AN APPEAL TO THE CONSCIENCE OF A FANATIC: SHOWING, That the KING of ENGLAND, by the Fundamental Laws of it, is as absolute and Independent a Monarch, as any of the Kings mentioned in Scripture; and consequently as free as any of them, from any Humane, Coactive Power, to Punish, Censure, or Dethrone him. Whereunto is added, A Short view of the Laws both Foreign and Domestic, against Seditious Conventicles. By a Barrister at Law. LONDON: Printed by J. G. for John Walthoe, at the Black-Lyon in Chancery-Lane, overagainst Lincolns-Inn, 1684. AN APPEAL TO THE CONSCIENCE OF A Fanatic, etc. SIR, YOurs I have received, wherein you are pleased to signify, that you have shown the several Tracts which have been lately written, and exposed to public View, in defence of the Doctrine of Nonresistance, to some of your Neighbours, who are much inclined to Fanaticism, and they say, upon perusal of them, that though they should grant to our Churchmen what they have endeavoured to prove out of Scripture, Viz. The unlawfulness of Subjects taking up Arms against their Sovereign in what Case soever, yet they fancy, that the King of England is not such a King as the Scriptures mention. It is (say you) an Evasion they much boast of, whensoever they read any pieces of this nature: What is all this to us, who Live not under such a King as the Holy Scriptures makes mention of Well, ●●●ing that this Evasion is the Diana they so much vaunt or, I am resolved, out of the Zeal and Love I bear my King and Country, and for the prevention of another Rebellion, (having been sufficiently sensible of the dire and calamitous Effects of the former) to set forth the excellent and sweet agreement, which the Municipal Laws of this Realm have with the Laws of God in this particular, affirming, That the King of England is such a King as the Scriptures mention, and that in a fourfold Respect. In Respect 1. Of his Right to the Crown. 2. Of his Authority and Power. 3. Of his Charge, and Duty. 4. Of the Rendering of his Account. 1st. The King of England 's Right to the Crown is by Birth, Descent, or Hereditary Succession. And this shall be apparanted in these four particularities. First, By that part of the Oath of Allegiance which is used in every Leet, You shall swear, that from this day forward, Co. Lib. 7. Calvin's Case. you shall be true and faithful to our Sovereign Lord King Charles and his Heirs, which demonstrates the Descent. And by the by, I presume it will not be amiss to present to our fanatics the whole scope and aim of this Oath of Allegiance, as it is expressed in the Laws and Constitutions of our King William the First. Statuimus ut omnes Liberi Homines faedere & Sacramento affirment, quod intra, & extra universum Regnum Angliae (quod olim vocabatur Regnum Britanniae) Willielmo Regi Domino suo fideles esse volunt Terras & Honours illius omni fidelitate ubique servare cum eo, & contra inimicos & alienigenas defendere. Lex 52. De fide & obsequio erga Regem. Add hereto another Constitution of the Conqueror, whereby all subjects are commanded, ut Jura Regia illaesa servare pro viribus Conentur. Statuimus etiam, & firmiter praecipimus, ut omnes Liberi homines totius Regni nostri praedicti, sint fratres Conjurati ad Monarchiam nostram & ad Regnum Nostrum pro viribus suis, & facultatibus contra inimicos pro posse suo defendendum, & viriliter servandum, & Pacem & dignitatem Coronae nostrae integram observandam. Lex 59 Both which Laws, and many others enacted and granted by the Conqueror, were observed and kept in the Reign of King Edward the Confessor. Secondly, For that we do our Ligeance to the King in his natural Capacity, that is, as he is Charles, the Son and Heir apparent of King Charles the Glorious and Royal Martyr. For Ligeance, or Homage cannot be done to the King in his Politic capacity, Coke Lib. 7. Calvin's Case. for so the Body of the King is invisible. If this be true Law, as it is, what shall we judge then of the new Coined distinction, to make a difference betwixt the King and his Authority? betwixt his Personal Will, and his Royal and Authoritative Will? to pursue the late King's Person with a Cannon-Bullet at Edge-hill, and to preserve his Authority at London or elsewhere? I am sure 'tis Evident by the 25. E. 3. C. 2. De proditionibus, that it is High-Treason to compass the King's Death, by which must be meant to endeavour his Personal ruin; because the Regal Authority never dies in England. Oh fanatics! take heed then for the future of New-coined distinctions; take heed of the cunning Wiles and Sleights of the Jesuits: There is no Wickedness but hath some excuse. In that great Insurrection, in Richard the Seconds time, the Commons had a fair pretence. Their Intent was (as they said) to abolish the Law of Velleinage and Servitude, and to slay the Corrupt Judges. And they took an Oath, forsooth, to be true to the King and Commons, and that they would take nothing but what they paid for; and they punished all Theft with death: yet in the Parliament of 5. R. 2. N. 3, and 32. They were adjudged Traitors. The Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland, in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth; could in the Queens: Name command the Country to follow them in Arms: sometimes pretending the safety of Her Majesty's Person; in danger (they said) by Treasons in working; And sometimes in case of Conscience, for restoring their former Religion. And in this Zeal they hasted to Durrham Minster, where they tore the Bible (and Communion Book, and such other things as there were, saith Stow) in great Contempt. Yet these were mere Rebels and Traitors. Speed Lib. 9 Cap. 24. Wherefore examine, search diligently into the Cause, every thing is not as it seems: All is not Gold that Glisters: I beseech you to look before you leap into Rebellion, that Sin of Witchcraft. Thirdly, It is expressly affirmed in the Case of Calvin, That the King holds the Kingdom of England by Birthright Inherent by Descent