THE PRESENT STATE of NEW-ENGLAND Impartially Considered, In a LETTER to the CLERGY.  
Reverend Sirs.  
TWo Months have already passed away, since with Astonishment I have beheld the most deplorable Condition of our Country; Into what a Chaos of Confusion and Distraction have we run ourselves? And in what a Labrinth of Miseries and Perplexityes are we involved? 'Tis High Time now to make some serious Reflections on the state of our Affairs.  
In the First place therefore, 'Twill be Necessary to Examine ourselves, and to Consider,  
1. For what Reasons, and to what End did we take up Arms?  
2. Whether those Reasons be Substantial, and such as carry with them Weight enough to justify the Act; And whether the proposed End can be obtained by such Methods?  
3. If not, What will be the Event, and whether any way be left open to us for a peaceable and friendly Settlement?  
Although there be some (not of the meanest Capacities) among us, who are of Opinion, that a few persons to gratify their Malice, Ambition or Revenge have been the plotters & contrivers of our unhappy Troubles, and the better to carry it on have made use of the deluded Country men, as the Monkey did the Cat's foot to pluck the Chestnut out of the fire▪ Yet I shall not lightly be over credulous in that matter, nor give Entertainment to such Suggestions; I shall only therefore instance such things as Conversation & Report have brought to my Knowledge, or as I shall find obvious in the Declaration; the sum of which is,  
That above ten years since, there was an horrid Popish Plot in the Kingdom of England, in which the Extirpation of the Protestant Religion was designed.  
That there was great Reason to Apprehend the Reformed Churches of New-England, were to be overwhelmed in the same pit of Ruin and Destruction.  
That the better to effect it, our Charter (the only hedge which kept us from the Wild Beasts of the field) was both injuriously and illegally Condemned, before it was possible for us to appear at Westminster in the legal Defence of it, and without a fair Leave to Answer for ourselves  
That by an illegal Commission we were put under a Precedent and Council, which was soon superseded by another more Arbitrary and Absolute to Sr. Edmond Andros, giving him Power, by the Advice of his Council, to make Laws and levy Taxes as he pleased, to muster and employ all persons resident in the Territory, as Occasion should require, and them to transfer to any English plantation.  
That several Red-Coats were brought over, to support what should be imposed upon us, and more threatened.  
That Preferments were principally loaden on Strangers and Haters of the people.  
That we were Squeezed and Oppressed by a Crew of abject persons from New-York, who took and extorted extraordinary and intolerable Fees.  
That it was impossible to know the Laws that were made, and yet dangerous to break them.  
That by some in open Council, and by the same in private Converse, it was affirmed, that the People in New-England were all Slaves, and the only Difference between them and Slaves, was their not being bought and sold; and that it was a Maxim delivered in Open Court, by one of the Council, That we must not think the Privilege of English men would follow us to the End of the World.  
That we were denied the privilege of Magna Charta, and that Persons who did but peaceably object against raising Taxes without an Assembly, were for it severely fined.  
That Juries have been picked and packed, and that some people have been fined without a Verdict, yea without a Jury.  
That some People have been kept long in Prison, without any Information against them, or being Charged with any Misdemeanour, or Habeas Corpus allowed.  
That Jurymen were fined and imprisoned, for Refusing to lay their hand on the Book, as they came to be Sworn, contrary to the Common Law of New-England.  
That there was a Discovery made of Flaws in the Titles of our Lands: and that the Governor denied that there was any such thing as a Town among us.  
That Writts of Intrusion were issued out.  
That the Governor caused our Lands to be measured out for his Creatures, and that the Right Owners for Pulling up the stakes have been grievously molested.  
That more than a few were by Terrors drawn to take Patents at excessive Rates.  
That the Forcing of the people at the Eastward thereto, gave a Rise to the late unhappy Invasion by the Indians.  
That Blank Patents were got ready, to be sold at great prices, and several persons had their Commons begged.  
That the Governor and five or six of the Council, did what they would, and that all such who were Lovers of their Country were seldom admitted.  
That all manner of Craft and Rage was used to hinder Mr. Mather's Voyage to England, and to ruin his person.  
That although the King promised Mr. Mather a Magna Charta for Redress of Grievances, and that the Governor should be writ unto, to forbear those Measures that he was upon; yet we were still injured in those very things which were Complained of.  
That our Ministers and Churches have been discountenanced.  
That we were imbriared in an Indian-Warre, and that the Officers and Soldiers in the Army were under popish Commanders.  
That the rest of the English plantations, being alarmed with just Fears of the French, who have treated the English with more than Turkish Cruelty, could not but stir us up to take care for our own Preservation, lest we should be delivered to the French, before Orders could come from His Highness the Prince of Orange, and the Parliament of England.  
That we have for our Example the Nobility, Gentry and Commons of England, and above all we esteem it our Duty to God so to have done.  
Thus far have I traced the Declaration, and do not know that any one thing material is omitted, I shall now mention some other things which have occurred.  
'Twas credibly reported,  
That Boston and all the Inhabitants were to be destroyed, and to that end the Mahawks were to be brought down.  
That there were several Fireworks prepared in the Fort, and Vaults dug under ground to blow up the Town.  
That the Soldiers at the Eastward were all poisoned with Rumm.  
That there were Thirty sail of French Frigates upon the Coast. With several other things which I cannot recollect.  
These are the principal Reasons alleged for our taking up Arms: now the End can be no other than the Redress of those evils complained of.  
The next thing then to be considered of is, Whether all or any of the Reasons aforesaid, are sufficient to justify our Proceedings, and Whether the proposed End can be attained by such Measures.  
First then, That there was an horrid popish Plot, is without doubt, and if England at that time had fallen under the Yoke of Roman Tyranny and Thraldom, 'tis as certainly true New-England must have undergone the same Fate: but that this should be used or introduced as a Reason or Argument for Vacating our Charter is beyond my conception; for Fire and Sword were the designed instruments and ministers of their barbarous and hellish Contrivance: and if they had once prevailed, how weak a Rampart would our Charter have been against so cruel and powerful an Enemy? Would a blood thirsty and conquering Papist have made Westminster-Hall the Arbiter? Certainly, No; we must have received our Law from the mouth of the Cannon, and our Hedge would have been broke down with a great deal of ease. Is it reasonable to imagine, that after they had waded through the blood of King and Nobles to their wished-for End in Old England, they would make use of Politics in New-? And as preposterous and unreasonable to fancy, That for that end our Charter was called in question, especially when we consider that more than four Decades of years have already past since the Crown of England first thought it not fit for us to hold any longer, and several years after the popish Plot was discovered before the Scire facias issued out.  
2. That the Charter was injuriously and illegally Condemned, without giving us timely notice of it, or allowing us to Answer for ourselves, might bear some weight with it, if true: but it will appear quite other wise, and that we had opportunity enough to have made defence on behalf of our Charter, if we had so thought fit, for several years before the proceedings to the Condemnation thereof. Our late Sovereign King Charles the Second, by His Letters signified to us the many Complaints that were made to him of our Encroachments, and ill-Administration of the Government, and commanded that we should send over Agents sufficiently Authorized, to Answer the same, which we at length so far complied with, as to send Agents, who when they were called to hear and Answer the said Complaints, always excused and avoided the principal parts thereof pretending they were not sufficiently impowered for that purpose; and after, other Agents fully impowered to Answer, but not to submit or Conclude any thing: And when His Majesty was pleased to cause a Writ of Quo Warranto to be sued forth, against our Charter, and sent over with his Gracious Declaration, and Proposals of such Regulations to be made therein, as might be agreeable with His Majesty's Service & the good & welfare of his subjects here, and required an entire Submission from us therein; our General Court would not submit to, or comply therewith; only a Letter was sent to the Right Honourable Sr. Lionel Jenkins, than Secretary of State, dated the 10. of December 1683, Subscribed by the Governor & Eight of the Assistants only; wherein after the acknowledgement of their having had a Copy of the Quo Warranto and His Majesty's Declaration, they say that the major part of the Magistrates have for several Weeks declared their Opinion, and voted to lay themselves at His Majesty's feet, by an humble Submission and Resignation of themselves to His Majesty's pleasure; not being willing to Contend with His Majesty in a Course of Law, but by the next Opportunity to dispatch their Agents fully impowered to make their submission according to His Majesty's said Declaration, but by no means can at present obtain the Consent of the Deputyes whereby to make it an Act of the Corporation, and therefore have agreed with them to a power of Attourney-ship, to save a Default, in hopes that further time will prevail to dispatch their Agents accordingly, and shall earnestly endeavour to give the people a better Understanding before the next Ships sail from hence:  
His Majesty by this finding that all the easy means He had used could not bring us to any Answer, for the Crimes and Misdemeanours laid to our Charge, nor produce any thing else but Bassles and Delays, gave Order to His Attorney General to sue out a Writ of Scire facias out of the High Court of Chancery, against our Governor and Company, which was accordingly done, directed to the Sheriffs of London etc. and made returnable in Easter Term, in the 36 year of His Majesty's Reign, wherein they were Required to make known to the said Governor & Company at London, that they may appear in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery at Westminster, on the day of the Return thereof, to show cause wherefore the said Charter for the Reasons in the said Writ of Scire facias mentioned and contained, should not be made void, null, and canceled, and the Liberties and privileges thereby granted to the said Governor and Company be seized into the King's hands; upon which Writ the said Governor and Company not appearing, another Writ of Scire facias of the same Tenor issued forth, Returnable in Trinity Term than next following, when the said Governor and Company appeared by their constituted Attorney and Council, but refused to plead to the said Writ, only moved for time to send hither, which not being agreeable with the Rules and Practice of the Court in such Cases, could not be allowed: But in favour to them a Rule was made, that unless they pleaded by the first day of the then next Michaelmas-Terme, Judgement should be entered by Default. And in that Term for Default of pleading, Judgement was entered on His Majesty's Behalf, and the said Charter adjudged to be void, Null, and Canceled, and that the Liberties and Privileges of the said Governor and Company be Seized into the King's hands, which was accordingly done, by the Exemplification of the said Judgement in the Reign of King James the Second, and by His Majesty's Commission to a Precedent and Council to take the Government of this Country: All which proceedings are most just and and Legal, according to the Rules and practice of the Law of England, and agreeable with many Precedents of the like nature, both Ancient and Modern.  
Besides: All Companies, Corporations, or Bodies politic, made or granted by Letters Patents or Charter from His Majesty, for any parts or places beyond the Seas, are by themselves or Agents, to be always ready to answer His Majesty in any of his Courts at Westminster, when He shall think sit to Order any Suit, or Writ to be sued and prosecuted against them; and are supposed to be Resident in or about London or Westminster for that purpose, as the East-India, Royall-Affrican, Bermudas, and Hudson-bay Companies are, who have their Trade, Factories, Colonies and Plantations abroad in Asia, Africa, and America: and in the like state and Condition ought the Company and Corporation of the Massathusetts Bay in New-England to be, According to the Capacities given them by their Incorporation of Sueing and being sued, Pleading & being Impleaded; wherein if we have neglected our Duty, as well as exceeded our Powers and Privileges granted, and would not put ourselves into a Condition to be heard when we ought and might, it is not His Majesty nor the Proceedings of His Courts that are to be blamed but ourselves.  
