God's grace hereafter step aside; the temporal Judges, won with his humble and submiss behaviour, began to relent, and desired Mr Calvin to abate a little of his rigour, for the reasons before mentioned, assuring him that his case was no common case, and therefore it ought to have respect accordingly; hereupon there grew a hot dispute between the spiritual, and the temporal Judges; Calvin remained stiff in his opinion and would not be bent to the least mercy; the Nobleman thought to throw one grain of reason more into the balance, that should turn the scales, and that should be taken out of a consideration had of their own good: for saith he, if you shed my blood hand over head, without any the least respect had to my years, to my birth, to my education, to the little time I had of being acquainted with your Laws, nor to the provocation itself, nor to the suddenness of the action, nor to the surprise of all my senses, nor to the satisfaction I would have given, nor ro the repentance of my very soul, who will come amongst you? what Lord or Gentleman will live within your walls? wherefore if you will have no consideration of me, yet consider yourselves; consider what a blow it will give to your Religion, how many this very thing will stave off from ever having any thing to do with you; by this time they were all prone to mercy, but Calvin alone, who stands up and cries fiat justitia ruat Caelum, neither could he be brought to give his opinion, that the Jury (as we call them) might not pass upon him, but out went the Jury▪ and contrary to their own Law, hearing the nobleman's plea, and observing well the inclination of the Bench in general, they brought in their verdict, not guilty; whereupon the nobleman was acquitted: hereupon John Calvin rises from the Bench, and whilst the rest proceeded to their matters, calls all the Ministers within the walls and liberties of Geneva, who appear before the Judgement sets, with white wans in their hands, which they laid down, telling them, that with those wans they laid down their offices, protesting that they would never preach the Gospel to a people whose human Laws should run contrary to the Laws Divine; and suddenly turned about and took their leave: which being acted with so much gravity, wrought so much upon the beholders, that they presently sent for them back again, and hanged the nobleman. This story I have read in their own History in Geneva, than which my thoughts were then, as they are still, that never any Pope of Rome, did act as Pope of Rome, or so much as claim half that authority over the civil Magistrate, as this antipope did virtually act; and yet was not ashamed to make lesser matters than this, the ground of his quarrel with the Bishop, who also was their Prince, when in his own person he acts the part of both.  
Now we will see how these kind of ●reatures have played the masters of misrule among our Princes here at home. King James in his discourse at Hampton Court, tells us, how the Presbyterians ●ecame Lords Paramount in his kingdom of Scotland, and how they used his Mother the Queen of Scots, viz. Knox●nd Buchanon and the rest of that gage, came unto Mary Queen of Scots, and told ●er, that by right, no Pope nor Poten●ante whatsoever, had any superiority over her in her own Dominions, either ●n cases civil or eccesiastical, but that ●hee herself was Supreme in both; and constituted by God as the only nursing mother of his Church, within her Dominion, and therefore conjured her to look about her, and not to let the Pope of Rome or any of his agents, to have any thing to do within her territories, and to have care of Christ Evangil as ●hee would answer it at the dreadful day of judgement; she gives them her ●ar, and at last her authority, they make use of it in the first place, to the pulling down of the Bishops, and exalted themselves in their room; when the Queen looked for an absolute Supremacy, behold all the Supremacy that these men would allow her, was, not so much as to have one private chapel for herself, nor one Priest whereby she might serve God according to her own conscience; she finding herself so much deceived, labours to recall her authority; they kept her to it, she takes up arms, they oppose her, fight her, bea● her out of her kingdom, she flies into England, they follow her with invectives, thrust jealousies into the Queen of England's bosom concerning her, she is imprisoned, and after a long imprisonment put to death: King James having related this passage in the forementioned discourse unto Dr Renolds, and Knewstubs and the rest, turns unto the Bishops, and closes his discourse with this animadversion, wherefore my Lords, I thank you for my Supremacy, for if I were to receive it from these men, I know what would become of my Supremacy; the shining light of the Gospel, and the burning zeal of the Ministers thereof may fitly be compared to fire, which if it be not in every room confined to on hearth, and limited to one tunnel, that may convey out of this so comfortable and necessary a blessing, all that may be destructive and offensive in it, up toward the highest ●egion, but is suffered like wildfire to ●un up and down the house, it will soon ●urne all to flames and high combusti●ns; so the government of the soul ●eemes to be of so transcendent nature ●o what the government of the body ●nd goods is, that if it be not overtopped with superintendency or Episcopacy, ●nd so disimbogued into the Supreme ●uthority, this comfortable heat if limited, as it turns to our greatest benefit, so neglected and boundless, soon converts its self into a sudden destru●tion and ruin, If you will hear how these men dealt with King James her Son, and Father to Charles the First, you shall find it in his Basilicon Doron, Crebrae adversus me in tribunitiis Conscionibus