from the Blood-Royal; Co. Lib. 7, Calvin's Cases. whereupon Succession doth attend, and therefore it is usually said, To the King, his Heirs and Successors; wherein Heirs is first named, and Successors attendant upon Heirs; but the Title is by Descent. By Queen Elizabeth's Death the Crown and Kingdom of England descended to King James, and from him to King Charles the First, and from him to the King that now is, and they were fully and absolutely thereby Kings, without any essential Ceremony or Act to be done, Ex post facto. And by the way, how inseparable this Right of descent is from the next in Blood, you may see in H. 4. who though he was also of the Blood-Royal, and had the Crown resigned unto him from R. 2. and confirmed by Act of Parliament; yet upon his Deathbed he acknowledged he had no right thereunto, as Speed tells us, Lib. 9 C▪ 14. Add to this acknowledgement the words of Sir Edward Coke; The Dignity Royal (says he,) Co. Lib. 12. F. 28. is an Inherent inseparable to the Royal Blood of the King, and descendable to the next of Blood of the King, and cannot be transferred to another. Lastly, By all the Judges 1. Jacobi, at the Arraignment of Watson and Clerk, Two Seminary Priests, it was resolved, That immediately by descent His Majesty was completely and absolutely King, without the Ceremony of Coronation, which was but a Royal Ornament, and external Solemnisation of the Descent. This is plainly illustrated by several precedents taken out of our Histories. King H. 6. was not Crowned till the 9th year of his Reign; Speed. lib. 9 c. 16. yet divers were attainted of Treason before that time, which could not have been, had he not been King. So Queen Mary Reigned Three Months before she was Crowned; in which space the Duke of Northumberland and others were Condemned and Executed for Treason, which they had committed before she was proclaimed Queen. So King Edward 1. was in Palestina when his Father died, and in his absence, the Nobility and Prelates of the Realm assembled at London, and did acknowledge him for their King. In his return homeward he did Homage to the French King, for the Lands which he held of him in France: He also repressed certain Rebels of Gascoin, amongst whom Gasco of Bierne Appealed to the Court of the French King, where our King Edward had Judgement, That Gasco had perpetrated Treason, and thereupon he was delivered to the pleasure of King Edward. Walsingham in Edw. 1. And all this happened before his Coronation, which was a Year and Nine Months after he began to Reign. Besides, we know, that so soon as the King departeth out of this Life, His Successor is forthwith proclaimed; all Writs go forthwith in his name; all Courts of Justice exercised, and all Offices are held by his Royal Authority; all States, all Persons are obliged to bear him Allegiance: Which things plainly demonstrate, that the King hath his Kingdom by descent, and stays not to be made King by the People at his Coronation. Indeed the people are at that time asked their Consent; not that they have power to deny, but that the King having their Consent, may with greater Security and Confidence rely on his people. Fides vestra & Conftantia (says King Alexander) ut Regem me esse Credam, Curtius, lib. 5. facit. Ferrum tuetur Principem, melius fides. Seneca. Thus you see, That the King of England 's Right to his Imperial Crown is by Birth, Descent, or Hereditary Succession. As to the Second Respect, it is evident▪ That the Power of the King of England, is by the Fundamental Laws of the Land as Great and Royal, as that which our Divines have proved out of the Scriptures to belong unto the Kings of Juda and Israel. For, 1. He has vested in his Royal person the power of making Laws, The Royal Power set f●rth in Scripture; By it War proclaimed, 2 Chr. 13.4 By it Peace concluded, 1 Kings 15.19. By it the people assembled and dismissed, Joshua 24.1. and 28. 1 Kings 8.1, and 66. By it a Law is made; By a Law repealed. 1 Sam. 14.24, 34. By it Offenders are pardoned, 2 Sam. 14.21. By it all Officers are chosen, as well Ecclesiastical as Civil, 1 Chr. 26.32. Gen. 41.33, 34, 41. Exod. 18.25, 26. 2 Sam. 23.23. 1 Kings 4.3, to 20. 2 Chron. 17.7, 8. Nehemiah 5.14, 15. Hester 3. 1●. Dan. 2.43, & 49. By it all Arms and Fortifications are disposed, 2 Sam, 8.14. 1 Kings 9.15, 17, 18, 19▪ and Chap. 26.9, to 16. Nehem. 7.1, 2, 3. the Authority Legislative being a peculiar and incommunicable privilege of the Supreme Power; so that the Office of the Two Houses of Parliament in this affair is only Consultive, or Preparative; but the Character of the Power rests in the final Sanction, which is in the K●●g of England. 2. To him belongs the power o● Life and Death; He hath the Sword of Justice to punish them that transgress his Laws, and endeavour to cause Sedition; 'Tis he that can remit the severities of the Penal Laws, by pardoning both the smaller Breaches of them, and more Capital Offences, which he might most justly punish. Bracton, Lib. 1. c. 9 N. 3. Lib. 3. c. 8. N. 4. & lib. 3. c. 14. N. 18. Fleta, lib. 1. c. 16. N. 3 Sir Thomas Smith, de Rep. Angl. lib. 2. c. 4. Lambard inter Leges Edovardi, F. 143.9. E. 4.2. a. 27. H. 8. c. 24. 3. He only may Proclaim War, and he solely can establish Peace among his people, Co. Lib. 7. Calvin's Case, F. 256. Smith's Common wealth, Lib. 2. c. 4. 19 E. 46. Co. 4. Just. f. 152. 2. H. 5. cap. 2. 4. There is no Lawful Assembly, Meeting, or Court, but by Authority from him: Yea, the High Court of Parliament was at first devised, framed, and instituted by him. Polyd. Virg. Lib. 11. Speed, Stow, Martin, Baker, and many others in the Life of H. 1. 5. By him all the Officers of the Realm, whether Temporal, or Ecclesiastical, are chosen and established; the Chief and Highest by himself immediately; and mediately the Inferior Officers by Authority from him. Sir Thomas Smith, Lib. 2. Cap. 4, & 5. Bracton, Lib. 2. c. 24. Mirror c. 4. Sect. 2, & 4. Fleta Lib. 1. c. 17.12. H. 7.17. b. Co. Lib. 12. Case of Conspiracy, f. 25.27. H. 8. c. 24. 