3. That there was a Commission sent to the Precedent, and the successive one to Sr. Edmond Andross, are both true, but that they were illegal, is a position a little too confidently asserted by the Penman, who seems to be more a Clergyman than a Lawyer; but because the well clearing up of this point will be of great Service to the subsequent Discourse, 'twill not be amiss that it be throughly considered. I shall therefore lay down this as a certain Maxim, both consonant to Reason & the Laws of the Land: That Those Kingdoms, Principalities, and Colonies which are of the Dominion of the Crown of England, and not of the Empire of the King of England, are subject to such Laws, Ordinances and Forms of Government as the Crown shall think fit to establish. That New-England and all the Plantations are subject to the Dominion of the Crown of England, and not to the Empire of the King of England: Therefore, The Crown of England may Rule and Govern them in such manner as it shall think most fit. For the proof of which I shall instance Wales, which was once a Kingdom or Territory governed by its own Laws, but when it became of the Dominion of the Crown of England, either by Submission or Conquest, it became subject also to such Laws as King Edward the first (to whom they submitted) thought fit to impose: as may plainly appear in the Preamble of the Statute of Rutland. Leges et Consuetudines, partium illarum hactenus usitatas, coram nobis et proceribus Regni Nostri fecimus recitari, quibus diligenter auditis, et plenius intellectis, quasdam illarum de Consilio Procerum predictorum delevimus, quasdam permissimus, et quasdam correximus, et etiam quasdam alias adjiciendas et faciendas decrevimus, et eas de caetero in terris Nostris in partibus illis perpetua Firmitate, teneri et observari volumus, in forma subscripta. In English thus, We have caused the Laws and Customs of those parts hitherto used, to be recited before Us and the Peers of Our Realm, which being diligently heard & more fully understood, some of them, by the Advice of Our Peers aforesaid, We have obliterated, some We have allowed, and some We have corrected, and have also decreed that some others shall be made and added to them; and We will, that for the future they be holden & observed in Our Lands in those parts with perpetual firmness, in manner herein after expressed.—  
Then follow the Ordinances appointing Writts' original and judicial in many things varying from those of England, and a particular manner of proceeding.  
And again in the Close of the said Statute, et ideo vobis mandamus quod permissa de caetero in omnibus observaetis, ita tantum, quod quotiescunque et quandocunque et ●bicunque Nobis placuerit, possimus praedicta Statuta et eorum partes singulas declarare, interpretari, addere sive diminuere pro Nostrae Libi●o voluntatis prout securitati Nostrae, et Terrae Nostrae viderimus expediri: And therefore We Command you that from hence forward you observe the premises in all things so only, that as often, whensoever and wheresoever We please, we may declare, interpret, add to and diminish from the said Statutes and every part of them according to Our will and pleasure, so as We shall see it expedient for the safety of Us and Our Land aforesaid.  
In the Next place I shall instance Ireland: That it is a Conquered Kingdom is not doubted, [Co. Rep. fol. 18. a.] but admitted in calvin's Case, and by an Act of the 11 th', 12 th', and 13 th', of King James, acknowledged in express words, Viz. Whereas in former times the Conquest of this Realm by His Majesty's most Royal Progenitors Kings of England, etc.  
That by Virtue of the Conquest it became of the Dominion of the Crown of England, and subject to such Laws as the Conqueror thought fit to impose, until afterwards by the Charters and Commands of H. the Second, King John, and H. the 3. they were entitled to the Laws & Franchises of England; as by the said Charters, Reference being thereunto had, may more fully appear. I shall only instance two.  
The first is out of the close Rolls of H. the 3. Wherein the King, after Thanks given to G. de Mariscis▪ Justice of Ireland, signifies, That Himself and all other his Liege's of Ireland should enjoy the Liberties which he had granted to his Liege's of England, and that he will grant & confirm the same unto them: [Claus. 1. H. 3. dorso 14] Which afterwards in the 12 th' year of his Reign he did: as followeth, Rex dilecto et sideli suo Richardo de Burgo Justiciary; suo Hibern▪, Salutem: Mandavimus vobis firmiter precipientes, quatenus certo die & loco faciatis venire coram vobis, Archiepiscopos, Episcopos, Abbates, Priores, Comets & Barones, Milites & libere Tenentes, et Balivos singulorum Comitatuum, et coram eis publice legi faciatis Chartam Domini Johannis Regis, Patris nostri, cui Sigillum suum appensum est, quam fieri fecit, et jurari a Magnatibus Hiberniae de Legibus et Consuetudinibus Angliae observandis in Hibernia. Et precipiatis eis ex parte Nostra, quod Leges illas & Consuetudines in Charta praedicta contentas, de caetero firmiter teneant et observent. The King to His faithful and beloved Richard de Burg Justice of Ireland Greeting; We have Commanded you, firmly injoining you, that on a certain day and place, you make to come before you, the Archbishops, Bishops, Abbots, Priors, Earls, Barons, Knights, & Freeholders', and the Bailiffs of every County, and before them you cause to be publicly read, the Charter of the Lord King John our Father to which His Seal is affixed, and which He caused to be made and sworn to by the Nobility of Ireland, concerning the Laws and Customs of England, to be observed in Ireland. And command them on Our behalf, that for the future they firmly keep and observe those Laws and Customs contained in the Charter aforesaid,  
By all which it is evident that after the Conquest, and before the recited Charters, the Inhabitants there, altho' composed of many freeborn English Subjects who settled themselves among them, were neither governed by their own Laws, nor the Laws of England, but according to the good pleasure of the Conqueror: and if you will take the opinion of Sr. Edward Cook in his Annotations on the Great Charter, he tells you plainly That at the making thereof it did not extend to Ireland, or any of the King's foreign Dominions, but after the making of Poynings Law, which was in the 11 th' year of H. the 7 th' (long after the Great Charter) it did Extend to Ireland.  
I have only one Instance more, and that is the Usage of foreign Nations in their Plantations and Settlements abroad.  
The Government of the United Provinces & Denmark are well known in Europe, and yet in all their Plantations, their Governments are despotical and absolute; all the power is in the hands of a Governor & Council, and every thing is ordered and appointed by them; as is well known to those that are acquainted with Batavia, Surinam, Curasao, New-Yorke (when formerly in their hands) and the Island of St. Thomas.  
By which it is it evident that Those Kingdoms and Principalities which are of the Dominion of the Crown of England, are subject to such Laws, Ordinances, and Methods of Government, as that Crown shall think sit to establish.  
The next thing then to be proved is, That New-England, and all the English Colonies are subject to the Dominion of the Crown of England, as Wales and Ireland are, and not to the Empire of the King of England, as Scotland is,  
'Tis a Fundamental Point consented unto by all Christian Nations, that the First Discovery of a Country inhabited by infidels, gives a Right and Dominion of that Country to the Prince in whose Service and Employment the Discoverers were sent. Thus the Spaniard claims the West-Indies, the Portungals, Brasile, and thus the English these Northern parts of America; for Sebastian Cabott employed by King H. the 7 th'. was the first Discoverer of these parts, and in his name took possession, which his Royal Successors have held and continued ever since, therefore they are of the Dominion of the Crown of England, and as such they are accounted by that excellent Lawyer Sr. John Vaughan, in his Reports [Vaugh. Rep. Craw versus Ramsey.] which being granted, the Conclusion must necessarily be good, and it will follow, That Englishmen permitted to be transported into the Plantations, (for thither without the King's Licence we cannot come) can pretend to no other Liberties, Priviledes or Immunities there, than anciently the subejcts of England who removed themselves into Ireland could have done: For 'tis from the Grace and Favour of the Crown alone that all these flow and are dispensed at the pleasure of him that sits on the Throne: which is plain in the Great Charter itself; where after the Liberties therein granted by the King it concludes thus,— tenendas & habendas de Nobis & Haeredibus Nostris in perpetuum, To HAVE and to HOLD of Us and Our Heirs for ever, which by the learned Sr. Edward Cook is thus explained: These Words (saith he) are not inserted to make a legal Tenure of the King, but to intimate that all Liberties at first were derived from the Crown. [Instit. Pag. 2. Fol. 4.] Barbadoss, Jamaica, the Leeward-Islands & Virginia have their Assemblies, but, it is not sui Juris, 'tis from the Grace & Favour of the Crown signified by Letters Patents under the broad Seal. But these Assemblies have not power to enforce any Act by them made above one year; the King having in all the Concessions granted them, reserved unto Himself, the Annulling or Continuance of what Laws they make, according to His pleasure.  
New-England had a Charter, but no one will be so stupid to imagine that the King was bound to grant it us: Neither can we without impeaching the prudent Conduct and discretion of our Forefathers, so much as think, they would put themselves to so vast an expense, and unnecessary Trouble to Obtain that which as Englishmen, they thought themselves to have a sufficient right to before: We owe it only to the Grace and Favour of our Sovereign, and if we had made better use of it to promote the Ends for which it was granted, the weight of those Afflictions under which we now groan would not have lain so heavy upon us, at least we should have less deserved them.  
Besides, The Parliament of England have never by any Act of theirs favoured the Plantations, or declared or enlarged their Privileges; but have all along plainly demonstrated that they were much differenced from England, and not to have those Privileges and Liberties which England enjoyed; being in all Acts relateing to the Plantations, Restrained and burdened beyond any in England, as appears by the several Acts made for the Increasing of Navigation and for Regulating and securing the Plantation Trade.  
I think I have both by good Authority, Practice & Precedent, made it plain, that the Plantations are of the Dominion of the Crown of England, and without any Regard to Magna Charta, may be Ruled and Governed, by such ways and methods, as the Person who wears that Crown, for the good and advancement of those Settlements, shall think most proper and convenient. Therefore▪ Neither the Commission to the Precedent, nor that to Sr. Edmond A●dros can be said to be illegal.  
Since then such an one might lawfully be granted, we have grea● reason to commend the Moderation of the Gentleman, who was entrusted with it, and so return thanks to Almighty God for placing over us a person endued with that prudence & Integrity, that he was so for from exceeding his Commission, that he never put in execution the powers therein granted him. Have there been any Taxes laid upon us, but such as were settled by Laws of our own making, any part whereof might be retained & in force after the Condemnation of our Charter that the King thought ●it. Who hath been Transferred out of this Territory? Or did we ever pay fewer Rates than we have done under him?  
And whereas it is also Alleged in the Declaration, that there were Courses▪ taken to damp and spoil the Trade, etc. the same is altogether Mistaken, (unless by that is meant the irregular Trade, used heretofore with Foreigners and Privateers, contrary to the Acts of Navigation & the Laws of the Land) For the very considerable Advance of His Majesty's Revenue ariseing by Customs, doth sufficiently demonstrate that the lawful Trade of this Territory, was very much increased under the Government of Sr. Edmond Andros.  
4. 'Twill be but time lost to say any thing of the Red-Coats, for no man can be so void of Sense and Reason to think that so many Thousand men, which at this day inhabit this Colony, could be imposed upon by one hundred Red-Goats, and if any body hath been so vain as to threaten us with more, I look upon it an effect of Passion or Folly; for Experience, which certainly is the most convinceing Argument in the world, tells us there is no such thing.  
and Haters of the People, I must confess, I cannot easily comprehend▪ unless to inhabit fourteen or fifteen years within the Territory will make a man such. Is their any one Gentleman of the Council, that hath either been displaced or put into that station by the Authority here? Which of our Judges are strangers? Were not Three of them brought up amongst us and of our own Communion? and was not the other in the same Employment in some part of this Territority at the time of the Annexation? From whom had the Secretary and Collector his Commission? certainly from no body here. Did the Alteration of the Government change our Treasurer? Is it not the same Sr. Edmond found here? Is he not a man of estate, good Credit and Reputation, and one of our own Country men? Were not all Officers in the Government, as well Magisteriall as Ministerial, natural borne Englishmen, & Subjects to the Crown of England? How then are Strangers & Haters of the people preferred, when there is not one that can reasonably and justly be so termed in any place of Trust or Office throughout the Dominion?  
6. Who are meant by abject persons from New-Yorke, wants an Explanation: for none of the Gentlemen that came from thence now in any Authority, but are well known to have lived there for a long time in esteem and Reputation enough to merit a better Epithet of all good and honest men; and I believe it will one day appear, that their faithful Discharge of their Duties, their Constancy and Steadiness to the Church of England, and unshaken Loyalty & Fidelity to the Crown was their greatest Crime.  
