Salus Populi. &c. OR THE CASE OF King and People.  
Modestly Handled, and Impartially Stated, very useful for these distracted Times.  Seneca de Clem. l. 1. c. 4 
Tamdiù a periculo aberit populus, quamdiu sciet far fraenos, quos si quando abruperit, vel aliquo Casu discussos reponi sibi passus non erit, Haec unitas & hic maximi Imperii contextus in partes multas dissiliet, idemque huic Urbi Dominandi finis erit, qui parendi fuerit, ideo Principes Regesque &c. non est mirum amari ultra privatas etiam Necessitudines. Ille( Rex) Vinculum per quod Respub. cohaeret, ille spiritus Vitalis quem haec tot millia trahunt, n hil ipsa per se futura, nisi onus & praeda, si mens illa Imperii subtrahatur, 
Rege Incolumi, mens omnibus una,  
Amisso, rupère Fidem. Virg.  Ita se induit Reip. Caesar, ut diduci alterum non posset sine utriusque pernicie, nam ut illi viribus opus est, ita & huic Capite. Sen. ibidem.  
LONDON, Printed for John Place, at Furnivals-Inn Gate in Holbourn, 1681.   

Salus Populi, &c. OR, The CASE of KING and PEOPLE.  
THe Question is, How Rightly and Truly to Understand the Natural and Genuine meaning of that Popular Position or Maxim, Salus Populi Suprema Lex.  
SOme Years since, Certain Men, who had little or nothing else to do, forged and brought into the Kingdom a new model of polity, as before they had brought into the Church a new system of Divinity; Men, who have indefatigably laboured as under the pretext of Christian Liberty,( Vulgarly called Conscience) to weaken the Power of all Church Government; So under the pretence of Civil Liberty,( otherwise nick-named the Liberty of the Subject) to Undermine and Overturn the very Foundations of our Political Government.  
If any presumed to charge those Disturbers of the public Peace with their Affronts upon Majesty, their contempt of the Laws of the Land, their factious Breach of the Civil Peace, their wild and Intolerable Tyranny, which madly broken down all the Fences and Bounds of Ecclesiastical laws, their Unjust Affectation of Parity, and other Anabaptistical encroachments upon the State, those Wilful Incendiaries defended themselves and their Indefensible Proceedings, and warded off all blows with this( as they thought it) Impenetrable Shield, this Salus Populi, &c. preferring the Authority of this Sentence to all Authority of laws, Kings, privileges, and Customs whatsoever.  
By their Loose and Dangerous Interpretation hereof, when not only a Wicket, but a great Back-Door is opened, and a Monstrous wide Gap for Tumults, Seditions, and all manner of Popular Licentiousness to throng in upon us, it is but too Obvious, That whoever they be that strive to Excuse their villainies with this Aphorism, Either they Know not, or they Like not if they Know, the true simplo Genuine meaning of it; but would fain introduce and Impose another, drawing it in by Head and Shoulders, to countenance and cloak their malicious Designs, and to favour their Good Old Cause how really bad soever. For,  
What more easy then for one or more that are Inclined( thro any, the Immoderate Irregular Passions of Ambition, Covetousness, Hatred, Wrath, Envy, and the like) to rebel, and at the same time set on foot and start Innovations and Discontents in the State, to Colour all his or their private purposes with this Salus Populi? Search all the Annals and Records of Antiquity; Peruse all Historians, Old, and New, Sacred and Profane, foreign and Domestie, and you Will find such things Acted Over and Over again, under this stale pretence of the Safety and Liberty of the People, by all Traytors and Rebels of all times and places in the World; so that he may well pass for an idiot, or but few degrees removed from a Bedlam, who shall suffer himself to be again Imposed upon by pretences of this Kind.  
But to the subject, and that the sense of the Proposition may be made indisputably clear, we will reduce it to its Principles, or simplo Terms, Examining these single and apart: And first comes to be Considered the signification of the Word Salus, or Safety; To understand which the better, give me leave to suppose, That a man fancy or perceive his Honour or Liberty endangered in a matter of small, or( it may be) in a business of very great Importance, it were Folly or Weakness in such a person instantly and Importunately to cry out, that he had perfectly lost his Health or Life; for it is not a little inconsiderable Hurt, or Wound, or Bruise, which is Opposite to or destructive of a mans Well-being and Life, but Death as the Greeks rightly oppose Destruction to Salvation, 〈◇〉.  
The Thing bears great resemblance in the Body Politic or the State, as in a single Body; by reason of the Contest of Contrary Qualities in a man's Body thrô the Predominancy of Inward Heat or could, and those Various Accidental changes from without, it is a thing Utterly impossible that a man should always enjoy such Entire and Perfect Health, as to be ever free from those Distempers which now and anon affect this or that part, or member of the Natural Body. Again, it is possible that the Gout, or toothache or ston may Create and cause in such a man very sharp acute Pains, Distempers, and Aches, which Affect one part only, or he may keep his Bed, being sensibly Afflicted all over his Body, not one part free; yet Under such hard Circumstances the same person in Common Prudence may not judge it convenient or seasonable, much less Absolutely necessary to betake himself to Desperate Remedies, as if not only his habit of Health, but his very Health itself were in Apparent and Manifest Danger.  