6. By him all Liberties, Franchises and Customs are granted and confirmed to the people. Bracton, Lib. 2. c. 24. N. 2. cowels Just. 1, 2, 5. Dyer 44. b. Co. Lib. 11.87. Case of Monopolies. 7. He hath the sole Power of ordering and disposing all the Castles, Forts and strong Holds, and all the Ports and Havens, and generally all the Militia of the Kingdom. Co. Litt. 5. a. Co. 2. Just. 30.13. Car. 2. c. 6.14. Car. 2. c. 3. Co. 3. Just. 160, & 83. Co. Lib. 12. The Case of the King's Prerogative in Salt-Peter. In short, The Prince is the Life, the Head, and Authority of all Things that be done in the Realm of England. Smith, Lib. 2. c. 4. Cambden in his Britania of the King of England. Supreman potestatem, & merum Imperium apud nos habet: Nec in Imperii Clientela est, nec Investituram ab alio accipit, nec preter Deum, supremum agnoscit: He hath Sovereign Power, and Absolute Command among us; neither holdeth he his Empire in Vassalage, nor receiveth the Investiture, or installing from another; nor yet acknowledgeth any Superior but God Almighty above. Bracton, That Wrote in the Reign of H. 3. says thus, Lib. 1. c. 8. N. 5. Sunt etiam sub Rege Liberi Homines & servi ejus potestati subjecti, & omnis quidem sub eo, & ipse sub nullo, nisi tantum sub Deo: And in another place after says he, Rex habet Jurisdictionem supra omnes, Lib. 4. c. 24. N. 1. qui in Regno suo sunt. King H. 8. upon a Contest touching an Ecclesiastical Immunity, uttered these very words; Doct. Burnet's Hist. of the Reformation, Lib. 1. part. 1. f. 17. By the permission and Ordinance of God we are King of England, and the Kings of England in times past had never any superior, but God only; Therefore know you well, that we will maintain the Right of our Crown, and of our Temporal Jurisdiction, as well in this as in all other Points, in as ample manner as any of our Progenitors have done before our time. Add hereunto, That this Sovereignty and Supremacy appertaining to our Kings, and to the Imperial Grown of England, is asserted, not only by our Books of Law, but likewise those Statutes that have been Enacted by our Princes and Nobles in Parliament, do affirm the same; witness 16. R. 2. C. 5.24. H. 8. c. 12.25. H. 8. c. 21, & 22 1 Eliz c. 1. & 1. Jac. c. 1. All which Statutes you may peruse at your own leisure. Now I would fain know of any Popeling or Fanatic, what greater or more Royal Power can any Prince of Juda or Israel claim, than is here by our Laws acknowledged to be in the King of England. The Third Respect in his Charge and Duty, which consists in the observance of the Law of God, the Law of Nature, and the Laws of this Realm. To observe the Law of God, He is bound as a Christian; to observe the Law of Nature, he is obliged as a Man; to observe the Laws of his Realm, he is bound as a King: Nor is he only bound, vinculo Offieii, as he is a King, tho' this is a strict tye, considering to whom he must one day render an Account of his Stewardship; but he is also bound, Vinculo Juramenti, by an Oath taken at his Coronation: The effect whereof is this, Of the Oath at the Coronation. see Flesa Lib. 1. c. 17. N. 12, 13, 14, etc. To keep, confirm, and defend all Laws, Customs, and Freedoms, granted by his Predecessors to the Clergy or People; to preserve Peace and Concord, and cause equal and right Justice to be done, according to his Power. Whence it is very evident, that the King hath his Duty enjoined him, and ought not to make his Will the Rule of his Actions. Temperent igitur (says Fleta Lib. 1. c. 17. N. 11.) Reges potentiam suam per Legem, quae frenum est Potentiae, quod secundum Leges vivant, quia hoc sanxit Lex humana, quod Leges suum ligent Latorem, & alibi digna vox ex Majestate Regnantis est Legibus alligatnm se principem profiteri: praeterea nihil tam proprium imperio quam Legibus vivere, & majus est Imperio Legibus submittere Principatum. The fourth and last Respect, is in the rendering of his Account; For as the King's mentioned in Scripture were not, so the King of England is not accountable for his Actions to any but God alone. First, Because the King of England hath not his Crown from any but God alone. Not only Holy (o) Prov. 8.15. Rom. 13.2. Psalm 82.8. John 19.11. Psal. 62.11. Scripture, but the writings of Heathens have declared, that in Sovereign Princes there is, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 something divine, above the reach of man, which cannot be derived from them; and therefore they are descended more immediately from the gods, and more particularly depending on them. King's are from Jupiter, (says Callimachus,) and nothing ever descended more sacred from him. And Homer●, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; Ab Jove summus Honos. Omnis provectus, maxim Regius, ad divinitatis munera referendus est Says Vitigis, apud Cassiodorum. M●terent. apud Tacitum lib. 6. Tibi summum Rerum Judicium, dii dedere, nobis obsequii gloria relicta est; no Law could punish, nor any call Kings to account but the gods; who as they gave them the highest Empire here, so did they leave their Subjects nothing but the Glory of obeying. But it may be said by our fanatics, how can the King's Power be thought to be only and immediately from God, when it is derived to him by ordinary means of Hereditary Succession? It is answered, That Election, Succession, and Lawful Conquest, are Titles whereby Princes receive their Authority; they are not the Original and immediate Fountain of this Authority. Heat, Moisture, Cold, Dryness, and our Temper arising from them (whilst we are miraculously fashioned in our Mother's Womb) are preparations, whereby our Bodies are made fit Receptacles for our Souls; but the Creator of our Souls is God: So Princes have just claim to their Sovereign Power, by the titles of Succession and Conquest; but the Prime Author of their Power is God. Cujus jussu (says Irenaeus) nascuntur homines, ejus jussu Constituuntur