I am not well acquainted what Fees were taken, but this I know, that a Committee of the Council were appointed to make a Settlement of Fees, for all Officers throughout the Government, which was effected, approved of, and sent to England, and if any one have exceeded those Limits they deserve to be called to Account: but it ought to be in a due Course of Law. For the personal Miscarriages of a ministerial Officer, are no sufficient Warrant for an Insurrection; neither ought the Whole Government to be subverted because Tom, or Harry are ill men. The Authority can but provide good and wholesome Laws, for the Punishment of evil Doers, and cause those Laws to be put in Execution against Offenders; but if any one doth me a personal Wrong, for which▪ I have a Remedy by Law, and I will not take it, I ought not to quarrel with the Government, for 'tis my own▪ Fault, and I might have Redress if I would. Personal Orimes must be censured personally: and a Government ought no more to be scandalised and aspersed, because an Extortioner is in it, than because there is a Felon or a Traitor.  
7. I need not tell you that the Statute Laws of England are printed at large, and that many Abridgements of them are so Likewise, and easy enough to be procured, neither can it be but very well known that all the Acts of the Governor and Council were solemnly published with Sound of Trumpet as soon as made, and authentic Copies afterwards transmitted to the Clerks of each respective county throughout the Territory: why then it should be said, that It was impossible to know the Laws, I see no reason, unless by it is meant the Common Law, and if so, we may as well quarrel because we do not understand Euclid, or Aristotle; For the Knowledge of the Law cannot be attained without great Industry Study and Experience, and every capacity is not fitted for such an Undertaking. Ex quovis Ligno non fit Mercurius. If this was a Grievance, what a miserable Condition are we in now, that instead of not knowing the Law, there is no Law for us to know.  
8. What rash or indiscreet Expressions may fall from any single person of the Council, either in his private or politic Capacity, I will not undertake to justify; all men are not endued with Qualifications alike, every one in that station ought to give his Opinion, as he himself understands the matter; and if any one have unadvisedly uttered words so disagreeable, I know no body injured by it, neither can the Government be justly censured for it.  
9 That the Privileges of Magna Charta, & other liberties of English men were denied us, is a thing which can never be made appear, however admitting it, I have sufficiently discussed that point in the third Article.  
10. By the persons said to be severely sinned, for peaceble objecting against raising of Taxes, without an Assembly, I conjecture are meant the Ipswich men, who were so far from a peaceable objecting, that they assembled themselves in a riotous manner, and by an Instrument conceived in Writing, did associate and oblige themselves to stand by each other in opposition to the Laws of the Government, and by their Example influenced their Neighbours to do the like. And this by the Law is esteemed an offence of that Nature, That it is next door to Rebellion, for which they were Indicted, Tried, and Convicted, either by Verdict or their own Confession▪  
11. I cannot justify that Sheriff who doth either pick or pack a Jury, 'tis both repugnant to the Law and his Oath, and he deserves no Favour that can be guilty of such a Crime, but let him first be known, & the thing proved, for I do not Remember any one that hath been Convicted, nor so much as accused for such an Offence.  
12. Judgement upon Deumrrers and Defaults are so practicable and warrantable by the Law, that nothing can excuse the Enumerating them amongst the Grieviances in the Declaration but the Penman's want of Knowledge in that Profession. 'tis a Maxim, Volenti non fit Injuria, and when both Plaintiff and Defendant do by a joint Consent submit to the Determination of the Court, or by their own Negligence make Default; who hath the Wrong? Where is the injury? This hath been a Practice so frequently used in our former Government, that no body can be ignorant of it.  
13 That any one hath been long imprisoned, without being charged with Crime or Misdemeanour, is an Allegation which I dare be bold to say can never be proved. I have heard an Habeas Corpus was in one particular case denied, I will not inquire into the reasons of it, nor pretend to justify it, although much may be said in that matter; Admitting the Fact, 'twas but a personal injury, for which the Law gave an effectual Remedy, and if the party grieved would not make use of such, must the Government be in fault? If we do but consider well how many persons are now under far worse Circumstances, I am sure we cannot but blush when we read that part of the Declaration.  
14. That Jury men were fined and imprisoned for Refuseing to lay their hands on the Book, I presume is a mistake, probably they may have been fined for their Contempt, and sent to Prison for not paying that fine, which by the Law may be justified; for every Court may fine any man for a Contempt in open Court, and they themselves are Judges of the Contempt.  
Whether it be a forcing of Conscience or not, I shall leave to the Casuists, but I am very well-satisfied it is not comprehended within the late Indulgence,  
Yet admit it were, the Judges are sworn to do their duties in their office according to the Laws of the Land, Prescription is a good & sufficient Law, the form of Laying the hand on the Book hath been the only modus of Swearing, Time out of mind; Therefore the Laying the hand on the Book in Swearing is a good Law, and the Judges cannot dispense with it salvo Sacramento, if they did, a Judgement in such a Case would be erroneous & reversable: and 'Tis dangerous to admit of Innovations,  
The Common Law of New-England is brought in to warrant the Lifting up the hand; but I take that to be the Rara avis in terris, for I challenge the whole Territory to produce one Precedent of such a resolved Case: but perhaps by it Prescription is intended, if it be, that will as illy serve the turn as the other; for the Colony hath not been long enough settled to claim any Advantage by that Right, or if it had, could it be admitted without apparent Violation of our Charter, being absolutely repugnant to the Laws of England.  
15. Fully to discuss the question concerning the Titles of our Lands, would be a Subject to copious for this present design, Therefore I shall only glance at it as I pass by, being Resolved, when time shall serve to declare my opinion more amply on that Subject; in the mean time let every considering man examine well our Charter, which is the very Basis of all our Rights, (unless we will set up a power above the Kings) and then let him tell me in whom the Fee Simple of that Tract of Land betwixt Charles River & Mirrimack remains: if in the Grantees or their Heirs, how do we derive our Titles from them? If in the Governor and Company of the Massathusets Bay, we must inquire whether pursuant to the Directions and powers to them granted, it is by good & sufficient Conveyances in the Law derived unto us, if we find it so, we must not be disturbed with Fears and Jealousies, for nothing can hurt us: if not, we are infinitely obliged to those persons who have made us sensible of our Weaknesses, in a time when by His Majesty's Letters Patents the Governor was impowered to supply all such defects, and not upon Terms either excessive or unreasonable, but upon such as were both easy & moderate, which will plainly appear to any man who will but give himself the trouble to peruse the Table of Fees, settled and allowed by the Council. Yet still every man was at his own Liberty to take a Patent of Confirmation or to let it alone, which is Apparent enough by the many Petitions now lying in the Secretary's Office, which although his Excellency was always ready (so far as in him lay) to Grant, yet the more necessitous Affairs of the Government, which both he and all about him ever preferred to their private Advantage, took up so much of his time, that not above Twenty ever past the seal, and I am very well assured, that not one Example can be produced that the least compulsion was ever used in this Case to any man living within this Dominion.  
16. That Writts of Intrusion were issued out, is doubtless true, and the Government would have justly merited a severe Censure, if all Ways should have been free & open for the Subject to attain his Right, and none left for the King. We should think ourselves highly injured to be refused a Capias or any other Common Writ, and I'm sure the other is as peremptory a one in the King's Case, and had the Pen▪ man been never so little acquainted with the Natura Brevium, or the Register, he would have been ashamed to have stuffed up the Declaration with such matter which can be of no other service, than to amuse & deceive ignorant people▪ have their been any Writts of this kind dureing Sr. Edmond▪ s Administration, taken out against either poor or ignorant persons that had neither purses nor brains to defend themselves: hath it not been against such as both for their Estates and Capacities, are sufficiently known to be eminent? And the business of Deer-island was brought on for no other Intent than that Right might be done to the King here, and that the party, if aggrieved, might in a Regular way have brought it to the Council board in England, for their determination: and I think if this matter were rightly understood, it would be of excellent Service to the Country, for such a Judgement would sufficiently instruct us what we have to trust to;  
17. If the Governor did say, there was no such thing amongst us as a Town, what can be inferred from thence? 'tis not to be presumed but his discourse tended only to a Body Corporate and politic, for we generally call that a Town in America, where a number of people have seated themselves together: yet it's very well known, 'tis so in name only not in fact: I take that Body of People to be a Town, properly so called, who by some Act of Law have been Incorporated, and in that sense there is no such thing as a Town in the Massachusetts, neither was there a power to make such before his Excellency's Arrival. For One Corporation cannot make another. [the case of Suttons Hospital. Co Rep.]  
18. I am totally ignorant what is meant by Blank Patents, for 'tis the first time I ever heard of such a thing; neither indeed can such a thing be. For he that takes a Patent for his Land, doth it in such a Form as best pleaseth himself, or as he shall be advised to by his Council, and how any man living can so far know my mind, to prepare such an Instrument for me, I leave the world to judge.  
This Notion did arise from one Roll of Parchment only, brought over by Capt. Tanner, and if we do but consider, that all Law process was then in Parchment, it would serve but a little while for that use; for it contains not above sixty sheets.  
I am likewise gropeing in the dark, to find out how the Forcing of the people at the Eastward to take Patents (although I know of no such thing done) gave a Rise to the late unhappy Invasion by the Indians, unless by that meames, they were deprived of those Quitrents and and Acknowledgements, which by a base & dishonourable Agreement the people of those parts some time since submitted to pay them, as their Lords and Masters.  
19 That our Commons might be begged, is not very strange, but that the Governor must be criminal because such a thing is asked of him, is the most wonderful thing in the world. To whom have they been granted, or for which of his creatures have they been measured out? If Lieut' Col' Leaguer be instanced, how came he to be the governor's Creature, that hath so long lived among us in Reputation equal to the best of us, and whose Fortunes were not so narrow that he needed a dependency upon any body, and estate & interest in Charles-town Lands equalled if not exceeded any man's there, so his Right to the Grant aught to be preferred.  
If Clarks-Island, (granted to Mr. Clarke of Plymouth) I must tell you 'tis not within the Plymouth Patent, and therefore grantable at the pleasure of the King, which was the Opinion of the Council in that Case, and neither of the beforementioned Grants, nor indeed any other, did ever pass without their Approbation and consent; and this is all that I know of that can be objected.  
20. What an Age do we live in now, and how wonderful a thing is it, that it should be counted a Crime in a land so well governed as once New-England was after a legal Trial & Conviction, to punish & fine men for a Riot and the Contempt of Authority, in the highest Nature imaginable? For what less was it for the Number of three or more to meet together, throw down & remove the Land▪ marks set up by the Surveyor General thereunto Authorized by the Governors' Warrant? And thus is the Case and no otherwise.  
21. That any of the Council were ever denied Admittance to that Board▪ is a thing so apparently false, that I'm sure not a man amongst them but must justify the Governor in that point; who was always so far from such a method, that although there was a certain day appointed for their Meeting every week, well knowle to them all, yet it was a frequent thing for him, to send on purpose to Salem, and other Neighbouring parts, for the Gentlemen that lived there: and I have seen the Messengers Account, wherein he Chargeth a considerable sum of money for Horse hire on those Errands. 'Tis very well known, his Excellency hath waited many hours for several of the Gentlemen that live in Town, and would never sit, until they came. And as he hath never done, nor ordered the least matter relateing to the Government, without their Advice and Consent, so he never did it without a sufficient Number to make a Quorum, which was Seven.  
22. There was never any other course taken, to hinder Mr. Mather's Voyage to England, than what the Law allows, neither can the Government, without a great deal of Injustice, be charged with any thing relating to that matter, for none in place knew his errand.  
There was a particular difference between Mr. Randoph & him, and I never heard of any other course taken by Mr. Randolph than the ordinary Writ in such Cases usual, which was so far from Retarding his Voyage, that an Attourny's entering a common Appearance in that Case, would have been sufficient to have discharged him if the Writ had been served.  
23. Suppose his Majesty promised Mr. Mather a Magna Charta, for redress of Grievances, and that his Excellency should be wrote unto, to forbear the measures he was upon, yet no such thing being done, he was Obliged to the Observance of his Majesty's Commands, before Signified to him in his Letters Patents, which was a sufficient warrant to him, until he should receive something subsequent to contradict it.  