Agreeably in the State or Body Politic, Prudent Men will not Instantly commit a Rape upon the Laws, and fall foul upon Established Ordinances; nor ought any man to stir up the Rabble into Mutinys, and Tumults, much less Drum and Trumpet the Porters and Apprentices into open Rebellion, upon Complaint made, or a single Grievance suggested by this or that Popular petty Officer, or the pleasing Harangue of this or that Rhetoricating Demagogue, whose Interest it may be at the same time to animate the People into Commotions, and Insurrections; to which end they shall never want one pretended Misdemeanour or other to Accuse and Arraign King, Nobles, Governours, Judges, and Magistrates of the Realm, for Infringing the Laws, for Delaying and Prolonging Clients Causes and Suits, for neglecting their respective Duties in one Particular or other; When at the same time to a man with half an Eye it is apparent enough, there ever was, and ever will be under the Best of Kings, and the Best of Governments, Oppressions of the poorer sort of Subjects, and other Grievances not a few, resulting from the Corruption of Men in Power thrô the Abuse of their Authority; to prevent or Cure which perfectly, All Imaginable Care of Kings, and Industry of Great and Unblass'd men, and the severity of laws themselves, ( thô never so strict and rigid) are not sufficient.  
Now if upon the Discovery of such a Knave in Authority, if upon sad Experience of such an Act or Acts of Injustice, factious Men shall conclude themselves sufficiently authorized, and free in Contempt and Defiance of laws, to mutiny under pretence of promoting the Public-Safety, or of their own head to set things to rights without the Leave or Consent of their Superiors; Then Kingdoms and Commonwealths will be most Assuredly pestered with Rebels under the name and in the notion of most blessed Reformers Eternally. Christ foretold Mankind, luke. 17.1. that it is Impossible, but that Offences will come; and the Apostle St. Paul hath  told the World, 1 Cor. 5.10. That if men have not patience to brook now and then particular Injuries, then they must e'en Leave the World, and go Look out some new Atlantis, or an Utopian country, or a Platonian Republic, where his Laws are duly Executed, for in this Rigorous sense no man will ever find this Supreme Law fulfilled in this Known and Habitable part, as namely, That the Safety of the People is so to be interpnted, that no Subject whatsoever, no not the Poorest, the Weakest, the Meanest, may be injured or wronged by such as are his Equals or Superiors in this World. No doubt the Unreasonableness of such an Interpretation clearly appears to every man of Common Reason, and that the Public Safety is then sufficiently intended, when our Governours,( whose Interest as well as Honor and Duty it is to protect the Kings Subjects, and to provide Seasonably and Effectually for the Security of all and every Individual person) shall by his Providence and Care prevent the damage which would else befall the Nation Unavoidably by the Invasions of foreign Enemies, or the Depredations and Plunderings, or Robberies and Violences of Home-bred Domestic villainies.  
Thus far concerning the True Meaning of the Word Safety.  
In the next place let's inquire into the meaning of this Word ( People) and how rightly to understand it in this business. The People is( as St. Augustine, De Civ. Dei, l. 2. c. 21. defines it out of Cicero) a Number or Multitude of men living under the same Laws, helpful to, and helping one another for the mutual benefit of the Community; by this Word ( People) the Roman Citizens of whatever Order or Degree were formerly known, who consisted of Three Ranks or Orders,( not now to mention Monarchs, whether those Kings who at first, or those Emperours who afterwards governed Rome.)  
The First were the Patritii or Senators. Secondly, the Gentry. Thirdly, the Vulgar and inferior sort of people; Now to be able to judge, and infallibly apprehended, in what sense the Roman Authors use this word people, the Reader must diligently heed the Context,( if I may so speak without offence) or the adjoining Circumstances, which will be a very easy matter to him that regards the Opposite Terms as they are by such Writers laid together and Confronted; This is a certain never failing Rule to find out the true signification of this word People, in Roman Authors, by whom it is used three manner of ways; Primarily,( thô very rarely) for the inferior and Meaner sort of the People; So the Poet meant in that Distribution or Division; Dat Populus, Dat gratus Eques, Dat thura Senatus, 
The Senate, Gentry, and the People all,  
To Jove give Thanks, him God and Saviour Call.  Where the people standing in Opposition to the Senate, or Lord, and the Gentry of Rome, must and can signify no other, but the Mechanic, the Vulgar sort of Inhabitants.  
Secondly, this word People, in Roman Writers, doth sometime denote the Two Inferior Orders of Romans Unitedly in contradistinction to that First and Highest Order of Lord, and Nobles or Senators. To make this Evident beyond all contradiction, we are to understand,  
That upon the first Erection of a Commonwealth in Rome, which was effectually brought about upon the Expulsion of their Kings who first governed Rome, the Fathers or Senators reserved to themselves a Prerogative over and above their Fellow Citizens, and were careful for a standing Testimony of their Superiority, to have themselves known and Distinguished from the Common Herd by a Title of Honour peculiar to themselves, Witness those solemn Formal Prefaces to all their Ordinances and Constitutions, So it pleased the Senate and the People of Rome; and the Senate and People of Rome have Decreed so and so, &c. In which form of words this Term People, comprehends as well the Gentry, as the Common and Ordinary people of Rome, Excluding onely the Senators or Patricii, the Greatest Persons there.  