Principes: By whose appointment they are born Men, and made reasonable Creatures; by his appointment are they made Princes. And as they receive their Power only from God, so for the good or evil Administration thereof, they are accountable only unto God, as unto their Superior, and not unto any mortal Creature. God only maketh them Kings, and only can unmake them, and deject them from their Thrones; according to the Rule of Law, Ejusdem est destituere, cujus & instituere. Secondly, The Oath that the King takes at his Coronation, binds him only before God; for there is no Condition, Promise or Limitation, whereby he is made Accountable to his People. Thirdly, By the suffrage, and Testimony of our Lawyers, it appears, that the King of England is unaccountable to any humane Power on Earth. And we begin with Bracton, who tells us, that we have no Legal Remedy, we can only humbly Petition His Sacred Majesty, Locus erit Supplicationi, quod factum suum corrigat, Lib. 1. cap. 8. N. 5. & emendet; Quod quidemsi non fecerit, satis sufficit ei ad praenam, quod dominum expectet ultorem. Nemo quidem de factis suis, praesumat disputare, multo fortius Contra factum suam venire. If he will not hearken to our just and reasonable desires, satis sufficit, his punishment is more than enough; for he must render an account to him that judgeth Righteously. Let not men presume to question his deeds, much less to undo by force what he shall do, though not according to Right. That our fanatics may not think this dropped from our Bracton unwariily, he repeats it in other places, and Lib. 5. Tract. 3. De defaltis, Cap. 3. N. 3. He puts the Case, that the King should do injury, and a Plea is brought against him, in whose behalf he did it; the King being Petitioned and Persisting, and he rules it thus, Quo casu cum dominus Rex super hoc fuerit interpellatus in eadem perstiterit voluntate, quod vellet tenentem esse defensum injuria, cum teneatur justitiam totis viribus defensare, ex tunc erit injuria ipsius Domini Regis, nec poterit, ei necessitatem imponere, quod illam corrigat & emendet nisi velit, cum superiorem non habeat nisi deum, & satis erit illi propaena, quod deum expectet ultorem. If the King, who is bound to Administer Justice to his utmost power, will not recall the wrong he did upon a false suggestion, in this case he injures his Subjects; but no body can force him to do Right, because he hath supreme Power; he hath no superior but God only, and it is sufficient that we shall have a day of hearing hereafter at a just Tribunal, where he shall be punished for doing wrong, and we amply requited for our patiented suffering. Gilbert de Thornton, Chief Justice under Edward the First, speaketh in the same manner; Cum provisum sit, Fleta Lib. 1. c. 17. N. 9 quod quilibet in sui juris prosequutione potius judicio, quam viribus utatur, & oportet Laesos Regem adire, ut ostensis sibi injuriis illatis, Celerem justitiam petentibus faciat exhiberi, qui si noluerit de seipso, vel de alio, ●x tunc deum expectent conquerentes ultorem: Nemo enim de facto Regis praesumat disputaare, nec contrafactum suum venire. Stamford in his Exposition of the King's Prerogative is of the same mind with Bracton and Thornton; for he says, That by the Common Law, there lieth no Action or Writ against the King, but when he seizeth the Subject's Lands or Goods, having no Title by order of Law so to do: Petition is all the Remedy the Subject hath, and this Petition is called a Petition of Right. With our Lawyers do concur two of our Parliaments, which have declared that the King of England is, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 accountable to none but God, and therefore no way obnoxious to any humane coercive Power. Thomas de Walsingham mentions a Letter written to the Bishop of Rome in the name of the whole Kingdom, from the Parliament held at Lincoln, Anno Domini 1301, wherein are these words, Scimus, Pater Sanctissime, & notorium est, a prima institutione Regni Angliae, tam temporibus Britannorum, quam Anglorum, quod certum & directum dominium ad Regem pertinuit neque Reges Angliae ex libera pre-eminentia Regiae dignitatis, & Consuetudine cunctis temporibus observata, coram aliquo Judice Ecclesiastico, velseculari responderunt, aut respondere debebant. We know most holy Father, and it is manifest, from the very beginning of the Kingdom of England, as well in the time of the Britain's as of the Angles, that the certain and direct dominion hath belonged unto the King, neither have the Kings of England (by reason of the undoubted pre-eminence of the Royal Dignity and Custom observed in all Ages) answered, or aught to answer before any Judge Ecclefiastical or Civil. The other Parliament was held at Westminster in the Reign of the King that now is, whereat the Lords and Commons have declared, 12. Car. 2. c. 30. That by the undoubted, and Fundamental Laws of this Kingdom, neither the Peers of this Realm, nor the Commons, nor both together in Parliament, nor the People collectively, or representatively, nor any other persons whatsoever ever had, have, hath, or aught to have, any coercive Power over the persons of the Kings of England. You see, (Sir) that though there be Laws to guide and direct our Princes, yet if they chance to forget themselves so much as to violate and break through them, there is no Law whereby Subjects may resist and punish them; their Ministers and Instruments are ever accountable, but as to themselves, it is a known Maxim among our Lawyers, That they can do no wrong. But after all that has been said, there are some Hunt-Scrap Lawyers and Politicians ready to raise such objections as these following. From whom the King receiveth his power, Object. 