No More Learning

We cannot still remain so dull as not to see, that-the
Observators calling thee a thoufand names is no answer i And that it is only because he cannot answer. I have ■fled him several times, why he did not answer to the foint, and shew when there was such an independent state of mankind, and no government in the world? Then he cursed thee by all his gods-; and foarnd at the mouth fox an hbuIr together, till his October set him tofleep.
hifiories, as well the prophane, as the holy scriptures, shew
But
have aft'd others, men of and learning ; sense
and they all fay, that it cannot be shew? d : That all
no time when there was not government in the world; but that this independent state must be supposed, to found the original of power in the people.
What! faid I, suppos'd against- truth and /ai! ? . ' This
! and I faw plainly, that all wa*
,epentd my gws broad
cheat and trick! and that there was no need of great
learning, or depth of understanding, to come at the bottok
of this.
The like answer they gave me, as to the law arid
acts of parliament you have quoted, which tar att-ct* eras*' upon theswwH. They own? d they were a8s df
parliament, - and truly quoted that. stÆi of parliament are the Atk-'s of the land, and these aA still in yir«, and
hot repeasd; and yet not the /aou of the land, as it now stands.
That faid they are laws, and not laws yon may make me believe transubftantiation at this rate
They faid, we got over these laws, by recurring to
the original ofpower in the people which superior term laws.
How faid recurring to that original, which
you only suppose, and that against both truth andsots! ' Here's magazine indeed to blow up all laws wsd «»-
stitutions, and to make all settlement impracticabieto-'the world's end
This easily convine'd man even of my capacity, to set through all these schemes of popular government; and that those who set them up, are truly what you calTd
them,
,
a !
!
is,
a
!
•; 2
s, by
I,
is
!
!
The RE HEAR SAL.
313 them, fins of Belial, the common epithet of rebels in kly scripture, that is, they wou'd be free from all yoke or restraint of government whatsoever ; which wou'd only
be a freedom of destroying one another without end or wf^ji. Of which Poland is a lively example now before our eyes ; not to come nearer home.
Thus, mr,ster, I have given you an account of my
uieverfion, from your plain and familiar, but strong reasons.
(4. ) But I have a word more, if you will give me leave ; for reason may be confine d, and yet prejudice not removed. What shall we do in cafe of tyranny ? For there have been tyrants in the world.
R. While government is administer d by the hands of men, there will be miscarriages and inconveniencies ; there is no absolute security upon earth. Therefore we must weigh the inconveniencies on both sides. To care the
tyranny of a king, by setting up the people, is setting 1 0000 tyrants over us instead of cm? . It is hell broke
/ri//£,, worse than the worst of the devils.
And besides, it admits of no remedy ; we have no
prospect of the end. There is nothing but eternal revo
lution and corfvfion, in advancing the power of the peo~ pie. One party -worrying another; and another un
dermining, and then worrying that ; for each party axa equally the people. As it is now in Poland; and ae it was in England before the restoration 1660.
A tyrant must dye ; or God may mend him, and change m's m/W. G&•/ tells us, that the hearts of are ia his hand, and he turns them as he pleases. That he fends good princes to a good and obedient people; but suffers others, for their fins, to be evil entreated through tyrants, and rxeak and foolish princes. Therefore, as our Homily of rebellion fays, Let us either deserve to have a good prince set over us, or bear such as we deserve. It
is suffering in Gods way, and in his hand, by him whom he has set over us. But to rebel against him, is rebel lion against God, and provokes him to plague us more and
more. To give us up to our own inventions, the ma- Voi. . I. P gamut
The REHEARSAL.
gaaine of original power in the people ; which, ifnot re strain d by the goodness of God, wou'd i/ra up the whole earth, and set all mankind a massacring one another while there were but two men left. All this is the natural con
3t4
sequence of that principle ; and if God should permit it to
prevail universally, dama.