Thirdly, this word, People, signifies in Roman Writers, all the Roman Citizens of all and any Order or Rank whatsoever, Senators, Gentlemen, Commons or Vulgar, without Discrimination; for upon the Exclusion of Kingly Government, and before the Emperours came in place and play, and by their Power established a second Monarchy over them, Rome consisted of Three Orders, now when Roman Authors speak of Conserving Safety, Dignity or Majesty of the People, we must ever apprehended them in this sense, That in that Interval of Monarchical Government which happened between the Kings and Emperours of Rome, it continued a Popular State.  
I have dwelled upon this the longer, not onely because the Proper sense of words depend upon the Use of that people from whom the words themselves have been handed over to us, but also for two other special Reasons, The First, Lest we should be Seduced and trepanned into Error by a wrong Version of any Ambiguous word, doubtful in its self, and capable of Divers Constructions. The Second is this, Least by the bare sound of the word People, any Injury should Accrue to him who is in truth the Chief of the Community, and the Head of the People: both which Reasons of what Importance they are in our present Inquiry, will be better understood by what follows.  
This then I first Affirm, That the Word ( People) as all other words importing an Aggregate Number, may be understood two ways.  
Either Collectively, so as to denote the whole Entire Community of the State or Kingdom,( viz.) the King and Subjects together, or Distributively and Separately, to signify the Subjects onely and apart by themselves without the King, as the word Body sometimes signifies Head and Members United, sometimes the Members Abstracted from the Head, which is the most Considerable, the Highest, and most Principal Member of the Body National.  
Or the word Family, sometimes comprehends all and every Domestic, as Wife, Servants, Children, and the Master of the House who governs the rest; sometimes onely the Governed, for whose Welfare it is the Master's Duty and Care to provide what is Requisite: So the word Army, now and then signifies the General and his whole Regiments together, sometime the Body of the Army without respect to the Head or Commander in Chief; Thus in the words Kingdom, Parliament, and others of that kind, which imply an Aggregation or Accumulation of many with regard to One Head or Chief Man or governor.  
Let these things be duly considered, and then let any such considering man judge, whether it be not consistent with good Reason to conclude it an Act of Malice( a Dangerous one all the World must grant it to be) to wrest that word which denotes the whole Community inclusively, King as well as Subject, and to Accommodate and Attribute it solely and wholly to the Subject in the Later Acceptation thereof, ( viz.) to the People alone, Excluding the King who is the Principal Member of this Body.  

Objection.  
But should this be granted, how shall men be able assuredly to Know, and Infallibly to Conclude, That in this Aphorism before us, Salus Populi, &c. the word People is to be Understood in the former Sense, that is Collectively, and not in the latter and Abstracted Consideration or Construction?   

Answer.  
I answer; By the Common and Usual, the Familiar and Ordinary Use of the word, and the Analogy or Resemblance of other words of the like sense parallel to it; and to this purpose take this for a never failing Canon an Unerring Rule in the Interpretation of Words, That Collective words are ever to be taken Collectively, unless another or more words conjoined with it alter or restrain the Natural Latitude thereof; As for Example, Col. 1.18. Christ is the Head of his Body the Church, it is evident here from the word Head, conjoined in the Text to the word Body, that the word Body is to be interpnted Discretively for the rest of the Bodily Members Separately and Abstractedly from the Head. So if a man should express himself thus, The General hath Remanded, or Countermanded his Army, and Commanded them into Winter Quarters; or the Master of the House hath strictly forbidden his Family not to stir out of his Doors within Night; Or as it is said of David, That whatsoever the King did, that pleased the People; in such Instances it is plain by the adjoining words, General, Master of the House, King, that those Collective words, Army, Family, People, are not Collectively to be Understood, but Discretively and Exclusively, that is, that by Army onely, the Souldiers are Intended without their General; by Family, are meant the people of the House, without intending the Master among them; by the People, is intended the Subjects onely, not the King and his Subjects together. And the Reason is Obvious, because the word Army, that is added by way of Opposition, and which is one of the Correlatives in that Discourse doth necessary Imply, That the Collective word answering to it, and Relatively opposing it, doth contain its Correlate in an Abstracted notion, that is the Multitude alone connected and conjoined to it as its Original and Head, not the whole Community Compounded( as it were) of both the Correlative Terms.  
But where this Opposite Term is not Expressed and Added,( which when it is expressed, doth restrain the meaning of the word necessary to one part of the Relation,) it is very Unreasonable to Interpret a Collective and General word otherwise than Collectively and Generally in its just Latitude and natural Extent of signification, so as to comprehend both the Relative Terms within the compass of its meaning or signification, specially when the Discourse is about that Safety or Profit, that Good or Conveniency, that Affects and Concerns both Parties intended by both those Terms; This is a little obscure to men of mean Capacities, but the following Instances will make it clear; For Example then, If an Order should come to the Army to remove their Quarters Immediately, Least otherwise the Enemy should beat them up; Or an Order that Corn should be instantly housed for the better support of the Family, he were a very fool who would now conclude by such words were onely designed the Safety and Preservation of the Common Souldiers and inferior Officers, no Care or Respect being had to the Security of the General; or in the next Instance, that the Order respected the Support and Nourishment of the Wife, the Children, and the Servants of the House, but intended not the Support of the Master of the House, who is a Husband to the Wife, a Father to the Children, and a Lord and Master to the Servants, and for such Reasons ought principally to be Minded and Provided for among the first of the Family; Otherwise this would much resemble his case, who being under the Doctors hand, and by him being advised to have a very special care of his Body for the future, should hereupon diligently intend and take strict care, that his Breast, and Stomach, his thighs, and Legs, and Feet, should receive Ease and Refreshment, and Comfort, and at the same time sottishly and stupidly neglect all Necessary and Due Care for his Head which is the more Worthy and Noble Member, because his Physician in his Prescriptions or Rules mentioned his Body onely in general, but did not in particular name his Head.  