1. to them he is accountable; but from the people the King receiveth his power; as Fortescue delivers, Cap. 13. Ad tutelam Legis subditorum ac eorum Corporum & Bonorum, Rex erectus, & hanc potestatem a populo estluxam ipse habet. A King is ordained for the defence of the Law of his Subjects, and of their Bodies and Goods; whereunto he receiveth Power of his People: Therefore to his People, the King is accountable. If the Makers of this Objection did rightly set down the words of Fortescue, Solution. they might easily Answer themselves; for it is not barely Rex a King, but Rex hujusmodi, such a King, meaning a King whose Government is merely Politic. But the Government of England is not merely Politic, nor merely Regal, but mixed; partly regal and partly politic: as Fortescue saith presently after, Regnum Angliae ex Bruti Comitiva Trojanorum, in dominium politicum, & Regale prorupit; The King of England out of Brutus his retinue of the Trojans, first grew into a Politic and Regal Dominion. And in the Ninth Chapter, Rex Angliae principatu, nedum regali politico, suo populo Dominatur: The King of England Governeth his People by Dominion, notonly Regal, but also Politic. How it is Regal, and how Politic, doth plainly appear by what hath been before spoken; for in regard all Power and Authority is derived from him, and he holds his Kingdom, and there withal his Power from God only, it must needs be, that his Government is Regal; and in regard he is tied to the observance of the Laws of his Kingdom, (whereby Potestas Regia Lege politica cohibetur Fortescue, Cap. 9 The Power Regal is restrained by a Law Politic) it must needs follow, that this Government is Politic: So that in reference to his Power, he is a Regal King; in reference to his Duty, he is a Politic King. The Objection therefore being grounded upon Fortescues words, of a Kingdom merely Politic, does not concern our Kingdom. He who is under the Law, Object. 2. may be called to account for his Actions; but the King is under the Law, Bracton says, Ipse Rex non debet esse sub homine, Lib. 1. c. 8. N. 5. sed sub Deo, & sub Lege, Quia Lex facit Regem. The King himself ought not to be under man, but under God; and under the Law, because the Law makes the King. In Answer to this Objection, Sulution. we must call to mind that there is a two fold Power in the Law, a Directing Power, and a Correcting-Power. In respect of the former, the King is under the Law, That is to say, the Law is the Line and Rule whereby the Will of the King is guided and directed; and in this sense Bracton spoke. In respect of the later, the King is not under the Law. For how can we possibly conceive, that he who giveth Life to the Law, should by the Law offer force unto himself, and compel himself; for as with the Grammarians the Imperative-Mood hath no first Person, so with the Civilians; D. 4.8.51. d. 36.1.13. d. 24.1.7, 8. neque imperare sibi, neque se prohibere quisquam potest, no man can Command or forbid himself; at leastwise no man can impose such a Law upon himself, but that he may recede from it when he pleaseth. D. 32.1.22. de Leg. 3. He that is under the former power only, is accountable to God only for his Actions; as the King. But he that is under both Powers of the Law, is accountable both to God and the Law; as is every Subject. Again, In respect of the Directing Power, the Law is the Object and Rule of Justice, and so the King is under the Law: In Respect of the Correcting Power, the Law is the Instrument of Justice, and so the King is not under the Law; but the Law is a means, serving the King, to govern his People. To illustrate this by an example; a Servant who guides and directs his Master, as he is a Guide, is superior to his Master; but consider him as an Instrument and Servant unto his Master, and though he be never so Wise and Upright, yet his Master is above him. And as the Law is said to be above the King, so in the same Sense His Council may also be said to be above him; that is, in respect they guide, Bracton Lib. 2. c. 16. N. 3. Fleta Lib. 1. c. 17. N. 9 direct and advise the King in the Governing of his People. For so say our two ancient Lawyers; The King hath Superiors in the Governing of his People, the Law by which he is made, and his Council, to wit, The Earls and Barons. But here a scruple may arise, what Bracton and Fleta mean, when they say, The Law makes the King. It is answered, there are two singular and excellent benefits, which by the Law redound unto the King. The one is, the Law does declare and publish unto the People the Kings Right unto the Crown, so that they quietly and willingly receive him as their King, and submit unto him. The other Benefit is, the Law doth support and strengthen him in his Imperial Throne. In both which respects it may well be said, That the Law makes the King, and so Sir Edward Coke spoke right when he told King James, That the Law set the Crown upon his Head. Sir, These Objections being fully (as I think) answered, I shall leave you, and your Fanatic Neighbours, to compare what hath been now by me proved, with what hath been by some of our Divines lately delivered out of the Scriptures; and you will clearly find, That the King of England is such a King as the Scriptures make mention of. And if it be so, how then can fanatics take up Arms against him? If he be wicked, what advantage will it be to them to be worse? If he break his Oath, will they also break theirs? Or can they say, that they swear Allegiance unto him on conditon of his good Behaviour? Does the Statute of 25. Ed. 3. C. 2. declare it to be Treason only, to Levy War against a good, a just King? Why then did not the Protestants take up Arms against that bloody Idolatrous Queen Mary? Why then is it Treason to compass the Death of an Usurper of the Crown? Dalt. 227. Was not Spencer banished for the affirming, Co. Lib. 7. Calvin's Case. That if the King did not demean himself by Reason, in the Right of the Crown, His Subjects were bound by Oath to remove him? Oh fanatics! take heed of this unhappy principle, which not long since ruined as Flourishing a Kingdom as any in the Christian World. By the dire Effects of it, our Religion was abolished, our Foundations over-turned, our Laws