24. That our Churches and and Ministers have been discouraged, is so general an head, and the rest of the Declaration so particular, that it gives me cause to suspect the Truth of it, and I shall hardly alter my Opinion, until any one of you be instanced who kept himself within his Province, and only meddled with that which belonged to him.  
'tis the Church of England, that have most reason to Complain, only we cry whore first. Has not their Minister been publicly Affronted, & hindered from doing his Duty? What scandalous Pamphlets have been printed to vilify the Liturgy? And are not all of that Communion daily called Papist dogs & Rogues to their Faces? How often has the plucking down the Church been threatened? One while, it was to be converted to a School, & anon it was to be given to the French Protestants; and whoso will but take the pains to survey the Glass Windows, will easily discover the marks of a malice not common. I believe 'tis the First National Church that ever lay under such great disadvantages, in a place where those that dissent from her must expect all things from her grace and favour.  
25. Should I undertake to recount all the particulars of the late Indian Rebellion, this would swell to a bulk bigger than ever I designed it, I shall only tell you, we must look at home for the Reasons of those troubles, which is well known begins when his Excellency was at New-York▪ and that the Folly and Rashness of the people, drew it on their own heads. The Governors Conduct in that affair has been so prudent and discreet, that I have no Reason to doubt but the Council, into whose hands all the Papers relating to that business did fall, are very well satisfied with it. Things were brought to that pass, that if our unhappy domestic Troubles had not intervened, the War before this time would have been advantageously finished, without any Rates or Taxes on the Country, for by His Excellencies good husbandry, the standing Revenue would have desrayed the Charge. 'tis true, We have lost some of our friends and Relations, in that Expedition, but could the Governor keep them alive? Are not Diseases in Armies, as fatal to men as the Sword? When Death comes, 'tis not to be avoided; and we see that all our art & care hath not been sufficient to preserve our dearest friends at home, from the greater Mortality which hath run through the Country. Did any of them die Neglected? Which of them wanted any thing to be had in these parts? Did his Excellency lie upon Beds of down, and fare deliciously every day? No, the same Meat, the same Drink, the same Lodging in their Quarters & Marches, were common to all, only He was generally the last taken care for. To what a degree of Madness & impiety are we then grown, so falesly & maliciously to recriminate a person who hath so generously exposed himself to the hardships of that cold & uncomfortable Climate, & the Fatigues of War, against a barbarous and savage people? And certainly if God Almighty hath not given us over to believe lies, our eyes must be by this time open, & we cannot but know, we have been put-upon, shamm'd and abused▪ who are Popish Commanders in the Army? Will any man barefaced aver so great an Untruth? It must be confessed, there was one Commander & no more under that Circumstance; but what had he to do with the Forces? His Post was the Command of the King's Soldiers & Fort at Pemaquid, and was not Commissionated for the Army; besides if he had, hath he not lived long amongst us? Did any one ever question his ability, Courage, Fidelity or Conduct, and ought not that Liberty of Conscience, which has been so hotly preached up, even to the Encouragement of immoral Acts amongst us▪ to be equally beneficial to him with other men? Especially when the Gentlemen in the Country were so far from offering their Service in the Expedition, that some of the most eminent amongst them have absolutely refused the service. And I have been told, the governor's proposals to the Council, about his going to the Eastward met with no Opposition, lest some of the Military men there, should have been bound in Honour to have taken that Employment upon themselves.  
26. That some of the English Plantations in the West-Indies, which are contiguous to the French, should be Alarmed, is no wonder, for they were ever jealous of their Neighbourhood, and always stood upon their Guard; But that We should be afraid of being delivered up to the French; when there is neither War betwixt the two Crowns, nor any Frenchmen that we can yet hear of, to receive us, is one of the most unaccountable things in the world. From what parts must they come? from Canada we know they cannot; they have Reason enough to look to themselves, for they are more afraid than we: France have their hands full at home, and it's well known they cannot spare any from the West-Indies; they made their utmost effort against Estatia, and by the best intelligence we can get in that Service or War, there was not one Friggat. Must they then drop out of the Clouds, or do we expect a Fleet from Utopia? Certainly this must needs convince any considering man that we have been extremely abused; and we must be stupid and senseless to think that Sr. Edmond Andros, and ten or twelve men more (for that is all the number said to be concerned in this wonderful plot) could they be guilty of so horrid a wickedness & impiety) were able to deliver so many Thousand men well appointed, into the hands of a few French men, who from God knows whence, were to come the Lord knows when.  
27. That it was either our Duty to God, or that we had either the Nobility, Gentry or Commons of England, for our Precedent, I cannot by any means allow, and I am amazed to see Christians call that a Duty, which God has so remarkably showed his displeasure against in all Countries and Ages. Is not Rebellion as the sin of Witcheraft? Numb. 11. 12, 16. Who was it that sent the Leprosy amongst the children of Israel for their Murmuring? Psal. 78. Or how came the Sudden fire with which they were burnt up? How many Thousands perished▪ by the Pestilence? Or were they a few that were stung to death with the fiery Serpents? Do we not read, that The earth opened and swallowed up some of their Captains, with their wives and Children quick, which horrible destruction fell upon the Israelites for their murmuring against Moses, whom God had appointed their Head & Chief Magistrate? What shall I say of Absalon? What of Achitophel? Or what of Sheba? Holy Writ is so full of Examples of the like nature, that no body can esteem that a Duty which is so often testified against. And as it is far from being our duty to God, so there is no parallel between the proceedings of the Lords Spiritual & Temporal in England and ours here; for the Design of establishing Popery & Arbitrary Government there, was so evident, that no room was left for the least doubt of it. That there could be a Contrivance to introduce Popery here, is altogether ridiculous, & incredible: For, who was to have effected it? Could these few of the Church of England, who with the hazard of their lives and fortunes so lately opposed it in Europe, and that in all Ages have been the only Bulwark against it? Or were the 〈◊〉 Independents, or Annabaptists to have brought this about? It must have been one of these, for I dare be bold to say, there are not two Roman Catholics betwixt this and New-Yorke; and I think the others are not likely to accomplish it; which makes it plain to me there could not be any such design.  
I have sufficiently demonstrated in the third Article, the little Right we have to any other Government in the Plantations, and that we cannot justly call that Arbitrary, which by the Law we are obliged to submit to: so that betwixt their Condition and ours, there can be no Parity.  
As their Reasons and ours were different, so are the Measures which have been taken: for His late Highness the Prince of Orange, having well weighed and considered the tottering Condition of the Protestant Religion all over Europe, thought it was high time for Him to take up Arms, as well for His own Preservation; as that of his Neighbours and Allies. We do not find, that, notwithstanding the danger that hung over their Heads, the people of England took up arms to right themselves, but instead thereof, they became humble suppliants to His Highness for his Favour and Protection, which He was pleased to grant them. Neither do we find, that the Lords Spiritual & Temporal assumed any Authority, for which they had no colour of Law: as they are Peers, they are invested with the highest Authority, are the Grand Conservators of the Peace of the Nation: they never left their Duty and Allegiance to his late Majesty, until he first left the Kingdom, and all things were transacted in his Name, and by his Authority until the very minute the Prince was proclaimed, who came, not by Force to Conquer and Subject the Nation to a foreign power, nor to subvert and destroy the Lawful Government; but to maintain & support the same in a peaceable manner, by a Free Parliament, for which his Majesty issued forth his Writts, and had he thought fit to have stayed until their sitting, all Griveances might have been redressed: the Prince or Peers never abrogated nor altered any of the lawful powers of the Nation, but strengthened & confirmed all that were capable of bearing Office, by which there was always a due Administration of Justice: The Sword was never said to rule & s●ay, and by consequence that Confusion and Disorder avoided which our Illegal & Arburary Proceedings have precipitated us into.  
As to the fanciful Stories of Macquaes, Subterranean Vaults, Fireworks, French Friggots, Poisoning the Soldiers to the Eastward etc. they are so apparently false & strangely ridiculous, that by this time no man in his wits can believe them, and I need no Argument to confute the Credit of those monstrous follies, since time and Experience have sufficiently demonstrated them to be mere Lies & Inventions.  
And now I hope all sober thinking men are convinced, That the before alleged Reasons, are in themselves either absolutely false, or of little moment, and consequently no sufficient grounds for us to take up Arms. All that remains on this head therefore, will be to show,  
1st. That If all the Reasons had been true, yet it could not justify our Proceedings. And,  
2. If our Condition had been as bad, and our Grievances really as great as we were made believe, these measures could never Mend the one nor Redress the other.  
The most excellent Grotius hath so learnedly wrote upon the first of these, that I shall presume to use no other Argument than his own upon that head, which pray consider.  
Private men may without doubt (saith he) [Grot. de jure Belli & Pacis lib. 1. cap. 4. Quaest. 1.] make War against private men, as the Traveller against the Thief or Robber: So may Sovereign Princes & States, against Sovereign Princes, as David against the King of the Ammonites. Private men may make war against Princes, if not their own, as Abraham against the King of Babylon and his Neighbours. So may Sovereign Princes against private men, whether they be their own subjects, as David against Ishbosheth and his party; or Strangers, as the Romans against Pirates. The only doubt is whether any person or persons, public or private, can make a lawful War against those that are set over them, whether supreme or subordinate unto them: And in the First place,  
It is on all hands granted, That they that are Commissionated by the highest powers, may make War against their Inferiors, as Nehemiah against ●obi● & Sanballat, by the Authority of Artaxtrxes. But whether it be lawful for Subjects to make war against those who have the supreme power over them, or against such as act by, & according to their Authority is the thing in question. It is also by all good men acknowledged, That if the Commands of a Prince shall manifestly contradict, either the Law of Nature, or the Divine precepts, they are not to be obeyed: for the Apostles when they urged that Maxim, (Act. 4.) Deo magis quam hominibus obediendum, That God is rather to be obeyed than man, unto such as forbade them to preach in the Name of Jesus, did but appeal to a principle of right Reason, which Nature had ensculpted in every man's breast: and which Plato expresseth in almost the very same words. But yet, if either for this or any other cause, any Injury be offered unto us, because it so please him that hath the Sovereign power, it ought rather to be patiently tolerated than by Force resisted: For although we do not owe an active Obedience to such commands of Princes, yet we do owe a passive; though we ought not to violate the laws of God or of Nature to fulfil the Will of the greatest Monarch, yet ought we rather patiently to submit to whatsoever he shall inflict upon us for not Obeying, than by Resistance to violate our Countries Peact. The best and safest Course we can steer in such a case, is, Either by Flight to preserve ourselves, or resolvedly to undergo whatsoever shall be imposed upon us.  
2. War against Superiors as such, is unlawful. And naturally all men have a Right to repel Injuries from themselves by Resisting them (as we have already said) but Civil Societies being once Instituted for the Preservation of the Peace, there presently succeeded unto that Commonwealth, a certain greater Right over us & ours, so far forth as was necessary for that end. And therefore that promiscuous Right that Nature gave us to r●ssst, the Commonwealth, for the maintaining of good Order and public Peace, hath a Right to prohibit, which without all doubt it doth; seeing that otherwise it cannot obtain the end it proposeth to itself. For in case that Promiscuous Right of forcible Resistance should be tolerated, it would be no longer a Commonwealth that is a Sanctuary against Oppression, but a confused Rabble, such as that of the Cyclops, whereof the Poet thus, 
— Where every Ass  
May on his wife & children judgement pass.   
A dissolute Company, where All are speakers and none hearers: like to unto that which Valerius records of the Bebri●ii, 
— Who all Leagues and Laws disdain  
And Justice, which men's minds in peace retain.   
Sallust makes mention of a wild and savage people living like Beasts in Woods and mountains, without Laws and without Government, whom he calls Aborigixes: and in another place of the Getuli, who had neither Laws, good Customs, nor any Princes to govern them. But Cities cannot subsist without these, Generale pactum est societatis humanae Regibus obtains; All humane societies (saith St. Augustine) unanimously agree in this, to obey Kings; So Aeschylus, 
Kings live by their own Laws, Subject to none.   