Callumniae spargebantur non quod crimen aliquod designassem sed quia Rex eram quod omni crimine pejus habebatur, are these men good subjects? did they not convene him diverse times before them, school him, Chatechize him like a schoolboy? did he not protest unto his Son Henry, that he misliked their proud and haughty carriage ever since he was ten years of age? did he not say that Monarchy and Presbytery agreed like God and the Devil? and have we not found it so, if we consider the behaviour of our new mad● Presbyterians in England to Charles the Frist his Son? O but the Presbyterian● had no hand in it, they prayed and preached, and writ against it, fasted and prayed for a diversion of all such intentions: but I pray, who took the Scepte● out of his hand, in taking away the Militia, of which it was an emblem, that should have defended him, was it not the Presbyterian? who cast down his Throne by taking away his Negative voice, was it not the Presbyterians? who took off his Crown, the fountain of Honour from off his Head, by denying those honour on whom he had conferred it without them, was it not the Presbyterian? who took away his Supremacy singnified by the sacred unction wherewith he was anointed, in not allowing him the Liberty of his own Conscience in the point of Episcopacy and Church government, was it not the Presbyterian? who would not ●reat a minute with their King before they had made him acknowledge himself guilty (as they say) of all the blood that had been spilled throughout his Dominions, was it not the Presbyterian? who (notwithstanding all the Concessions on his ●●rt that could be granted, even to the ●ery grating his Princely Conscience, ●hen he bid them ask flesh from off his ●ones and he would not deny it them, ●it might have been a benefit unto his ●eople, prayed that he might keep his ●onscience whole, it was the Queen ●●gient of all good men's actions, and ●e hoped there were none would force ●is Queen before him in his House, as ●●asuerus said to Haman) Voted not sa●isfactory so long, until the Indepen●ent Army came from Edenb●rough, and ●urpriz'd and murdered him, was it not the Presbyterians? he that said the Pres●yterians held him down by the hair, while the Independents cut off his Head, said true enough, they murdered him as ● King, before ever they murdered him as a man; for what may the Independent say to the Presbyter, if you'll take off his authority, we'll take of his Head; if you'll make him no King, we'll make him nobody; if you'll make him a man of blood, we'll use him accordingly; therefore at your doors O Persybterian hypocrites do I lay his Innocent blood, it is but like the rest of your actions, committed by your Ancestors to former Princes all along.  
One thing I pray you well observe●▪ There was never any reformed Church in Christendom, but when they shook off their Bishops, they made their apologies to all the Christian world, how they were necessitated to alter that ancient and best form of government of the Church by Bishop●, in regard that they could not be drawn off from their obedience and dependence on the Pope of Rome; and if possible they would retain that laudable government as most convenient; but never were there any reformers in the world, but ours, that ever held Episcopacy to be unlawful and Anti-christian before; and will you know the reason, which is only this, the Bishops what they receive, they lay down at his majesty's feet, as acknowledging him to be Supreme in all cases, when they would have him to be Supreme in no case, as Buch. de jure Regini plainly tells us that Princes are no more but the Proxies, and atturneys of the people, and yet for all this the authority which they hold to be as Anti-christian in the chair, they practise as most Christian on the Bench, and much improve it; these monsters, that they may the better cry down the Divine Right that is in Episcopacy, and descended to them, from the Apostles, tell us ●hat the calling of the Apostles was extraordinary, and died with them: to make answer to which assertion, we must consider how many ways a thing may be taken to be extraordinary, and if we find that it may be taken so many ways, if we can prove a thing extraordinary one way, we must not take it to be extraordinary in every respect, exempli gratia; Saul was extraordinarily called by God, because immediately by him, but this doth not make the calling of Kings to be an extraordinary calling, for that succeeded; so the Apostles were extraordinarily called by God, as not being called out of the tribe of Levi, nor taken from the feet of Gameliell, nor brought up in the schools of the Prophets, yet this doth not follow, that the calling of the Apostles should be extraordinary, for they had their successors: It may be extraordinary à parte ante, but not à parte post, only in regard of the manner of their election, but not in regard of the nature of their commission, they were called Apostles in regard of their mission, not in respect of their commission, which was no more but what Bishops had, neither doth the word Apostle signify so great authority as doth the word Bishop, the one betokening but a Messenger, the other an Overseer, and therefore there is no extraordinariness hitherto, that they should not b● extraordinary.  
2. A man may be said to be extraordinary, in regard of some extraordinary gift and endowment● which God hath given unto a man, as unto the Apostles the gift of tongues, of healing, &c. but thi● doth no way make the calling extraordinary for then it would follow, that if God Almighty should give unto any ordinary Minister, extraordinary gifts, than his calling should be extraordinary, or that the calling of Kings should be an extraordinary calling, because God bestows on some Kings the extraordinary gift of healing.  