abrogated, the Government of Church and State dissolved; instead of Religion, Atheism and Infidelity, Fanatic Rage, and wild Enthusiasm; In short, instead of Liberty and Property, the voice of Sequestrations, Plunders and Decimations were heard in the Land. FLAGELLUM CONCILIABULORUM: OR, A ROD for the FOOLS-BACK. SHOWING What Laws, both Foreign and Domestic, have been framed for the Prevention and Suppression of Conventicles. THe gathering of Assemblies is reckoned as an especial Privilege of Sovereign Princes; who in all times have been jealous of them, and provided severe Laws against them; and good Reason for such Jealousy, for that it is impossible (be the pretences of Meeting never so specious and fair) to Govern People, and keep them quiet long, if they have liberty to flock together at their pleasures: And therefore there is a necessity, that all Assembling of people, whether upon a Sacred or Civil account, should be absolutely in the Power of Princes. To which purpose, both remarkable and agreeable are those Laws and Edicts made by the Policy of the Greeks and Romans, whereunto we will add those Laws, Canons, and Constitutions that have been Enacted in our Parliaments and Convocations. And we shall begin with those that are Foreign. Isocrates, under the person of King Nicocles, thus instructs his Subjects; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In English thus, Make no Societies nor Conventicles without my Licence: Assemblies of this kind, as in other Governments they are hurtful, so in Monarchies they are exceeding dangerous. Agreeable hereto is that of Maecenas in Dio, who pronounceth, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. That is in English, Combinations, and Assemblies, and Associations, are things that do not very well consist with a Monarchy. Upon this account Arnoldus Clapmarius shows, how pernicious and dangerous are Conventicles in a Government; L●b. 3. cap. 13. de Arcanis Donationis. and gives us Tacitus' Note, In Rebellione Galliarum: Igitur (says Tacitus) per conciliabula & Caetus seditiosa disserebant. From whence such unlawful Assemblies are prevented and suppressed by the Decrees and Constitutions of the Roman Princes, and Senators, which are to be found in the Body of the Civil Law; which I now present to the Reader. Sub praetextu Religionis, D. 47.11.2. de caetibus illicitis. vel sub species solvendi voti Caetus illicitos nec a veteranis tempetare oportet. Mandatis principalibus praecipitur praesidibus provinciarum, ne patiantur esse Collegia sodalitia neve milites, Collegia in castris habeant. D. 47.22.1. de Collegii. Sed permittitur tenuioribus Stipem menstruam Conferre dum tamen semel in mense caeant ne sub praetextu hujusmodi illicitum Collegium coeat. Quod non tantum in urbe sed & in Italia, & in provinciis Locum habere Divus quoque severus rescripsit Sed Religionis Causa coine non prohibentur, D. 47.22.2. de p●na. dum tamen per hoc non fiat Contra Senatusconsultum quo illicita Collegiaarcentur. Quisquis illicitum Collegium Vsurpaverit, ea paena quo Tenetur qui hominibus armatis Loca publica vel templa occupasse judicati sunt. In summa autem nisi ex senatusconsulti auctoritate, vel Caesaris; D. 47.22.3.1. Collegium; vel quod cunque tale Corpus coierit, contra senatusconsultum et mandata, & constitutiones collegium celebrant. By these Texts of Law, we are informed, that unlawful Colleges, Corporations and Assemblies, gathered together to bad uses, as to Eating, Drinking, Wantonness, Conspiracy, are punished as public Routs and Riots. Thus much for the Digests, I come now to what is said of Conventicles in those parts of the Civil Law, we call the Codes, the Novels, and the Feuds. In the Code of the Emperor Justinian, Cod. 1.3.15. de illicitis conventiculis. you have this Text of Law; Conventicula illicita etiam extra Ecclesiam in privatis aedibus celebrari prohibemus, proscriptionis domus periculo imminente, si dominus ejus in ea Clericos nova, ac tumultuosa Conventicula extra Ecclesiam celebrantes susceperit. For more of this matter of Conventicles, the Reader may at leisure see. Cod. 1.12.5. Cod. 1.5.6. and 8. In the Novels it is declared, That the sacred Mysteries or Ministeries be not done in private Houses, but be celebrated in public places, lest thereby things be done contrary to the Catholic, and Apostolic Faith: unless they call to the celebrating of the same, such Clerks of whose Faith and Conformity there is no doubt made, or those that are deputed thereunto by the good will of the Bishop. But places to pray in, every man may have in his own House; if any thing be done to the contrary, the House wherein these things are done shall be confiscated, and themselves shall be punished at the discretion of the Prince. In the Feuds it is decreed thus; Feudorum, lib. 2. Tit. 53. Conventicula quoque in Civitatibus, Omnesque Conjurationes, & extra etiam occasione parentelae, & inter Civitatem, & Civitatem, & inter personam & personam, sive inter Civitatem & personam, modis omnibus fieri prohibemus: Et in preteritum factas Cassamus, singulis conjuratorum paena unius Librae auri puniendis. Episcopos vero Locorum Ecclesiastica censura violatores hujus sanctionis, donec ad satisfactionem veniant, voluimus coercere. Receptoribus etiam malefactorum, qui praedictam pacem violeverint, & praedam ementibus nostram indignationem subituris, & ejusdem paenis feriendis. Praeterea bona ejus publicentur & domus ejus destruatur. By this edict it appears, that Domus ubi conventicula, aut Conspirationes fiunt confiscatur, & Receptans violatorem Legis pari cum eo paena punietur. The House where Conventicles or Conspiracies are made, is to be confiscated; and he who receives any offender against this Law, must be liable with him to the same Punishment. Thus much of the Foreign Edicts made against Conventicles and unlawful Assemblies, I pass on to give an account what Laws, Canons and Constitutions have been ordained both in the Church and State