But to come yet closer to the Point in hand, Suppose a party of Common Souldiers should affirm the Safety of the Army were the Paramount Military Law, that their General ever commanded them out upon duties so Difficult and Dangerous, that except they instantly shake off his Yoke, and kerb his Power, it is Odds if the precious Liberty of the whole Army be not Eternally Lost beyond recovery, and upon such a supposition taken up of their own head, this Party should Cabal and Combine to Vindicate their beloved Liberty, and to Assert it by force of Arms, Animating one another not onely to disobey the future Orders of their General; but in case he will not tamely see his Authority slighted, or sneakingly consent to have it transferred( they call it return'd) upon the whole Body of their Party, then by the general and common Vote let him be Assassinated for his obstinacy. Or Secondly, Suppose a parcel of household Servants, whom St. Peter, 1 Ep. 2.18. requires to be subject not onely to Good and Gentle Masters, but also to the froward, yet in Defiance of such Spiritual and Scriptural Truths should lay their Heads together, and Unanimously resolve to obey their Master no longer, but to turn him out of Doors, and by virtue of their own Authority to give him a Bill of Ejectment out of his own house as a Tyrant, and hereupon should secure the Keys and Locks, and the Rich Furniture of his house, and after this Insolence yet proceed to Distribute and Divide among themselves all his Personal Estate according to their own Supreme will and pleasure, and then in Defence of themselves, and in justification of such Inexcusable Proceedings, should Impudently pled this catholic and Fundamental Statute,( viz.) that Salus Populi, the Welfare of the Family is the supreme economical Law. What Man of Common sense would not confess such villainous practices were not deducible from that Principle, which( rightly understood) is very True and very Advantageous to the Whole Army, and the Whole Family? yet One Egg is not more like another than their way of Arguing,( or Acting) who colour their Civil Seditions with that stale pretence of the Safety of the People, as if the Safety of the General were not included ( and that after an Eminent manner, and in an Extraordinary Degree) in the Safety of his Army, the Security and Welfare of the Master of the House in that of his Family, that of the King in his People's Safety. To be short, it must be, and is confessed, that the Security and Prosperity and Peace of the King and Subject is in Truth the Supreme Law, but the Security and Prosperity of the Subject without Provision made for that of the King, is not that Law.  
Secondly, I affirm yet farther, thô I think I have fully proved it in what goes before, that by this word People in this Maxim, neither the Subject without the King, nor the King without the Subject ought separately to be Understood; yet I add, That whoso seriously and soberly considers the Dignity or Quality of the Persons concerned, or reflects upon the Original of this Axiom, upon a deliberate consideration he cannot deny me this,( and some will wonder at it, no Doubt) that this Noted Maxim respects more and provides rather for the Security and Welfare of the King, than of the Subject, if men are resolved to Understand it no otherwise but in that Abstracted abused signification. For,  
First, the Primitive and Ancient Fathers of the Church ( even then when there were yet no Christian Kings, when Pagans governed the World) generally acknowledged Royal Majesty to be Sacred, they reverenced their Infidel Kings as Immediately next to God himself, as his Vicegerents and Deputies, they made their Daily vows and offered up their solemn Prayers to Almighty God for their Safety, their Prosperity, their Long Life in this World, they yet instructed their Respective Charges in this Truth, That their Safety mainly depended upon the Safety and Welfare of their Emperour or King thô an Infidel and a Heathen; and this they inculcated with greater Assiduity, because they perceived Almighty God himself requires no less in divers places of Holy Writ, as might Easily be proved if it were needful in so plain a matter; which no doubt is the reason, that Good men were ever and are still of this Temper and Disposition, this Mind and Affection, this persuasion and judgement, that in Dubious and Dangerous Cases which concern the Public good, it is far more Conducible to the Common Interest, to save the single Life of the King, than many Thousands of his Subjects; This those Loyal Israelites( who preserved their Allegiance unblemished in that Execrable Rebellion of absalon) openly avowed and professed in the face of the World, and to their Immortal Honour it is recorded for a Rule to Posterity and succeeding Ages, 2 Sam. 18.3. But the People Answered, Thou shalt not go forth: for if we flee away, they will not care for us,( or set their heart on us,) neither if half of us die will they care for us; but now thou art worth Ten thousand of us &c. They Intended thus much who called their King( thô none of the best) the Breath of their nostrils, not in a way of Sycophancy or Flattery, or for personal Ends and particular Interest, but taught such Expressions by the True and Impartial Spirit of God; thus the holy Prophet Jeremiah spake, a man sanctified from the Womb, Lam. 4.20. Using a very apt and proper Metaphor, for that breath we suck in and sand out by our Nostrils, is that Vital spirit of Life which doth bind Soul and Body together( as it were,) when it ceases to Inspire and Operate, the Living Creature ceases Immediately to be such, it Expires and Dies instantly, Psal. 146.4.  
