Chap. XI.
Places and Examples of Scripture of the Rights of Government
agreeable to what hath been said before.
I. We have in the 6. Chapter, and the 2. Article, so derived
the Originall of institutive, or politicall Government from the
consent of the Multitude, that it appears they must either all
consent, or be esteem'd as Enemies. Such was the beginning of
Gods Government over the Jewes instituted by Moses, If ye will
obey my voice indeed, & c. Ye shall be unto me a Kingdome of
Priests, & c. And Moses came, and called the Elders of the
People, & c. And all the people answered, and said: All that the
Lord hath spoken we will do, Exod. 19. ver. 5, 6, 7, 8. Such also
was the beginning of Moyses his power under God, or of his
Vicegerency. And all the people saw the thunderings and
lightenings, and the noyse of the Trumpet, &c. And they said unto
Moyses, speak thou unto us, and we will hear. Exod. 20. 18, 19.
The like beginning also had Sauls Kingdome. When yee saw that
Nahash King of the children of Ammon came out against you, yee
said unto me, nay, but a King shall raign over us, when the Lord
your God was your King; Now therefore behold the King whom yee
have chosen, and whom yee have desired. 1 Sam. 12. 12. But the
major part only consenting, and not all (for there were certain
Sons of Belial, who said, How shall this man save us? and they
dispised him, 1 Sam. 10. 27.) those who did not consent were put
to death as Enemies; And the people said unto Samuel, Who is he
that said, shall Saul reign over us? Bring the men that we may
put them to death. 1 Sam. 11:
II. In the same 6. Chapter, the 6. and 7. Articles, I have
shewed, that all judgment and Wars depend upon the will and
pleasure of him who beares the Supreme Authority; that is to say,
in a Monarchy, on a Monarch, or King; and this is confirmed by
the Peoples owne judgement. Wee also will be like all the
Nations, and our King shall JUDGE us, and goe out before us, and
fight our BATTELS. 1 Sam. 8. 20. And what pertaines to
judgements, and all other matters, whereof there is any
controversie, whether they be Good, or Evill, is confirmed by the
testimony of King Solomon. Give therefore thy Servant an
understanding heart to JUDGE thy People, that I may discerne
between GOOD and EVILL. 1. Kings 3. 9. And that of Absolom, There
is no man deputed of the King to heare thee. 2. Sam. 15. 3.
III. That Kings may not be punished by their subjects, as
hath been shewed above in the sixth Chapter, and the twelfth
Article, King David also confirmes, who, though Saul sought to
slay him, did notwithstanding refrain his hand from killing him,
and forbad Abishai, saying, Destroy him, not. for who can stretch
forth his hand against the Lords Anointed, and be innocent? 1
Sam: iv. 9. And when he had cut off the skirt of his garment, The
Lord forbid (saith he) that I should doe this thing unto my
Master the Lords Anointed, to stretchforth mine hand against him.
1 Sam. 24. 7. And commanded the Amalekite, who for his sake had
slain Saul, to be put to death. 2 Sam. 1. 15.
IV. That which is said in the 17. Chapter of judges, at the
6. verse. In those dayes there was no King in Israel, but every
man did that which was right in his own eyes (as though where
there were not a Monarchy, there were an Anarchy or confusion of
all things) may be brought as a testimony to prove the excellency
of Monarchy above all other forms of government, unlesse that by
the word King may perhaps be understood, not one man onely, but
also a Court, provided that in it there reside a supreme power;
which if it be taken in this sense, yet hence it may follow, that
without a supreme and absolute power (which we have endeavoured
to prove in the sixth Chapter) there will be a liberty for every
man to doe what hee hath a minde, or whatsoever shall seem right
to himselfe; which cannot stand with the preservation of
mankinde, and therefore in all Government whatsoever, there is
ever a supreme power understood to be somewhere existent.
V. We have in the 8. Chapter, the 7. and 8. Article, said,
that Servants must yeeld a simple obedience to their Lords, and
in the 9. Chapter, Article 7. that Sonnes owe the same obedience
to their Parents. Saint Paul sayes the same thing concerning
Servants, Servants obey in all things your Masters according to
the flesh, not with eye service, as men-pleasers, but in
singlenesse of heart, fearing God. Colos. 3. 22. Concerning
Sonnes, Children obey your Parents in all things, for this is
well pleasing unto the Lord. Colos. 3. 20. Now as wee by simple
obedience understand ALL THINGS which are not contrary to the
Lawes of God; so in those cited places of Saint Paul, after the
word ALL THINGS, we.must suppose, excepting those which are
contrary to the Lawes of God.