of England, for the preventing and suppressing of the Conventicles of Sectaries. And we begin with the Laws enacted in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, in whose name our whigs pretend to cast out of the Kingdom those Devils the Jesuits, etc. but will not observe one tittle of her Laws and Constitions made for the better Government of the Church and State. In the 35th. year of the Queen's Reign are enacted two Laws: The first is for the punishment of those persons that obstinately refuse to come to Church, and persuade others to impugn the Queen's Authority in Ecclesiastical Causes, etc. For what end this Punishment and for what persons intended, the preamble of the same Statute demonstrates; It is, For the preventing and avoiding of such inconveniences and perils as might happen and grow by the wicked and dangerous practices of Seditious Sectaries, and disloyal Persons. The Second Law is, 35 Eliz. c. 2. to impose a penalty on a Convicted Popish-Recusant, removing above five Miles from the House, etc. And for what end the penalty is imposed, and what persons are meant by this Law, the preamble thereof will inform us, It is for the better discovering and avoiding of such Traitorous and most dangerous Conspiracies and Attempts as are daily devised and practised against the Queen's Majesty, and the happy Estate of this Common Wealth, by sundry wicked and Seditious persons, who terming themselves Catholics, and being (indeed) Spies and Intelligencers not only for her Majesty's Foreign Enemies, but also for Rebellious and Traitorous Subjects, Born within her Realms and Dominions, and hiding their most detestable and devilish purposes under a false pretext of Religion and Conscience, do secretly wander and shift from place to place within this Realm, to corrupt her Majesty's Subjects, and to stir them to Sedition and Rebellion. From the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, we come to that of King James. In 1. Jacobi Regis, Anno 1603. there is a Canon and Constitution whereby maintainers of Conventicles are censured; the words of the Canon are these: Whosoever shall hereafter affirm or maintain, that there are within this Realm, other Meetings, Canon. 11. Assemblies or Congregations of the Kings born Subjects, than such as by the Laws of the Land are held and allowed, which may rightly Challenge to themselves the name of True and Lawful Churches: Let him be Excommunicated, and not restored but by the Archbishop, after his Repentance and public Revocation of such his wicked Errors. And as the maintainers of Conventicles are censured, so against the maintainers of Constitutions made in Conventicles, there is ordained a Canon, which is the 12th. The words whereof are as follow. Whosoever shall hereafter affirm, Canon 12. that it is Lawful for any sort of Ministers and Lay-people, or either of them to join together and make Rules, Orders or Constitutions in Causes Ecclesiastical, without the King's Authority, and shall submit themselves to be Ruled and Governed by them: Let them be excommunicated ipso facto, and not be restored until they Repent and publicly revoke those their wicked and Anabaptistical errors. Add hereto a Third Canon against Ministers holding private Conventicles; the very words whereof are these: For as much as all Conventicles, Canon 73. and secret Meetings of Priests and Ministers, have been ever justly accounted very hurtful to the state of the Church wherein they live; we do now Ordain and Constitute, That no Priests or Ministers of the Word of God, nor any other persons shall meet together in any private House, or elsewhere, to consult upon any matter or course to be taken by them, or upon their motion, or direction by any other, which may any way tend to the impeachment or depravation of the Doctrine of the Church of England, or of the Book of Common-Prayer, or of any part of the Government and Discipline now established in the Church of England under pain of Excommunication ipso facto. From King James' Reign I descend to that of the Royal Martyr King Charles the First; by whose Licence and Authority there was a Constitution and Canon Ecclesiastical framed and agreed upon, (in the several Synods held at London and York, Anno 1640) against Sectaries; And it is this; Whereas there is a Provision now made by a Canon for the suppressing of Popery, and the growth thereof, by Subjecting all Popish Recusants to the greatest Severity of Ecclesiastical censures in that behalf; Canon 5. This present Synod well knowing that there are other Sects which endeavour the subversion both of the Doctrine, and Discipline of the Church of England no less than the Papists do, although by another way; for the preventing thereof, doth hereby decree and ordain, That all those Proceed and Penalties, which are mentioned in the aforesaid Canon against Popish-Recusants as far as they shall be appliable, shall stand in full Force and Vigour against all Anabaptists Brownists, Separatists, Familists, or other Sect or Sects, person or persons whatsoever, who do or shall either obstinately refuse, or ordinarily not having a Lawful Impediment, (that is for the space of a Month) neglect to repair to their Parish-Churches or Chapels where they inhabit, for the hearing of Divine-Service Established, and receiving of the Holy-Communion according to Law. And further, because there are sprung up among us a sort of factious people, Despisers and Depravers of the Books of Common-Prayer, who do not according to the Law resort to their Parish-Church or Chapel, to join in the public Prayers, Service, and Worship of God with the Congregation, contenting themselves with the hearing of Sermons only, thinking thereby to avoid the Penalties due to such as wholly absent themselves from the Church. We therefore for the restraint of all such wilful Contemners or Neglectors of the Service of God, do ordain that the Church or Chappelwardens, and Questmen, or Sidemen of every Parish, shall