Let it be once more observed, That this Maxim which has made, and still makes so great a noise in the World, was derived to us from the Romans, a Maxim then most in request when that Government was in the hands of the People, the whole Civil Jurisdiction was in the People, the Supremacy was Lodged in the Multitude, not in King or Emperour, or any Single Person or House of Lords and Senators; whence it comes, that in the Historians of that Age or Time, and particularly in Cicero we meet with so frequent mention of the Majesty of the People of Rome, as being then a mere Democracy. But in a Monarchy all the Laws and the Determination of Ambiguous clauses and dubious phrases in Laws, all Jurisdiction, Supremacy and Majesty are invested, not in the People, but in the King or the Monarch; see then what the Safety of the People imported to that People who held the Reins of Government in their own hands, which they sufficiently intimated in & by this Maxim Salus Populi &c. the same should the Safety of our King import and signify to us who are governed by a Monarch or Single Person. Of the same value if we be but as zealous in the Defence of our laws by the Authority of this Aphorism( saving always( as it is reasonable and meet) the Analogy in such Different forms of Administration) of the same Value, I say, the Safety and Security of our sovereign ought to be held among us, who do Unanimously Own and acknowledge, and by the Laws of the Land are enjoined to own and acknowledge the Majesty of England to be invested, not in the People, but in our Supreme Civil and Political Head the King.  
And by this time from the premises I judge it abundantly plain, that there is not, either in the word Safety, nor the word People, that Force and energy as may serve to justify the wresting this Law to the prejudice of our King: whoso will add to these premises the remaining words Suprema Lex, the Supreme Law, and rightly interpret them, they will find that scarcely any thing could have been said more strongly and Nervously to Assert and Establish the sovereign and Indisputable Power of Kings.  
For this Mode of Speech, The Supreme Law doth truly and necessary suppose a Supreme Power, and it is consonant to the highest and best Reason, that in all Governments there should be a Power somewhere lodged that is superior to all human positive Laws, to which Power( where ever 'tis found) it appertains to provide, and by its authority to procure, that the Commonwealth receive no damage, either through any deficiency on the one hand, or through any rigorous observation of Laws on the other; the reason whereof is evident enough, because the most prudent and politic of Governours cannot foresee all casual uncertain circumstances and accidental events that may happen in time to come, nor fore-arm himself sufficiently by good and wholesome Laws at present, so as nothing shall fall out in his Government, or that of his Successors, inconvenient or prejudicial to himself or People, or both; which if it should happen it may come to pass not through any default or defect in the Laws, or the Law-maker, but( as Aristotle well observed heretofore) from the nature of those cases which are to be bounded and circumscribed by Laws, which being for the variety indefinite,( I had almost said infinite) and because depending upon futurity very uncertain, it's utterly impossible to confine them all within the compass of certain and determinate Rules at first, so that that Law-maker hath abundantly answered his duty, who hath Enacted and passed such Constitutions as are for the most part just and generally profitable and advantageous to the whole Community; altho it may and frequently doth come to pass, that those Constitutions prove short and defective through one sudden accident or other in this or that particular case which was not or could not then be easily foreseen; in which case if there be not reserved to One a Liberty and Power to exercise a certain kind of arbitrary Government, it is impossible to find out an effectual remedy whereby to divert that storm which may threaten the whole Country or Commonwealth, and as impossible to consult and really promote the public Safety. This is that which the subtlest and most politic Heads ever approved, and the best Reason still allows, That Legal Justice ought to give place to Equity when and as oft as Necessity shall so require. Equity being( according to Aristotle's definition) nothing else but 〈◇〉, the amendment, the correction, the mollifying or abatement of strict and legal Justice, or of the Law itself,( as the same Philosopher presently Explains his own words) 〈◇〉, supplying its defects in particular cases, wherein the reason of its great latitude and generality of expression it happens to recede from Justice or the public good; for it is necessary that Laws be Enacted in General terms with respect to what ordinarily happens, not to every particular case that may occur in the Lives and dealings of Men; To some of which the Law-maker should endeavour to adapt the letter of the Law so as the words might reach particular cases in futurity, it would be impossible so to word those Laws but they would be found at last by sad Experience to dissent either from Moral Justice or the public Good, or both.  
This then being granted, that the safety of the people, that is, the public good doth require, that there be in the Common-wealth a certain Power superior to the Laws to supply their defects, it necessary follows,( what Aristotle has affirmed in his Politiques) that this supreme Paramount Power appertains to him only who presides over the rest and in whom the sovereignty is vested, whether it be in one as in Monarchical Government so as here in England, or it be in many as in other Countries, Holland, Venice &c. And now let's soberly consider, if it be reasonable or fit that Subjects under the pretext of public Liberty or the public Safety may with their Swords cut in pieces the Gordian knot of the Laws and their Allegiance, & with a Luciferian Pride, a Wild fanatic insolence trample under foot the Majesty of Laws and Kings together, and having so done in maintenance of such inexcusable villainies produce and pled the Authority of this Axiom, encouraging one another in their Conspiracies, and Seditious Plots, upon the established Government, and congratulating their impious and unjustifiable Success by the Authority of this saying salus popul● &c. it seems strange to me that men do not understand how in this Axiom is implyed, that the supreme Magistrate hath a certain kind of power over the Laws themselves, a power so extensive and unlimited that he may( as oft as necessity requires it and the present danger will not admit delays) for the defence of himself and Subjects from the sudden incursions or invasions of Foreign, and the villainies of domestic Enemies by his Prerogative and the fullness of his power for a while dispense with the severe and literal observation of his Laws; or at least suspend their force for a time, least by a zealous and unseasonable veneration for, and obedience to them he suffer himself, his people, and the very Laws themselves, to become a Prey to foreign or domestic Enemies. I shall not at present meddle with that Quere whether the King be free from all obligation to those Laws which were made or confirmed by himself, approved by the consent of his people, and afterwards generally received by all, and how far he is obliged ( ordinarily) to observe them, I shall consider this another time. At present let's see, if the sovereign may in any case wholly Extraordinary, and absolutely necessary for the good of his Subjects undertake or Attempt any thing beside the meaning or against the plain purport and Letter of his Laws.  