And Sophocles, 
They Princes are, obey we must, what not?   
To the same Tune sings Euripides, 
Folly in Kings must be with patience born.   
Whereunto agrees that of Tacitus, Principi summum rerum arbitrium Dii dederunt, etc. Subditis obsequii gloria relicta est; God hath invested a Prince with Sovereign power, leaving nothing to Subjects but the Glory of Obedience. And here also, 
Base things seem noble when by Princes done;  
What they Impes●, bear thou, be't right or wrong.  [Senator] Wherewith agrees that of Sallust, Impune quid vis facere, hoc est Regem esse; To do any thing without fear of punishment, is peculiar to Kings: for as Mark Anthony urged in Herod 's Case, If he were accountable for what he hath done as a King, he could not be a King. Hence it is, that the Majesty of such as have Sovereign power, whether in one or more, is fenced with so many and so severe Laws, and the Licentiousness of Subjects restrained with such sharp and exquisite Torments; which were unreasonable, if to resist them were lawful. If a Soldier resist his Captain that strikes him, and but lay hold on his Partisan, he shall be cashiered; but if he either break it, or offer to strike again▪ he shall be put to Death: For as Aristotle observes If he that is an Officer strike, he shall not be struck again.  
3. The unlawfulness of making War against our Superiors, is proved by the Jewish Law. [Jos. 1. 18. 1. Sam. 8. 11. Dent. 17. 14.]  
By the Hebrew Law, He that behaved himself contumaciously against either the▪ High Priest, or against him who was extraordinarily by God ordained to govern his people, was to be put to death; and that which in the eighth Chapter of the first Book of Samuel, is spoken of the Right of Kings, to him that throughly inspects it, is neither to be understood of their true and just Rights, that is, of what they may do ●ustly and honestly (for the Duty of Kings is much otherwise described Deut 8 11.) nor is it to be understood barely, of what he will do: for than it had signified nothing that was singular or extraordinary, for private men do the same to private men: But it is to be understood of such a Fact as usurps or carries with it the privilege of what is right, that is, that it must not be restisted although it be not right; for Kings have a Right peculiar to themselves, and what in others is punishable in them is not. That old saying, Summ●m jus, summa injuria, Extreme right is extreme Wrong, is best sitted to the Case of Kings, whose absolute power makes that seem right, which strictly taken is not so. There is a main difference between Right in this sense taken, and Just; for in the former sense, it comprehends whatsoever may be done without fear of Punishment: but Just, respect only things lawful and honest. And though some Kings there be, who are (what Servius in Cicero's Philippics is commanded to be) Magis justitiae quam Juris consulti; more regardful of their honour and duty than of their power and prerogatives: yet this doth not diminish their Sovereign Right; because if they will they may do otherwise without the danger of being resisted. And therefore it is added in that place of Samuel before cited, That when the people should at any time be thus oppressed by their Kings, as if there were no Remedy to be expected from men, they should invoke His help who is the Supreme Judge of the whole Earth. So that whatsoever a King doth, tho' the same done by an inferior person would be an Injury, yet being done by him is Right. As a Judge is said Jus reddere, to do Right, though the 〈◊〉 he gives be unrighteous.  
4. By the G●s 〈◊〉 When Christ in the New-Testament Commanded to give Caes●r his due, doubtless he intended that his Disciples should yield ●s great, if not a greater Obedience, as well active a● passive unto the higher power, than what was due from the Jews to their Kings: which St. Paul, (who was be●● able to interpret his Master's Words) expounding Romans 13. doth at large describe theduty of Subjects; Charging those that resist the power of Kings, with no less Crime than Rebellion against God's Ordinance, and with a Judgement as great as their Sin: For, saith he, They that do so resist shall receive unto themselves damnation. And a little aser he urgeth the Necessity of our Subjection, Not altogether for fear but for conscience, as knowing, that he is the 〈◊〉 of God for our Good. Now if there be a necessity of our Subjection, than there is the same necessity for our not resisting, because he that resists is not subject. Neither did the Apostle mean such a necessity of subjection as ariseth from an apprehension of same worse inconvenience that might follow upon our resistance, but such as proceeds from the sense of some benefit that we receive by it, whereby we stand obliged in duty, not unto man only, but unto God; So that; He that Resists the power of the sapream Magistrate, incurs a double Punishment (saith Plato) First from God, for breaking that good Order which he hath constituted amongst men. And Secondly, From the Common Wealth, whose righteous Laws, made for the preservation of the public peace, are by Resistance Weakened, and the Commonwealth thereby 〈◊〉 For canst thou believe (saith Plato) that any City or Kingdom can long stand, when the public Decrees of the Senate shall be wilfully 〈◊〉 and trampled upon by the overswelling power of some private men, who i● 〈◊〉 against the Execution of the Laws, do, as much as in them lies, d ssolve 〈◊〉 Commonwealth, & consequntly bring all into confusion. The Apostle therefore sortisies this Necessity of public Subjection to Princes with 2 main Reasons: First because God had constituted and approved of this order of Commanding and Obeying; and that not only under the Jewish, but under the Christian Law: Wherefore the powers that are set over us are to be Observed (not servilely, superstitiously, or out of Fear, but with free, rational, & generous Spirits) tanquam a Diis aa●ae, as being given by the Gods, saith Plato: or as St. Paul, tanquam a Deo ordina●ae, as if ordained by God himself. Which Order as it is Originally God's, so by giving it a Civil Sanction, it becomes ours also: For thereby we add as much Authority to it as we can give. The other Reason is drawn ab utsli, from Profit: because this Order is constituted for our good, and therefore in Conscience is to be obeyed and not resisted.  
But here some men may say, That to bear injuries is not at all profitable unto us, whereunto some men (haply more truly than aposi●ely to the meaning of the Apostle) give this Answer, That patiently to bear Injuries, conduceth much to our Benefit, because it entitles us to a Reward, far transcending our Sufferings, as St. Paul testisies. But though this also be true, yet it is not (as I conceive) the proper and genuine sense of the Apostles words, which doubtless have Respect to that Universal Good, whereunto this Order was first instituted, as to its proper end; which was the public peace, wherein every particular man, is as much concerned, if not much more than in his Private. (for what Protection can good Laws give, if Subjects may refuse to yield their obedience to them; whereas, by the Constant observance of good Laws, all Estates, both public and private, do grow up and flourish together) [Plato.] And certainly these are the good Fruits that we receive from the supreme Powers, for which in Conscience we owe them Obedience. For no man did ever yet wish ill to himself. (But he that resists the power of the Magistrate, and wilfully violates the Laws established, doth in effect (as far as in him is) dissolve his country's peace. and will in the end bury himself also in the ruins of it.) [Plato.] Besides, the Glory of Kings consists in the prosperity of their Subjects, When Sylla had by his Cruelty, almost depopulated, not Rome only, but all Italy, one seasonably admonished him, Sinendos esse aliquos vivere, ut essent, quibus imperet; That some should be permitted to live, over whom he might rule as a King. [Flora's. Aug. de. civ. Dei. Lib. 3. cap. 28.] It was a common Proverb among the Hebrews, Nisi Potestas publica esset, alter alterum vivum deglutiret; Were it not for the Sovereign Powers, every Kingdom would be like a great Pond, wherein the greater Fish would always devour the Lesser. Agreeable whereunto is that of chrysostom, Unless there were a power over us to restrain our inordinate Lusts, Men would be more sierce & cruel than Lions & Tigers, not only biting, but eating & devouring one another. Take away Tribunals of Justice, and you take away all Right, Property and Dominion: No man can say, this is mine House, this my Land, these my Goods or my Servants: but Omnia erunt Fortiorum, the longest Sword would take all. [Chrys de statuis 6. ad Eph.] The mighty man could be no longer secure of his estate than until a mightier than he came to dispossess him; The weaker must always give place to the Stronger: and where the strength was equal the loss would be so too; and this would at length introduce a general Ataxy, which would be far more perilous than a perfect Slavery. Wherefore seeing that God hath Established (and humane Reason upon Trial approved of) Soveveraign Empire as the best Preservative of humane Societies, that every m●n should yield Obedience thereunto is most rational: For without Subje● ion there can be no Proctection.  
Object. But here it will he objected, That The Commands of Pierces do not 〈…〉 to the Public Good, and therefore when they 〈◊〉 from that ●nd for which they were ordained, they ought not to be obeyed. To which I answer.  
That though the Supreme Magistrate doth sometimes, either through Fear, Anger, ●●st, Covetousness, or such like inordinate 〈…〉 the ordinary p●●h of Justice and Equity, yet are these 〈…〉 but seldom ● to be passed over as personal blemishes, which (a● Tacitus rightly observes) are abundantly recompensed by the more frequent examples of better Princes. (Besides the Lives of Princes are to be considered with some grains of allowance, in respect of those many provocations and opportunities they have to offend, which private men have not; All men have their Failings, we ourselves have ours; and in case we will admit of none in Kings, we must not rank them amongst men but Gods. The Moon hath her spots; Venus her Mole; and if we can find nothing under the Sun without blemish, why should we expect perfection in Kings? He is very uncharitable that judges of Rulers by some few of their evil Deeds, passing over many of their good ones. Seeing therefore that there is in all men's lives, as in our best Coin, an intermixture of good and evil; it is sufficient to denominate a Prince good, if his Virtues excel his Errors. Besides, to charge the Vices of Kings upon the Government, as they usually do who affect Innovation, is but a Cheat: For what is this, but to condemn the Law for the Corruption of some Lawyers: Or Agriculture, because some men do curse God for a Storm? Si mentiar, Ego mentior, non Negotium; If I do lie, (saith the Merchant in St. Augustine) it is I that am to be be blamed not my Calling. And if some Princes do prevaricate in some things, they and not their Function are ●o be blamed. But as to Laws, though they cannot be so made as to fit every m●n Case, yet it sufficeth to denominate them good, if they obviate such 〈…〉 as are frequently practised, and so do good to the generality of the People. But as to such cases which because they rarely happen cannot so easily be provided against by particular Laws, even these also are understood to be restrained by general Rules. For though the Reason of the Law being particularly applied to that special Case hold not; yet in the General, under which special Cases may lawfully be Comprehended, it may. And much better is it so to do, than to live without Law, or to permit every man to be a law to himself. Very apposite to this purpose is that of Seneca, [Lib. 7. the Benef cap 16.] Better is it not to admit of some excuses, though just from a few, than that All should be permitted to make whatsoever they please. Memorable is that of Pericles in Thucydides, [Lib. 2.] Better it is for private men, that the Commonwealth flourish, though they thrive not in it, than that they should abound & grow rich in their own private estates, and the Commonwealth pine and Wither: For if the whole be ruined, every private man's Fortunes must needs be ruined with it: but if the Commonwealth flourish, every private man's estate, though in itself weak, may in time be repaired. Wherefore, since the state if well ordered, can easily support any private man's fortunes, but a private man's estate, though never so well ordered, cannot repair the loss of the public state: why do ye not rather contribute your utmost care to advance the Public, than (as ye now do) seek to build your own private Fortunes upon the public Ruins? Wherewith agrees that of Ambrose, [de Off. Lib. 3.] Eadem est singulorum utilitas, quae Universorum; The Profit which the Commonwealth receives, redounds to every private man. And that also in the Law, Semper non quod privatim interest ex sociis; sed quod communi societate expedit, servari debet; Evermore, not that which particularly availeth any one party, but that which conduceth to the Benefit of the Common Society is to be observed. (When the Common people in ●ome began to Mutinee by reason of some Taxes extraordinarily imposed on them, Laevinus the Consul exhorted the Senate, to encourage the people by their own example; and to that very end advised every Senator to bring into the Senate-house, all the Gold, Silver and Brass Money he had▪ that it might be delivered to the ●r●umo●ri for the publs ck service: adding this reason, If our City overcome, no man needs to fear his own 〈◊〉 but if it fall, let no man think to preserve his own [Liv. l. 26.]) For as Plato rightly observes, What is common strengthens a city, but what enricheth private families only, weakens and diss lves it: And therefore it concerns both Princes and subjects to prefer the Affairs of the Commonwealth, before their own either pleasure or Profit) It is a very true Observation of Xenophon's, He that in an Army behaves himself sedition sly against his▪ General, sins against his own Life. And no less true is that of Jamblicus, No man should think himself a Loser by what the Commonwealth gains, for every private man's loss is sufficiently recompensed in the public profit: For as in the natural body, so doubtless in the Civil, In totius Salute, Salus est partium; the well being of every part, consists in the safety of the whole. But without doubt, among those th' ngs that are public, the chief & principal is that aforesaid Order of we●● Commanding and well-Obeying: which cannot consist where private Subjects assume that Licence of resisting the public Magistrate: which is excellently described by Dion Cassius, whose words sound much to this s●●se, I cannot conceive it seemly for a Prince to submit to his subjects, for there can be no safety, wh●●e the free are advanced above the Head, or where they undertake to govern, whose Duty it is to be governed. What a dismal Confusion would it introduce in a Family if Children should be permitted to despise their Parents or Servants to dispute the Commands of their Masters? In what a desperate Condition is that Patient, that will not be ruled in all things by his Physician? And what hopes can there be of that Ship, where the Mariners refuse to obey their Pilot? Surely God hath ordained, and humane Reason upon trial hath found it necessary, that for the preservation of 〈◊〉 me Society, some should Command, and some Obey. To the Testimony of St. Paul, we shall add that of St. Peter, whose words are these, Honour the King, Servants, be ye subjects to your Masters with all fear, and not only to the good & gentle, but also to the froward: For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience sake ●●●ourd God endure Grief, suffering wrongfully, for what glory is it, if when ye be buffeted for your faults ye take it patiently? But if when ye do well, & suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. 