be careful to inquire out all such disaffected persons, and shall present the names of all such Delinquents at all Visitations of Bishops, and other Ordinaries; and that the same Proceed and Penalties mentioned in the Canon aforesaid respectively, shall be used against them as against other Recusants, unless within one whole Month after they are first denounced, they shall make acknowledgement and reformation of that their fault. Provided always that this Canon shall not derogate from any other Canon, Law, or Statute in that behalf provided against those Sectaries. From the Reign of King Charles the 1st. I come to the Reign of the King that now is; wherein are Laws enacted (besides those against Nonconformists) for the preventing and suppressing of Conventicles. As for Example, In the 16th. of King Charles the 2d. there is a Law, 16. Car. 2. c. 4. Entitled, An act to prevent and suppress Seditious Conventicles; and in the preamble thereof are these words to be read; Whereas an Act made in the five and thirtieth Year of the Reign of our late Sovereign Lady Queen Elizabeth, Entitled, An Act to retain the Queen's Majesty's Subjects in their due Obedience, hath not been put in due Execution by reason of some doubt of late made, whether the said Act be still in force; altho' it be very clear and evident, and it is hereby declared, that the said Act is still in force, and aught to be put in due Execution. For providing therefore of further and more speedy Remedies against the growing and dangerous practices of Seditious Sectaries, and other disloyal persons, who under pretence of tender Consciences, do at their Meetings contrive Insurrections, as late Experience hath showed. As for the Punishment, etc. of this same Law, I shall not mention, because it is expired. In the 22d. year of the Reign of the King that now is, 22. Car. 2. c. 4. there is another Law made, whereby 'tis enacted, 1. That if any of the Age of Sixteen years or upwards, being a Subject of this Realm, shall be present at any Conventicle, under pretence of any Exercise of Religion, in other manner than according to the Church of England, any Justice of Peace, etc. on Proof, Confession, Oath of two Witnesses, or notorious Evidence of the Fact, may make a Record of such offence, which Record shall be a Conviction, and set a Fine of Five Shillings for the first offence, and for the second, Ten Shillings, to be Levied by distress and sale of the offender's Goods; or in case of Poverty, on the Goods of others then convicted of the like offence at the same Conventicle. 2. That every person convicted of Preaching at any such Meeting, shall forfeit for the first offence Twenty Pound; and if it be a Stranger, and his name and habitation not known, or he cannot be found, or be unable to pay, the Justice of Peace etc. may Levy it upon any persons that were present; and for the second offence Forty Pound to be levied, and disposed, etc. 3. That every person convicted of wittingly suffering any such meeting to be held in his House, Yard, etc. shall forfeit Twenty Pound; and in case of his Poverty, upon persons convicted of being present at the same. 4. That if any Constable, etc. knowing, or being informed of such Meetings within his Precinct, shall not inform a Justice of Peace, or chief Magistrate, etc. but they or others called in their aid, shall wilfully omit their Duty, and being convicted thereof, they shall forfeit Five Pound. and the Justice of Peace and chief Magistrate, etc. omitting their Duty, shall forfeit one Hundred Pound. Now for what end are these penalties imposed? Why the preamble of the Law will tell you, That it is, For providing Remedy against the growing and dangerous practices of Seditious Sectaries, and other disloyal persons, who under pretence of tender Consciences, have, or may at their Meetings contrive Insurrections, as late experience hath showed. Now, Reader, if this very last Statute be put in due execution, I should think our Sectaries would not have long, Pocket Courage enough to frequent Conventicles; and if they themselves would but consider, and weigh the preambles of the Laws and Canons before mentioned, they would pronounce themselves Guilty of the greatest folly and Impudence in the World, to be found at such unlawful Meetings. Well, I have no more to say to our Sectaries not only to desire them to read these following Lines, spoken by a most excellent (a) Doctor Laney late Lord Bishop of Ely, on 1. Thess. 4.11. Prelate of our Church in a Sermon Preached before his Majesty at White-Hall, 12. Martii 1664. A Man (says he) may go far in Religion, without troubling any; and if then they fall into some Error, or Misbelief in Religion, they ought not to be severely handled; but when they betake themselves to a Sect, that altars the case, it will then be Compassion mistaken. A Locust alone is no such perilous Beast to be feared or regarded by any; but when they come in shoals and swarms, and cover the Face of the Earth, they are a plague to the Country where they light. So to look upon a Sectary single, who out of simplicity and good meaning, follows his Conscience, our Hearts should be every whit as tender for them as their Consciences are; But if we look upon them in Company, they are as ill and dangerous as the Company they are found in; and the danger of all popular Meetings and Associations to a State, makes it the proper business of a King and his Ministers to look to it, and to provide against it; wherein the care hath been taken, deserves a just Commendation. FINIS. BOOKS Printed for, and are to be Sold by John Walthoe at the Black-Lyon in Chancery-Lane, overagainst Lincolns-Inn. AN Historical Account of the late great Frost, in which are discovered, in several Comical Relations, the various Humours, Loves, Cheats, and Intrigues of the Town, as the same were managed upon the River of Thames, during that Season: In Twelves, price 1 s. 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