That he may in such a Case Undertake and Attempt and Act( and that with a safe Conscience) is plain from the clear Histories of the Best of Kings in all nations whatsoever all the world over.  
Secondly, It is agreeable to the best reason because of the Imperfection and Defect of Laws in general, and the multiplicity and Uncertainty of future Events particularly, as was shewed above.  
Thirdly, What the Prophet Samuel discoursed about the Power of Kings abundantly confirms it, nor can that well be interpnted otherwise thô some have even Attempted that, 1 Sam. 8.  
But that no doubt may remain to create further scruple & Disorders in mens minds upon this account, and about the subject under Consideration, I will beg leave to reduce this Darling, this beloved Principle to it's Original, and doubt not to prove to the satisfaction of such as are all moderate in their persuasions, and any whit sober under their Prejudice, and prepossessions, that the Pursuit and purchase of the public Safety without reflection upon or regard to the Laws, depend upon the sole will of the King, no manner of way upon the pleasure of the People. If I prove not this by the authority of this very Axiom let me pass for an Impestor and be universally branded for a betrayer of my cause, one of the best causes in the World, and for a Prevaricator and traitor to my Country and the Liberties of it.  
I have shew'd before that we received this Axiom from the Romans, I now proceed and add that( according to the best of my knowledge) the first place where it is recorded is in Cicero's 3d. Book de legibus, yet borrowed( as Cicero himself confesseth) from the ancient Statutes of that Nation, and by him transcribed without the least variation in the very words of those ancient Statutes. Cicero then having in his former Book recounted and explained the Laws appertaining to Religion and the worship of their Gods; in his 3d. Book proceeds to enumerate such as belonged to the Civil Magistrate, where among divers other periods he inserts these,( and I pray let them be minded with all becoming diligence;) Regio imperio dvo sunto, iique praeeundo, judicando, consulendo, Praetores, Judices, consuls appellantor, Militiae summum jus habento, Nemini parento, Ollis salus Populi suprema Lex esto.  
Let two persons govern this Kingdom( viz. that of Rome) let them bear the name of Praetors because they are to go before the People, let them be styled Judges because they are to Judge and determine the suits and controversies that happen among the people, Let them also be name Consuls, from that Advice and Counsel which is expected they should give their inferiors and Subjects, let these persons have the Right and Power of the Militia at their Command, let them be Subject to none, accountable to none, let the safety of the People be to them the supreme Paramount Law.  
To them? who are these them? to whom doth this Pronoun them refer? to them beyond all controversy who were endowed with imperial or regal authority, to them who had the power of the Militia in their hands, to them who acknowledged no Earthly Power above them to control or over-rule their actions, that is to both the Consuls, who although according to the constitution of that Government they were to govern but for a short & determinate time, for a year only, yet they were impowered for that year to Govern that Proud City and the whole Roman Empire without any Co-ordinates or Co-equals much less Superiors or Protectors.  
Come now all you that are Patrons and abettors of the Common-wealth Party, well wishers to Democracy, red and red over again these Entire sentences, examine every clause, weigh every Syllable, point, tittle, with the greatest exactness and the strictest care, tell me if you can find here the least tract or print of any Power granted to subjects without the consent or command of their King either to project or act in contradiction or disobedience to the Laws of the King, or to conclude or determine about the safety of the people without his leave; doth not the whole tenor of Cicero's discourse( words and matter) tend to this purpose, to prove that that supreme Authority which is above all positive Law, and consequently that the whole care of the public Safety belongs properly and primarily to him in whom the sovereignty is Lodged, whose is the right of the Militia, and that power paramount which renders him subject and accountable to none but God alone, that which Aristotle also affirms whose judgement I therefore produce to show the harmonious consent of the Two Greatest Writers in the two Learned Languages upon this Point; 
Arist. Pol. l. 3. c. 2.  〈◇〉. &c. It lies in his Power that rules the Common-Wealth, whether it be one as in a Monarchy, or whether they be many as in Aristocracy or Democracy, it lies in his power who bears the chief Place to establish and determine those matters which the Laws in being have not accurately,( that is) in particular cases defined and determined, because it is a very difficult, if not an Impossible thing to foresee and provide effectually against all singular Events and particular Circumstances in general words and at one time.   

Objection.  