1. Fet. 2. 17, 18, 19 And this he by and by confirms by Christ's own Example, which Clemens also in his Constitutions thus expresseth, The servant that seareth God, saith he, will serve his Master also with all faithfulness, yea, though he be impious and unjust. Whence we may observe two things: First, That under the subjection that servants are in even to hard Masters, is also couched that of Subjects unto Kings, though Tyrannical. And therefore, as a little before he commanded Subjection to every humane Ordinance; that is, to the Laws and Constitutions of Princes without distinction, (for when that Epistle was written, there were very few Princes that were not Idolaters) yet submit we must, saith St. Peter, for all that; and that, p●opter Dominum, for the Lord's sake. So what follows in the same Chapter being built upon the same foundation, respects the Duty as well of subjects as of Servants. And so requires the same Obedience, as well passive as Active; Such as we usually pay to our Parents, according to that of the Poet, 
Thy Parents love if good, if bade yet bear.  And also that of Terence, 
To bear with parents, piety Commands.  And that likewise of Ciccro in his Oration for Claentius, Men ought not only to conceal the injuries done unto them by their parents, but to bear them with 〈◊〉 A young man of Erc●ria that had been long educated under 〈◊〉 being demanded, What he had learned? Answered, Meekly to bear ●is ●rath. So Justin relates of 〈◊〉 That he endured the Reproaches of the King, with the same calmness of Spirit, as if he had ●een his Father. [I●b. 15.] ●●renda sum 〈◊〉 ingeria, The Humours of Kings most be endured: saith Tacitus: [Ann. 16. Hist. 6.] And in another place he tells us, That Good Emperors are to be wished for, but whensoever they are, they must be obeyed. So also Livy, As the R●ge of our Parents, so the Cruelty of our Country are no ways to be 〈◊〉 but by patience and Sufferance. For which Claudius highly extols the Persians, who obeyed all their Kings equally though never so cruel.  
5. Neither did the Practice of the primitive Christians swerve from this Law of God, which is an undeniable Argument that they so understood it. For though the Roman Emperors were sometimes the very worst of men, and deadly Enemies to the Christian Faith; yea, though there wanted not such under their Government, who under the specious pretence of freeing the Commonwealth from Tyranny and Oppression, took Arms against them, you could the● never persuade the Christians to join with them. In the Constitutions of Clemens we read, ●●giae potestati resistere Nefas, To 〈◊〉 the power of a King is impious. ●e●tullian in his Apology writes thus, W●at was that Cassius that ●●nspi●●d against the life of Julius Caesar? What was that Polcennius N g●r that in love to his own country, took Arms in Syria, as Clodius Albinus did in France & Britain, against that bloody Emperor Septimius Severus? Or What was that Plautianus, who to set the Commonwealth free from Tyranny, attempted the Life of the same Emperor in his own palace? What was that Aelius Laetus, who having s●st po●sened that infamous Emperor Commodus, fearing it should not take that effect which he desired, did afterwards hir● Narcissus a strong Wrestler to strangle him? Or What was that Parthenius, (whose fact Tertullian doth so much detest) who being Chamberlain to that execrable Tyrant Domitian, yet killed him in his own Chamber? What (saith Ter●ilian) were all these? Surely not Christians, but Romans. Nay, So abominated they were by Christians, that Tertullian seems to glory in this, that though Christians were every where reproached as Enemies, nay Traitors to the Imperial Crown, yet could they never find any of them, either stained with that Crime, or so much as favouring those Treasonable Practices of either Cassias, Niger. or Albinus. When St. Ambrose was commanded by the Emperor Valentinus to give up his Church to be Garrisuned by Soldiers, though he took it to be an injury done, not only to himself and his Congregation, but even unto Christ himself; yet would he not take any advantage of the commo●●●s it made among the People, to make Resistance. [S●● Gratian c. 23. q. 8.] If the Emperor (saith he) had commanded what was in my power to give, were it mine House, Land, Goods▪ Go●d or Si ver, how readily should I obey; Whatsoever is mine I would wi●ingly offer: hat the Temple of God, I cannot give away, 〈…〉 to any man: Cum ad cust●di●ndum, n●n 〈…〉 〈◊〉 it was committed to m●e to defend and to 〈…〉 And where●s the people being ●●raged thereby, 〈…〉 to repel the Soldiers, he refused it saying, 〈…〉 Though provoked and compelled thereunto, yet withstand or resist I cannot; grieve and weep, and mourn I can, against Arms, Soldiers and Coths: I have no other weapons but Tears: for these are the only Forts and Mu●ments of a Priest: Aliter nec debeo n●c possum resistere, Otherwise I neither ought nor can resist. [Lib. 5. Orat. in A●xen.] And presently after, being commanded to appease the Tumult, he replied, That not to excite them was in his power, but being exasperated and enraged, to appease them was in the sole power of Him, who when He pleased, could ●●●ll the ragings of the Seas & the madness of the people. [Epist. 33.] And in another place he writes thus, Will ye hale me to prison, or cast me into chains? I am willing to suffer, neither shall I guard myself with multitudes of people who offer themselves to defend me. Neither would he make use of the Forces of Maximus, when offered against the Emperor, though an Artan, and a grievous Persecutor of the Church. In imitation of whom, Gregory the Great, in one of his epistles confesseth, That if he would have engaged himself in the Death of the Lombard's, that Nation had at that day, had neither King, Dukes, nor Earls, but had been reduced into extreme Confusion. [Greg. l. 6. Ep. 1.] Nazianzen informs us, That Julian the Apostate was diverted from some bloody designs he intended against the Church, by the Tears of Christians: Adding withal, That These are our best Preservatives against Persecutions. [Naz▪ Orat. 1. in Julian.] And because a great part of his Army were Christians, therefore his cruelty towards them, would have been not injurious to the Church of Christ only, but would at that time have much endagerd the Commonwealth. Unto all which we may also add that of St. Augustine, where expounding those places of St. Paul, he saith, Even for the preservation of our own Lives, we ought to submit to the supreme Power, & not to resist them in whatsoever they shall take away from us.  
6. 〈◊〉 Magistrates ought not to resist the Supreme. Some very learned men there are even this age, who accommodating themselves t●o servilely to the times and places wherein they live, do persuade themselves l●st, and then others, That though this licence of Resisting the Supreme power be inconsistent with the Condition of private men, yet it agreed with the Rights of inserior Magistrates; nay, further, that the● sin in case they do it not: which Opinion is to be exploded, us For as in Logic there is a Genus which is called 〈◊〉 which though it be comprehensive of all that is under it, as a living Creature comprehends both man and Beast; yet hath it a Cenus above it, in respect whereof it is but a Species: As a living Creature is to a body, which comprehends all sorts of bodies, both animate and inanimate. The like we may say of Magistrates, some are Supreme, who rule all, and are ruled by none; others are Subordinate, who in respect of private men, are public Persons, governing like Princes; But in respect of the Supreme Magistrate are but private men, and are commanded as Subjects. For the power or faculty of Governing, as it is derived from the Supreme power, so it is subject unto it, And whatsoever is done by the inferior Magistrate, contrary to the Will of the Supreme, is nu●●, and reputed but as a private Act, for want of the Stamp of public Authority. All Order (say Philosophers) doth necessarily relate to somewhat that is first and highest, from whence it takes its Rise and Beginning. Now they that are of this Opinion, that inseriour Magistrates may resist the Supreme, seem to introduce such a state of things, as the Poets fancied to have been in Heaven before Majesty was thought on, when the lesser gods denied the prerogative of Jupiter. But this Order or Subordination of one to another, is not only approved of by Common Experience, as in every Family the Father is the head, next unto him the Mother, than the Children, and after them the Servants, and such as are under them: So in every Kingdom, Each power under Higher powers are— And, All Governors are under Government— To which purpose is that notable saying of St. Augustine, Observe (saith he) the degrees of all humane things: If thy Tutor enjoin thee any thing, thou must do it; yet not, in case the Proconsul command the contrary: neither must thou obey the Consul, if thy Prince command othertherwise: for in so doing thou canst not be said to contemn Authority, but thou choosest to obey that which is highest: Neither aught the lesser powers to be effended, that the greater is preferred before them, for 〈…〉. [Grat. c. 11. q. 3, Qui● 〈◊〉 And that also of the s●me Father concerning Pilate, Because 〈◊〉 he) God h●d invessed 〈◊〉 such a power as was itself subordinate 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 But 〈…〉 approved of by Divine Authority, For 〈◊〉 enjoins us 〈…〉 unto Kings otherwise than unto Magistrates: To ●ings as 〈◊〉 that is, absolutely, without Exceptions to any other Commands than those directly from God: who is so far from justifying our Resistance, that He commands our passive Obedience: But unto Magistrates, as they are deputed by Kings, and as they derive their Authority form them. And when St. Paul subjects every soul to the higher powers, (Rom. 13.) doubtless he exempts not inferior Magistrates. Neither do we find among the Hebrews (where there were so many Kings utterly regardless of the Laws both of God & Men) any inferior Magistrates, among whom, some without all question, there were both pious and valiant, that ever arrogated unto themselves this Right of Resisting by force, the power of their Kings, without an express command from God, who alone ha●● an unlimited power and Jurisdiction over them. But on the Contrary, What duties inferior Magistrates owe unto their Kings, though wicked, Samuel will instruct us by his own Example, who though he knew that Saul had corrupted himself, and that God also had rejected him from being King, yet before the people, and before the Elders of Israel, he gives him that Reverence and Respect that was due unto him, (1. Sam. 15. 30.) And so likewise the state of Religion publicly professed, did never depend upon any other humane Authority, but on that of the King, and Sanhedrim. For in that after the King, the Magistrates with the People, engaged themselves to the true Worship and Service of God, it ought to be understood, so far forth as it should be in the power of every one of them. Nay, the very Images of their false gods which were publicly erected, (and therefore could not but be scandalous to such as were truly religious) yet were they never demolished, so far as we can read of, but at the special Command either of the people when the Government was popular, or of Kings, when the Government was kingly. And if the Scriptures do make mention of any Violence sometimes offered unto Kings, it is not to justify the fact, but to show the Equity of the Divine providence in permitting it. And whereas they of the contrary persuasion do frequently urge that excellent Saying of Trajan the Emperor, who delivering a Sword to a Captain of the Praetorian Band, said, Hoc pro me u●ere, si recte impero; si male, contra na: Use this Sword for me if I Govern well, but if otherwise, against me. We must know, that Trajan (as appears by Pliny's Panegyric) was not willing to assume unto himself Regal power, but rather to behave himself as a good Prince, who was willing to submit to the Judgement of the Senate and people; whose Decrees he would have that Captain to execute, though it were against himself. Whose Example both Pertinax and Macrinus did afterwards follow▪ whose excellent Speeches to this purpose are Recorded by Herodian. The like we read of M. Anthony, who refused to touch the public sure without the consent of the Roman Senate.  