VI. But that I may not thus by peecemeale prove the right of
Princes, I will now instance those testimonies which altogether
establish the whole power, (namely that there is an absolute and
simple obedience due to them from their subjects) And first out
of the new Testament. The Scribes and Pharisees sit in Moyses
seat; all therefore, whatsoever they bid you observe, that
observe, and doe. Mat. 23. 2. Whatsoever they bid you, (sayes he)
observe, that is to say, obey simply: Why? Because they sit in
Moyses seat; namely, the civill Magistrates, not Aaron, the
Priests. Let every soule be subject to the higher powers, for
there is no Power but of God, the powers that be are ordained of
God; whosoever therefore resisteth the Power, resisteth the
ordinance of God, and they that resist shall receive to
themselves damnation. Rom. 13. 1. Now because the powers that
were in Saint Pauls time were ordained of God, and all Kings did
at that time require an absolute entire obedience from their
subjects, it followes that such a power was ordained of God.
Submit your selves unto every ordinance of man for the Lords
sake, whether it bee to the King as supreme, or unto Governours,
as unto them that are sent by him, for the punishment of wicked
doers, and for the praise of them that doe well, for so is the
will of God. 1 Pet. 2. 13. Again Saint Paul to Titus, Put them in
mind to bee subject to Principalities and Powers, to obey
Magistrates, &c. Chap. 3. vers. 1. What Principalities? Was it
not to the Principalities of those times, which required an
absolute obedience? Furthermore, that we may come to the example
of Christ himselfe, to whom the Kingdome of the Jewes belonged by
hereditary Right, derived from David himselfe; He when he lived
in the manner of a subject, both paid tribute unto Caesar, and
pronounced it to be due to him. Give unto Caesar (saith he) the
things which are Caesars, and unto God, the things which are
Gods. Mat. 22. 21. When it pleased him to shew himselfe a King,
he required entire obedience. Goe (said he) into the village over
against you, and straightway yee shall finde an Asse tyed, and a
Colt with her, loose them, and bring them unto me; and if any man
say ought unto you, yee shall say the Lord hath need of them.
Mat: 2. This he did therefore by the right of being Lord, or a
King of the Jewes. But to take away a subjects goods on this
pretence onely, because the Lord hath need of them, is an
absolute power. The most evident places in the old Testament are
these, Goe thou near, and heare ALL that the Lord our God shall
say, and speak thou unto us all that the Lord our God shall speak
unto thee, and we will hear it, and doe it. Deut. 5. 27. But
under the word all, is contained absolute obedience. Again to
Joshua. And they answered Joshua saying, ALL that thou commandest
us, we will doe, and whithersoever thou sendest us, we will goe;
according as we hearkened unto Moyses in ALL things, so will we
hearken unto thee, onely the Lord thy God be with thee, as he was
with Moyses; whosoever hee be that doth rebell against thy
Commandement, and will not hearken unto thy words in ALL that
thou commandest him, he shall be put to death. Joshua 1. 16, 17,
18. And the Parable of the Bramble. Then said all the trees unto
the Bramble, Come thou, and reign over us; And the Bramble said
unto the trees, If in truth yee anoint me King over you, then
come and put your trust in my shadow. and if not, let fire come
out of the Bramble, and devoure the Cedars of Lebanon. Judges 9.
vers. 14, 15. The sense of which words is, that we must acquiese
to their sayings, whom we have truly constituted to be Kings over
us, unlesse we would chuse rather to be consumed by the fire of a
civill warre. But the Regall authority is more particularly
described by God himselfe, in the 1. Sam. 8. vers. 9. &c. Shew
them the Right of the King that shall reign over them, & c. This
shall be the Right of the King that shall reign over you; he will
take your Sons, and appoint them for himself, for his Chariots,
and to be his horsemen, and some shall runne before his Chariots,
& c. And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, &c.
And he will take your vineyards, and give them to his Servants,
&c. Is not this power absolute? And yet it is by God himself
styled the KINGS RIGHT; neither was any man among the Jewes, no
not the High Priest himselfe, exempted from this obedience. For
when the King (namely Solomon) said to Abiathar the Priest, Get
thee to Anathoth unto thine own fields, for thou art worthy of
death, but I will not at this time put thee to death, because
thou barest the Ark of the Lord God before David my father, and
because thou hast been afflicted in all wherein my Father was
afflicted. So Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being Priest unto
the Lord. 1 Kings. 2. 26. It cannot by any argument be proved,
that this act of his displeased the Lord; neither read we, that
either Solomon was reproved, or that his Person at that time was
any whit lesse acceptable to God.
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