Here certain men may be apt to suggest, that the cases of Subjects is unreasonably hard, if the safety of all so depend upon the Will of one man, that none besides him may labour to secure the public good thô in eminent danger, for what if upon the sudden before men are ware of any Trouble, matters be arrived to such a piteous condition as will not admit of a days respite or delay for Consultation, or the Royal Fiat, the King at the same time being( it may be) absent so far from home as will require divers days time to attend him and speak with him, in such a Case while the Subjects post to learn his pleasure, while they stay in expectation of his Orders and Commission, computing also the time their return will necessary take up, their All, Common-Wealth and all is ruined and undone. This will be the unavoidable consequence if it be absolutely necessary in such distance of place, such streights of time, to wait the Kings consent and Command, and men may not attempt or Act without it.   

Answer.  
I answer, that if there should occur such a weighty and unavoidable necessity, in such extremity( as is supposed) it seems to me not altogether unlawful for the subject to attempt some thing without the knowledge of the King, for necessity( as the Proverb runs) has no Law, yet I utterly deny that that may be attempted or done which some men suppose Lawful to be attempted and done in such Extremities,  
And to make this plain I affirm in the first place; that I absolutely deny such Illegal proceedings( thô pro hic et nunc in such supposed Extremity it may seem Warrantable and excusable) are founded upon the Authority or true meaning of our present Maxim, which rightly interpnted and understood commits the whole Entire care and Pursuit of the public safety to the King himself and to him only, no way permitting it to the People in a Monarchy as this is, in which and under which we may happily Live, if we please.  
Secondly, I affirm that it is one thing to act against the Laws without the knowledge or consent of the King, and that tis another thing to act against the Laws contrary to his will and express Command; the first may be done by him that intends and minds fitting conditions, the latter may not be done upon any condition whatsoever though never so specious and plausible, though never so popular and seemingly reasonable.  
Again I affirm that there are two indispensible conditions religiously and necessary to be observed by those Subjects that have a mind to execute any purpose for the public good without respect to the obligation of the present Laws, and if any Subject shall presume to act any thing for that end without regard first and all along had to these two conditions 'tis an unjustifiable act not to be excused with that popular Plea of necessity; how religiously and sincerely they observed these conditions who were the Authors and Fomenters of the late Civil Wars and confusions in this Kingdom I do not hold myself obliged to dispute or consider; I could wish they would be persuaded seriously to consider it and lay it effectually to heart who were personally engaged in those combustions, and have not yet made their reckonings with the supreme and just judge of the world, for that most horrid and execrable Rebellion.  
Those indispensible conditions are two, first that whosoever applies his Shoulders to the support and stay of the Government shaking and tottering as he pretends, when he does this without the consent of the King first had and obtained, let him be sure not to act under that pretence to the prejudice of his King, it being undoubtedly certain, that it mainly concerns the public safety that the Person of the King be ever esteemed Sacred and his Dignity preserved still inviolate.  
The second condition is this, that nothing be acted or done, or endeavoured to be acted or done against the Laws and establishments of the Kingdom by any private man without the consent of the King first had and obtained, His consent( I mean) either Exprss by word of Mouth, if this may seasonably and conveniently be had, or( if he be absent and matters are come to that point and pass that they Absolutely require Immediate Application of means) then his Consent upon reasonable grounds of Presumption, and men may then presume reasonably of the Kings consent, when the necessity is so great, so evident, and so pressing, as no sober or prudent person hath any just ground to doubt, but if his Majesty were present upon the spot he would freely grant his Subjects( so acting and so doing without his consent) his Grace and free Pardon. Observing these Two Conditions except some certain let or other arise from another cause( as from some particular circumstances,) I affirm it lawful for Subjects in their Kings and their own defence either against the incursions or invasions of foreign Enemies or the Conspiracies and Treacheries of Homebred Rebels, to provide for the Common security and the general Welfare of the Kingdom both King and Subject, rather then suffer their King and themselves to be irremedilesly ruined through a superstitious regard to the words and syllables of particular Laws, which Laws were therefore at first Enacted that they might be subservient not prejudicial to the Common Interest; the reason whereof is plain, because the means are considered and used for the acquifition of the end, not the end for the means, and therefore the means ought to be productive of the end, not the end of the means, now the public safety bearing the nature of the end, the Laws of means, and it being indisputably true, that the end is ever before, and ever more desirable then the means in the purpose and intention of the Agent, These two things infallibly follow, That the common benefit of the Kingdom is to be preferred before all Nice superstitious observation of particular Laws. And,  
Secondly, that it may reasonably be presumed that the King apprehends as much who is the principal Agent in the making of Laws, and consequently that he doth tacitly consent to have those things done or to the doing of such things( though there be no Addresses made nor Remonstrances sent to him, representing the grievances of the Nation) which without entrenching into his Prerogative apparent necessity requires to be done or acted for the common good of King and People. Examples of this nature are frequent in Histories which I spare to produce as unnecessary, the evidence of this truth being so clear and manifest as not to need them, only I will instance in one and no more which is very remarkable, and such a one as is deservedly Chronicled for the eternal Honour of that Gentleman who was the Subject of the Story, which happened in our Kingdom within the memory of divers yet alive: 
Sir Richard welsh.  It was the worthy example of the High Sheriff of Worcester Shire.  