7. Of Resistance in case of inevitable Necessity.] But the Case will yet be more Difficult, Whether this Law of not-Resisting do oblige us, when the Dangers that threaten us be extreme, and otherwise inevitable. For some of the Laws of God Himself, though they sound absolutely, yet seem to admit of some tacit Exceptions in cases of Extreme Necessity: For so it was, by the wisest of the Jewish Doctors, expressly determined concerning the Law of their Sabbath, in the times of the Hasamonaeans, whence rose that famous Saying among them, Periculum animae impellit Sabbatum; The danger of a man's Life drives away the Sabbath. When the Jew in Synesius, was accused for the breach of the Sabbath, he excuseth himself by another Law, and that more forcible, saying, We were in manifest jeopardy of our lives. When Bacchides had brought the Army of the Jews into a great Strait on their Sabbath day, placing cing his Army before them and behind them, the River Jordan being on both sides; Jonathan thus bespoke his Soldiers, Let us go up now & fight for our lives, for it standeth not with us to day, as in times past. (1. Mac. 9 43, 44, 45.) Which case of Necessity is approved of, even by Christ Himself, as well in this Law of the Sabbath, as in that of not eating the Shewbread. And the Hebrew Doctors pretending the Authority of an ancient Tradition, do rightly interpret their Laws made against the eating of meats forbidden, with this tacit Exception: Not that it was not just with God to have obliged us even unto death, but that some Laws of His are conversant about such matters as it cannot easily be believed that they were intended to have been prosecuted with so much Rigour as to reduce us to such an Extremity, as to die rather than to disobey them, which in humane laws doth yet further proceed. I deny not, but that some Acts of Virtue are so strictly enjoined, that if we perform them not, we may justly be put to Death: As for a Centinel, to forsake his Station. But neither is this rashly to be understood to be the Will of the Lawgiver. Nor do men assume so much Right over either themselves or others, unless it be when, & so far forth as extreme Necessity requires it. For all humane laws are so constituted, or so to be understood as that there should be some allowance for humane Frailty. The right understanding of this Law of Resisting or not-Resisting the Highest powers in cases of inevitable Necessity, seems much to depend upon the Intention of those who first entered into Civil Society, from whom the Right of Government is devolved upon the persons governing: who had they been demanded, Whether they would have imposed such a yoke upon all Mankind as death itself, rather than in any case by force to repel the Insolences of their Superiors; I much question whether they would have granted it, unless it had been in such a case, where such Resistance could not be made without great Commotions in the Commonwealth, or the certain Destruction of many Innocents', for what Charity commends in such a case to be done, may, I doubt not, pass for an humane Law. But some may say, that this rigid Obligation, ●o die rather than at any time to Resist Injuries done by our Superiors, is not imposed on us by any Humane, but by the Divine Law. But we must observe, That men did not at first unite themselves in Civil Society, by any special Command from God, but voluntarily, out of a sense they had of their own impotency to repel force and Violence whilst they lived solitarily, and in Families appart; whence the civil power takes it Rise: For which cause it is that St. Peter calls it an humane Ordinance, although it be elsewhere called a Divine Ordinance, because this wholesome Constitution of men was approved of by God Himsef. But God in approving an humane Law, may be thought to approve of it as an humane law, & after an humane manner. Barkly (who was the stoutest Champion in defending Kingly Power) doth notwithstanding thus far allow, That the People or the Nobler part of them, have a Right to defend themselves against cruel Tyranny, and yet he confesseth, that the whole Body of the people is subject unto the King. [Barkley. Lib. 3. contra Monarchomach. c. 8.] Now this I shall easily admit, That the more we desire to secure any thing by Law, the more express and peremptory should that Law be, and the fewer exceptions there should be from it; (for they that have a mind to violate that Law, will presently seek shelter, and think themselves privileged by those Exceptions, though their Cases be far different;) yet dare I not condemn indifferently either every private man, or every, though lesser part of the people, who as their last Refuge, in cases of extreme Necessity, have anciently made use of their Arms to defend themselves, yet with respect had to the Common Good. For David, who (saving in some particular Facts) was so celebrated for his integrity, did yet entertain first four hundred, and afterwards more armed men; to what end, unless for the safeguard of his own person, against any violence that should be offered him? But this also we must note, That David did not this until he had been assured, both by Jonathan, and by many other infallible Arguments, that Saul sought his life; and that even then, he never invaded any City, nor made an offensive War against any▪ but lurked only for his own security, sometimes in Mountains, sometimes in Caves, and such like devious places, and sometimes in foreign Nations, with this Resolution, to decline all occasions of annoying his own Countrymen. A Fact parallel to this of David's, we may read in the Maccabees: For whereas some seek to defend the Wars of the Maccabees upon this ground, That Antiochus was not a King, but an Usurper; this I account but frivolous: for in the whole Story of the Macabees, we shall never find Antiochus mentioned by any of their own party, by any other Title than by that of King; and deservedly: For the Hebrews had long before submitted to the 〈◊〉 Empire, in whose Right Antiochus succeeded. And whereas the Hebrew Laws forbade a Stranger to be set over them, this was to be understood by a voluntary Election, and not by an involuntary Compulsion, through the Necessity of the times. And whereas others say, That the Maccabees did act by the people's Right, to whom belonged the Right of Governing themselves by their own Laws, neither is this probable: For the Jews being first conquered by Nebuchad●osor▪ were by the Right of War subject unto him, and afterwards became by the ●ame Law subject to the Medes and Persians, as successors to the Chaldeans, whose whole Empire did at last devolve upon the Macedonians And hence it is, That the Jews, in Tactius are termed The most servile of all the Eastern Nations; neither did they require any Covenants or Conditions from Alexander or his successors, but yielded themselves freely, without any Limitations or Exceptions, as before they had done unto Darius. And though they were permitted sometimes to use their own Rites, and publicly to exercise their own Laws, yet was not this due unto them by any Law that was added unto the Empire, but only by a precarious Right that was indulged unto them by the Favour of their Kings. There was nothing then that could justify the Maccabees in their taking of Arms, but that invincible Law of Extreme Necessity which might do it so long as they contained themselves within the bounds of Self-Preservation, and in imitation of David, betook themselves to secret places, in order to their own security; never offering to make use of their Arms unless violently assaulted. In the mean time, great Care is to be taken, that even when we are thus enforced to defend ourselves in cases of certain and extreme danger, we spare the person of the King; for they that conceive the carriage of David towards Saul, to proceed not so much from the Necessity of Duty, as out of some deeper consideration, are mistaken: for David himself declares, that no man can be innocent that stretcheth forth his hand against the Lord's Anointed: (1. Sam. 26. 9) Because he very well knew that it was written in the Law, Thou shal● not ●●e Gods, that is the Supreme Judges: Thou shalt not curse the Rulers of thy people. (Exod. 22. 28.) In which Law, special mention being made of the Supreme power; it evidently shows That some special Duty towards them is required of us. Wherefore Optatus Melevitanus speaking of this Fact of David, saith, That God's special Command coming fresh into his memory, did so restrain him, that he could not hurt Saul, though his mortal enemy. Wherefore he brings in David thus reasoning with himself, Volebam hostem vincere, sed prius est Divina praecepta observare, Willingly I would overcome mine Enemy, but I dare not transgress the Commands of God. [Lib. 2.] And Josephus speaking of David after he had cut off Saul's Garment, saith, That his heart smote him: So that he confessed, Injustu●▪ facinus crat Regem suum occidere, It was a a wicked act to kill his Sovereign. And presently after, Horrendum Regem quamvis malum occid●re, poenam enim id factenti imminere constat, ab eo qui Regem dedit, It is an horrid act to kill a King, though wicked, for certainly He, by whose providence all King's reign, will pursue the Regicide with vengeance inevitably. To reproach any private man falsely is forbidden by the Law, but of a King we must not speak evil, though he deserve it; because as he that wrote the Problems (fathered upon Aristotle) saith, He that speaketh evil of the Governor, scandalizeth the whole City. So Joab concludes concerning Shimei, as Josephus testifies, Shalt thou not die, who presumest to curse him whom God hath placed in the Throne of the Kingdom? The Laws (saith Julian) are very severe on the behalf of Princes, for he that is injurious unto them, doth wilfully trample upon the Laws themselves. [Misopogoris] Now if we must not speak evil of Kings, much less must we do evil against them. David repented but for offering violence to Saul's Garments, so great was the Reverence that he bore to his person, and deservedly: For since their Sovereign power cannot but expose them to the General Hatred, therefore it is sit, that their security should especially be provided for. This, saith Quintilian, to the fate of such as sit at the Stern of Government, that they cannot discharge their Duty faithfully, nor provide for the public safety, without the envy of many. (And for this cause are the persons of Kings guarded with such severe Laws, which seem, like Draco's, to be wrote in blood,) as may appear by those enacted by the Romans, for the security of their Tribunes, whereby their persons became inviolable. Amongst other wise Sayings of the Esseni, this was one, That the persons of Kings should be held as sacred. And that of Homer was hast noable, 
His chiefest care was for the King,  
That nothing should endanger him.  And no marvel: For as St. chrysostom well observes. If any man kill a sheep, he but lessens the number of them, but if he kill the Shepherd, he dissipates the whole fl●ck. The very Name of a King, as Curtius tells us, among such nations as were governed by Kings, was as venerable as that of God. So Artabanus the Persian, Amongst many and ●●●se most excellent Laws we have, this seems to be the best, which commands us to a●ore our Kings as the very image of God who is the Saviour of all. And therefore as Plutarch speaks, Nec ●as, nec l●i●um est Regis corpori manus infer, It is not permitted by the Laws of God or man, to offer violence to the person of a King. But as the same Plutarch in another place tells us, The principal part of 〈◊〉 is▪ to save him that saves all. If the eye observe a blow threatening the head, the hand, being instructed by nature, interposeth itself, as preferring the safety of the head (whereupon all other members depend) before their own. Wherefore, as Cassiod●●e notes, He that with the loss of his own life, Redeems the Life of his Prince, doth well; if in so doing he propose to himself the freeing of his own soul, rather than that of another man's body, for as conscience teacheth him to express his sidelity to his Sovereign; so doth right Reason instruct him to prefer the life of his Prince, before the safety of his own body. But here a more difficult question ariseth; as namely, Whether what was lawful for David and the Maccabees, be likewise lawful for us Christians: Or whether Christ who so often enjoins us to take up our Cross, do not require from us a greater measure of patience? Surely, where our Superiors threaten us with Death upon the account of Religion, our Saviour advised such as are not obliged by the necessary Duties of their Calling to reside in any one place, to flee, but beyond this, nothing. St. Peter tells us, That Christ in his suffering left us an ensample, who tho' he knew no sin, nor had any guile found in his mouth, yet being reviled, reviled not again, when he suffered, he threatened not, but remmitted his cause to him that judgeth righteously (1. Pet. 4. 12, 13, 14, 15, 16.)