It may be further urged, the calling of the Apostles was an extraordinary calling, because they were penmen of the holy Ghost, and in regard that the holy Ghost sat upon each of them, no, that doth not make it extraordinary quoad nos, that it should not descend, for other Divines and Evangelists, were penmen of the holy Ghost as well as they, therefore what was not extraordinary to themselves, cannot be extraordinary to us.  
4. For their receiving the holy Ghost 〈◊〉 is no otherwise but what all Bishops, pastors and Curates do receive, when they ●eceive orders, Receive ye the holy Ghost, only the difference is this, they received it by the fleeing of cloven tongues, and they by ●●position of hands, but still the extraordinaries, consists in the manner, but not the matter of the thing received, so that ●ll this while there is no reason why this calling of the Apostles should be so extraordinary, as that it should not descend; If Christ promised to be with his Apostles unto the end of the world, and they did not continue unto the end of the world; surely I should think without any straining of Gnats, or swallowing of camels, that the meaning of our saviour's words should be this, that he would be with those in the assistance of his holy spirit, that should succeed the Apostles in their offices of supervising his Church, and propogation of his Gospel, except I should see more reason than I do yet, why the Apostles calling should be so peculiar, that it must not descend, or that the government of one over many, be so inconsistent with the Church her good in aftertimes, more than in the beginning, that Episcopacy should be so abominable.  
Briefly I can compare these Presbyt●● pulling down the Bishops, to no oth●● thing, then to a company of unhappy boy● who being not tall enough to reach 〈◊〉 fruit, and wanting a ladder, for the fr●●● sake, lay hold upon the branches and br●●● down a bow, making it thereby no part 〈◊〉 the tree, so these men, wanting mer●●● to taste the fruit of learning, and not h●ving capacity enough in themselves, t● reach those preferments, which the Church holds out to those who are deserving, they render that which was part of the Church▪ as severed from the body, which is the highest kind of sacrilege, not only in depriving the Church of part of its goods, but part of itself.  
Lastly, If there were no other reason to be given if not for the Divine Right of Episcopacy, yet for the lawfulness thereof, but this one topical argument which I sha● use, raised out of the continued practice of the Church in all ages, to men whose faces are not brased so thick, that it were reason proof, it were sufficient in my understanding, viz.  
Suppose all the arguments which were for Episcopacy, were as weak as so many straws to support a cause, yet though four straws are not able to support a table, yet 〈◊〉 thousand bound up together in 〈◊〉 bundles, will hold it up as firm as so 〈◊〉 props of Iron▪ so though some few 〈◊〉 of some few men within some few 〈◊〉, are not able to make an argument 〈◊〉 Episcopacy, that shall be evincing, yet 〈◊〉 practice of the Church all along for 〈◊〉 hundred years, in fourteen hun●red diocese, and throughout forty ages, ●ake● good the argument against any few 〈◊〉 Straws or Wat Tilors whatsoever.  
〈◊〉 But there were no Diocesan Bishops 〈…〉 primitive times.  
Sol. Was not Christ a Diocesan Bishop? ●nd was not the world his diocese? were 〈◊〉 the Apostles Diocesan Bishops, when ●●e whole world, divided into twelve 〈◊〉, were their twelves diocese? were not ●imothy and Titus Diocesan Bishops, when Crect and Ephasus were allotted to be their diocese?  
Ob. There were no Lord Bishops in those days?  
Sol. Those who ruled well were to be accounted worthy of double honour, and will you not allow them single Lordship?  
Ob. The Lords of the Gentiles exercised dominion, but so shall not you.  
So. No, not such dominion as they exercised, there is a great deal of differe●● betwixt dominion and domineering, ●●●twixt Lordship and lording it over Go●● inheritance; a paternal government 〈◊〉 never accounted intolerable but by unru●●● children; if this were not to be allowed 〈◊〉 how did Christ rule his Apostles? Paul, T●mothy and Titus? both these, all the Ministe●● in Crect and Ephasus?  
Ob. St Paul laboured with his hands th●● he might not be chargeable to the brethren▪  
Sol. So might the Bishops if they neede● no more to study Divinity then did the Apostles, but if any benefactory had bestowed large revenues upon S. Paul, I see n● reason why he might not be a keeper 〈◊〉 hospitality, as well as he advised Timo●●● so to do; but now Julian's persecution is revived; Do not (saith Julian) destroy the Christians, but take away the maintenance of the Church, and that will bring their Ministers into contempt, and so destroy their Religion; and now they are at it. Libera me domine (saith Sain● Augustine) ab homine impio id est libera me 〈◊〉 me, so we had need to pray unto Almighty God, that he would save his Church out of the hands of her churchmen, for she now lies upon the ground like the tree that complained, that she was rent in sunder by wedges made out of her own body.  
FINIS.