In every Shire or County throughout England there is an annual or yearly Magistrate appointed for certain particular uses expressed in the Law, we call him High Sheriff, his office was first instituted and he commissioned by the King to be the Conservator or Preserver of the public Peace within his Jurisdiction, and that he may be able to execute that High Trust effectually, the Laws of the Land Grant him Power to summon and call out the Train'd-Bands of the County, or to Levy and Raise more and fresh Supplies of men if there be occasion, and to March within the bounds of his Jurisdiction in the Head of these Forces, and to examine how and in what Posture matters stand, when there is need for this; yet his Authority is so limited that he must not tread without his bounds with such Strength to attend him. After that by the singular goodness and providence of Almighty God that Hellish Popish Plot of the Gunpowder-Treason was unexpectedly and miraculously Discovered( a Treason to be remembered and abominated to all Eternity) a few of the Principal of those Gunpowder-Traytors assembled and met together in the County of Worcester, the High Sheriff of which County being a Stout man, and prudent withall, Summons the Militia of the County and pursues those Vagabond Conspirators as far as the Laws permitted him, where considering and fearing that if he should too strictly heed the nicety of Law terms, and cease further pursuit in obedience to, and for fear of the edge and point of those Laws, the Traytors would hereupon undoubtedly escape Justice, and that Vengeance they so justly deserved; hereupon he made bold for once to transgress the Laws and to led his men into the next County, and so doing he reduced those Rebels with their Adherents and dependants, making them his Prisoners for the present, and afterwards sent them( as the Law prescribes) to their own places, I mean their particular prisons; concluding and that very rationally that he could do no less if he would discharge the duty of a good Patriot, and act as became a Loyal Commissioner or Deputy of his sovereign. He judged like a wise and good man that an exact observance of every punctilio of Law in his then Circumstances would be highly unseasonable, that it was his duty to mind and obey the supreme Law, to endeavour the security of his Country, the King, and Kingdom, and that all considerations ought to give way to the Welfare and Safety of the public, King and People. Having by such proceedings perfected his Honest and Loyal purposes according to his hearts desire, he further considered, that by his example the Authority of the Laws( as they were established) might in time to come be vilified and exposed to the insolences of ambitious designing disloyal Crafty persons( persons not regarding, or at best not considering, that what that worthy Gentleman did was done out of pure necessity) and withall weighing( for he very well knew) to what heavy Punishments Transgressors of the Laws are obnoxious if Authority should inflict those Punishments which the rigor of the Law in such a case will warrant; the good man thereupon thought it not Prudence to rely upon the inward Testimony of his own Conscience, and to acquiesce in the assurance of his own innocency, and to confided in the Merit of the good Service he had done his King and Country, but resolve he did, and that betimes, wisely to provide not only for his future Personal Security, but also thought himself in duty bound to take all due care that his example might not be a president for other men of bad Principles to justify their Seditious insurrections and Rebellious purposes: in pursuance of which he immediately posts to the King( it was King James of happy Memory) and Kneeling before his Majesty he humbly begged Pardon for his late, though necessary, violation of his Laws; The King was pleased not only to forgive him that act of Loyal disobedience, but to commend him for his Prudence in this his timely submission, as well as for that his Loyalty in his seasonable prosecution and successful apprehension of those Pestilent Enemies of the King and Kingdom.  
By this time I trust this Axiom, this salus Populi &c. may be better understood then heretofore it ever was by most that have now red this discourse, which was thus industriously lengthened that the mouths of impertinent and unreasonable men might be stopped who as Solomon speaks Prov. 30.33, wring the Nose ' till they bring forth Blood; I mean who by their violent and extorted interpretation of an Aphorism in it seif truly good and Loyal( if I may so speak, I am sure it is such if it be rightly considered and understood) teach it now at last after Sixteen Hundred years standing to countenance Seditions, Rebellions, Civil Wars; &c. to Legitimate and justify the illegal unpardonable Treacheries of turbulent uneasy ungovernable Subjects against their Lawful Prince.  
To conclude in few words, the Substance of this whole discourse amounts to thus much; put the case that some certain private persons be damnified in their persons, or Estates, or both; let it be granted, that there occur in the present Kings Reign divers grievances injurious to the Subject, and which loudly call for Cognizance and redress; let it be further granted that these grievances are not remedied; all this will not justify that private person, or those private persons, be it one or be they many, who upon this account shall immediately betake themselves to extraordinary illegal and violent remedies though under this plausible and popular pretence that otherwise the safety of the people is in danger.  
But on the other hand if there be a well grounded and just fear that the Kingdom may be, or is in danger by the Invasion of foreign Enemies or the Insurrections of domestic Rebels and Traytors, unless something be speedily attempted( it may be) inconsistent with the Laws of the Government: in such Cases it is lawful for the King by virtue of his Prerogative, it is lawful for the Subject upon an express Declaration, or a rational presumption of the Kings consent( and what will make it rational, I have shew'd) I say it is lawful for the Subject in such an extremity to recede from all nice and curious interpretation of particular Laws, provided he mean honestly, and as becomes a Loyal Subject and a good Patriot, onely to defend his Country, and to promote( by such endeavours and attempts) the safety and welfare of the King and people as that which is in Truth( and nothing but that) the supreme Paramount Law.  
SAlutem Populi( excluso Rege) supremam esse Legem quis dixerit nisi aut Fatuus aut Impostor? Fatuus si ipse sibi sic dicenti fidem habeat, si non habeat, Impostor. Sand.    

ERRATA.  
page. 6. l. 3. r. even. l. 24. r. Villains. p. 9. l. 4. r.- tween. p. 22. l. 21. r. Impostor.  
FINIS.