▪ Nay he adviseth us to give thanks unto God, and to rejoice when we suffer persecution for our Religion: and we may read how mightily Christian Religion hath grown and been advanced by this admirable gift of patience, wherefore how injurious to those agreement Christians (who (living in or near the times of either the Apostles themselves or men truly Apostolical) must needs be well instructed in their Discipline, and consequently walked more exactly according to their Rules, yet suffered death for their saith) how injurious I say, to these men, are they, who hold that they wanted not a Will to resist, but rather a power to defend themselves at the approach of death? Surety Tertullian had never been so imprudent, nay, so impudent as so confidently to have affirmed such an untruth, whereof he knew the Emperor could not be ignorant, when he wrote thus unto him, If we had a will to take our private Revenge, or to act as public Enemies, could we want either numbers of men, or stores of warlike Previsions? Are the Moors, Germans, Partisians', or the people of any one Nation, more than those of the whole Worl●? We, though strangers, yet d● fill all places in your Dominions; your Cities, Islands, Castles, Forts, Assemblies, your very Camps, Tribes, Court's, Palaces, Se●● es; only your Temples we leave to yourselves: For what war have we not always declared ourselves sit and ready, though in Numbers of men we have sometimes been very unequal? How cometh it then to p ss, that we suffer Death so meekly, so patiently, but that we are instructed by our Religion, that it is much better to be killed than to kill? Cyprian also treading in his Master's steps, openly declares, That it was from the principles of their Religion, that Christians being apprehended, made no Resistance, nor attempted any revenge for injuries unjustly done them, though they wanted neither numbers of men, nor other means to have resisted, but it was their confidence of some divi●e Vengeance that would fall upon their persecutors, that made them thus patient, & that persuaded the innocent to give way to the nocent. [Lib. 5.] So Lactantius, We are willing to conside in the Majesty of God, who is able, as well to revenge the contempt done to Himself, as the injuries and hardships done unto us: Wherefore, though our sufferings be such as cannot be expressed, yet we do not mutter a word of discontent, but refer ourselves wholly to him who judgeth righteously. And to the same tune sings St Augustine, When Princes err, they presently make Laws to legitimate their errors, and by those very laws they judge the innocent, who are at length crowned with Martyrdom. [Ep 166.] And in another place, Tyrans are so to be endured by their subjects, & hard Masters by their servants, that both their temporal lives (if possible 〈◊〉 may be preserved, and yet their eternal safety carefully provided for: Which he illustrates by the examples of the primitive Christians, Who though they then s● journed upon earth as 〈…〉 numbers of 〈…〉 them, yet ●h●se rather patiently to s●ffer all manner of torments, than forcibly to resist th●●e persecutors: Neither would they sighed to preserve their 〈◊〉 lives, but chose rather not to sight, th●t so they might ensure unto themselves an eternal. For they endured Bonds, S●●ipes, imprisonment the 〈◊〉 the Fire, the Cross; they were ●lead alive, killed, and quartered, and, ye● they multiplied; they esteemed this life not worth the sighting for, so that with the loss of it they ●ight purchase what so eagerly they panted after, a better. Of the same opinion was Cyril, as may appear by many notable Sayings of his upon that place of St. John, where he treats of Peter's Sword. The Thebean Legion, we read, consisted of 6666. Soldiers, and all Christians, who when the Emperor Maximianus would have compelled the whole Army to sacrifice to Idols, first removed their Station to Agaunus, and when upon fresh orders sent after them, they refused to come, Maxin●tanus commanded his officers to put every tenth man to Death, which was easily done, no man offering to resist: At which time Mauritius (who had the chief Command in that Legion, and from whom the Town Agaunus in Switzer-land was afterwards called St. Mauritz, as Encherius, Bishop of Lions, records) thus bespoke his fellow soldiers, How fearful was I lest any of you under the pretence of defending yourselves (as was easy for men armed as ye are to have done) should have attempted by force to have rescued from death those blessed Martyrs? which had you done, I was sufficiently instructed by Christ's own example to have forbidden it, who expressly remanded that Sword into its sheath, that was but drawn in his own defence; thereby teaching us that our Christian Faith is much more prevalent than all other arms. This tragic Act being past, the Emperor commanding the same thing to the survivours, as he had done before to the whole Legion, they unanimously returned him this answer, I ●i quidem, Caesar, milites sumus, etc. We are thy Soldiers, O Caesar, we took arms for the defence of the Roman Empire; we never yet deserted the war, nor betrayed the trust reposed in us; we were never yet branded with fear or cowardice, but have always observed thy commands, until being otherwise instructed by our Christian Laws, we refuse to worship the devil, or to approach those altars that are polluted with blood. We find by thy commands, that thou resolvest either to draw us into Idolatry, or to offright us by putting every tenth man of us to death: make no further search after those that are willing to lie concealed; but know that we are all of us Christians, all our bodies thou hast indeed under thy power, but our souls are subject only to Christ our redeemer. Then Enuperius being the Standard-bearer to that Legion thus bespeak them, Hukerto, Fellow-soldiers, I have carried the Standard before you in this secular war, but it is not unto these arms that I am now to invite you, it is not unto these wars that I now excite your valour, for now we are to practise another kind of waarfare; for with these weapons ye can never enforce your way into the kingdom of heaven. And by & by he sends this Message to the Emperor, Against thee, O Caesar, Desperation itself (which usually makes even Cowards valiant) cannot prevail with us to take arms. Behold, we have our weapons sixth, yet will we not resist; because we choose rather to be killed by thee than to overcome thee, and to die innocents', than to live rebels to either God or thee. And a little after he adds, Tela projicimus, etc. We abandon our arms, O Emperor, & will meet thy messengers of death with naked breasts, yet with hearts strongly munited with Christian Faith. And presently after followed that general Massacre of the Thebean Band, whereof Eutherius gives this Narrative, It was neither their Innocence nor their Numbers, that could exempt them from death, whereas in other more dangerous tumults, a multitude though offending, are rarely punished. The same story in the old Martyrology we find thus recorded, They were every where wounded with swords, yet they cried not out, but disdaining the use of their Arms, they exposed their breasts naked to their persecutors: It was neither their numbers nor their experience in war, that could persuade them to assert the equity of their cause by their swords, but placing His example always before them, who was led to the slaughter dumb, and like a Lamb to be sacrificed, opened not his mouth; they also in imitation of Him; like the innocent flock of Christ, suffered themselves to be worried and torn in pieces by an herd of persecuting wolves. Thus also do the Jews of Alexandria, testify their innocency before Flaccus, We are, as thou seest, unarmed, and yet we are accused unto thee as public enemies to the state: these hands which nature hath given us for our defence, we have caused to be pinnacled behind us, where they are of little use, & our breasts we expose naked to every man that hath a mind to kill us. And when the Emperor Valens cruelly persecuted those Christians, which according to the Holy Scriptures, & the Traditions of the Ancient Fathers, professed Christ to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that is, Coessential with the Father; though there were every where great Multitudes of them, yet did they never attempt by arms to secure themselves. Surely, wheresoever Patience in times of persecution is commended unto us, there we find Christ's own example held out unto us (as we read it was to the Thebean Legion) for our imitation. As therefore His patience, so ours, should have no bounds nor limits but death itself. And he that thus loseth his life, is truly said by Christ Himself to find it.  
Secondly. These measures could never better our Condition, nor redress our Grievances, unless we should be so vain to imagine ourselves capable of waging war with the Crown of England, and all its Allies. Is the KING so petty and inconsiderable a Prince that He should be forced? Or can we think that the noise of our Thousands and Ten Thousands will frighten Him into a Compliance? Without doubt if we do, we shall too too late find our mistake, and a woeful experience will quickly teach us, that the sole want of Their Majesty's Protection, will in a very short time reduce us to the most miserable & deplorable condition in the world.  
But perhaps we may fancy that this action of ours hath exremely obliged Them, and that all things now are become justly due to the merits of our services: 'twill do very well if it be so understood, but I cannot see the least probability of such a Construction; for we have sufficiently manifested in our Declaration, that Self-interest was the first and principal motive to our Undertaking, and our Progress doth plainly demonstrate, that we have only made use of Their Names, the better to effect our own Designs; whilst every thing that hath any Relation to Them, lies neglected & unregarded, without any recognition of Their Authority over these Dominions, or the least Acknowledgement of our Submission to such orders as should come from Them; saving what particularly related to some few ill men (as we call them) whom we have imprisoned & detained without any Law or Reason; so that we have rashly & imprudently adventured our All upon a chance, (not an equal one) whether it will be well, or ill taken: if well, we can expect nothing more than what we should have had by sitting still & quiet, unless it be a vast Charge, Trouble & Expense, which we have inevitably brought upon ourselves: if ill, what will be the Event?  
In the first place our Country, which hath been so remarkable for the true Profession and pure Exercise of the Protestant Religion, will be termed a Land full of Hypocrisy, REBELLION, Irreligion, and what not; and we ourselves a degenerate, wicked people, that have fallen from the practices of our Forefathers, and the purity of our first principles.  
2. In all our Pamphlets and Discourses, we have so magnified our Action, and boasted of the vast numbers we can bring into the Field, that it must be of great import to the Crown of England to curb us & in time to reduce us to our former obedience; & no body will imagine it consistent with the interest of that Crown, any more to trust Government in the hands of a people, so ready & so able upon all occasions to set up for themselves, and the stronger we are, the more need there will be to keep us under.  
3. And lastly, We shall realy endure and undergo all those Miseries & Calamities which we sancied to ourselves under the late Government; and become the Scorn and Byword of all our Neighbours.  
What then remains, but that whilst it is yet called today, w● should endeavour to settle ourselves in such a Posture, as may at least mitigate, if not wholly prevent the beforementioned inconveniences. If our Charter be restored such a Condition cannot hurt us; but the 〈◊〉 of it may; for we are accountable for every Action & every false Step we make after the date of it, & render ourselves liable to be Questioned & Quo-Warrant●'d for our Male▪ feazance whensoever the Supreme Authority shall think it meet; if not, it must be of great service to us to be found in a submissive and humb●e posture, sit & ready to receive Their Majesty's Commands; lest while we 〈◊〉 ourselves too much, upon our own merits, we become unwor● 〈…〉 Favour in a most gracious pardon▪ without which 〈…〉 we will) we never can be safe & secure from the severity of 〈…〉 which we have indisputably violated, in matters of the highest 〈…〉 consequence imaginable.  
〈…〉 good man will seriously & impartially consider the foregoing 〈◊〉 and suffer himself to be guided by the Dictates of Reason, and not of Humour or Prejudice, and then I am well assured, it will be evident enough, that we have mistaken our Measures, and that a timely recess, willsno●e. Advantage us than an obstinate and wilful perseverance, & that nothing but such a Remedy can restore our almost▪ perishing & und●ne Country, to a lasting Peace and happy Settlement: Which that GOD of His mercy would grant us, shall ever be the hearty prayers of  
F. L.  
POSTCRIPT.  
I Was principally induced to direct the precedent Discourse to you, gentlemans, because I would rightly be understood, which I'm sure I can never fail of by persons of your Learning and Worth, and I hope you will be so kind to me & so just to your Country, to let me know in the most public manner you can, wherein I have mistaken the matter either in point of Fact or Judgement; but if I have been so fortunate to Convince you, that wrong measures have been taken, and that the people had no reason for what they have done, nor no bott●● for what they are yet doing; let me tell 〈…〉 your 〈◊〉 not only to admonish them 〈…〉 to such a temper as becomes 〈◊〉 men & good Christians, for which you will have the praise and God the Glory.  
FINIS.   

Errata.  
PAge 6. line 1. deal may. p. 10. l. 2▪ 〈◊〉 Por●●gals. p. 12. the first line of the fifth Article is wholly omitted, which read thus [5 thly Wh●t is meant by I●ferments, and who are called stranger's▪] p. 14. l. ult. deal the. p. 25. l 6. r. Summum. p. Ibid. l. 37. r. ariseth. p. 27. l. 27. r. Protection. p. 28 line 13 for menttor, r. mentior. p 30. l. 30. r. Regnum. p. 32. l. 25. r. endangered. l. 31. r. even in this age. l. 32. r. too. l. 37 r. Genus. p. 30. l. 37. r. Treasure. p. 38. l. 11. deal a. l. 37. r. as notable.