the whole world wou'd be one Acel
C. Bless us ! You fright me ! the consequence is ex ceeding plain, it cou'd be no otherwise upon this princi ple. Pray God deliver us from this spirit of Belial; and *ssisl those that wou'd dispossess him out of this country, which he has turn'd into a heap of ruins before, upon this fame principle. And all upon pretence of liberty and property! That men cou'd be so bewitch' 'd 7 It looks really like possession, fox there is no reason in the case. Our lives and liberties must always be in the power of
some or other, while there is government ; and of every body, when there is none. The wrath of a king is faid to be like the roaring of a lion ; but that of the people is like the roaring of the sea ; it is an inundation which sweeps all before it. And to from the king to them,
running into the ocean, for sear of little rivulet, or to us from shower of r«z'a. leaping over
precipice to avoid flumbling-block.
(5. ) Since therefore there no security that absolute
upon far/A and while we lire here, we must expect v to meet with inconveniencies ant fully convine'd, that
the greatest security and liberty ot which mankind ca pable, is, where the king absolutely free from all co- ireion, either parliament or people, and the militia or power of the sword, wholly and ya/? ^ in the «w a;
for power cannot be divided) and the king head :nd
sovereign of the parliament, and not one of their efiatts, (which puts him upon the level with them, makes him
and not sovereign according to the acts parliament you have quoted, ,/«// of and express upon all these points And where the people accept of their lava as limitations of concession from the prince, but not of «-
er^erf over him for that will bring in Belial, and all
subject,
:
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The REHEARSAL. ji5
his cursed train : I fay, this is the greatest security of government we can have upon earth. And by every de
gree that this authority is lessen'd, our security is lesserid with it, and a dfcar open'd to confufion.
ie. I will end with this: That, setting aside th«
(6. )
authority of holy scripture, and the attestation of OUB laixis to all this ; if any man can mew, that in reason, or
any scbeme or frame of government he can invent, there can be no greater security than this, or so great, I do hereby promise to turn whig ; and to unsay all that I
havefaid upon this subject.
From •? >at. July 21, to ctat. July 28, 1705.
(1. )i? f. TN our last converfation, honest countryman, X tnOu gav'st me a full account of thy conver
fion as to the state point. But thou faidst nothing as to the church. Have I made no impression upon thee as to
that ?
C. It was only want of Time that I faid nothing a«
to that. There is as much done on that side, as on the other. Tn thy Rehearsal, N. 20. thou hast brought the matter of the church, ofschism, and of occafional con
formity so home to our own doors, in such eas1 and fami tiar a manner, as the dullest of us cannot but see nay, we feel it. We have often batteWd among ourselves in our own blunt way and there not one of us, that
an husband, father, or master, but are all on thy fide.
N°5z.
1 .
An account the countryman gives of his conversion, as -to the notion of the church, of schism, and of oc casional conformity for places. With his bold chal lenge to all the dissenters to answer him. 2. His de
scription of the effects the Observators, Wc. have a~ fnong the common people. 3. The Rehearfal'/ applica- cation. With the attestation of two kings, and a par
liament, to justify the necessity of his undertaking.
Pa *
is
a
;
is
it
it,
The REHEARSAL.
3i6
lide. They fay, that none of them can sleep safe in their beds one night, or have any sort of order or government in their own families, if the plea of the non-cons be al- low'd, especially of these occafional conformists for places. Unless we suppose, that Christ our Lord had less regard to his church, purchas'd with his own hleod, out of all the nations of the earth, as a peculiar people to himself, and members of his own of his flefh, a»d of his bones ; and A«>o of God, through him, xheve elder brother; and against whom he has promis'd, that the gates of hell shall not prevail ; I fay, unless we think, that our Lord Christ has less regard for this church, for its support,
peace, and unity, than he has for the meanest farmers fa- jnily; we must acknowledge the smile you have given there, to run oh all four, and to be exactly parallel. i'or the church is call'd afamily, of which G&r^i is the
head.
I have ask'd our non-con teachers, what they had to
fay to it ? They could give no answer, that my child of ten years old cou'd not make afool of. That wou'd net justify my wife, my child, my servant, to run away from me. Nay more, to assault me, to turn me out of my own doors, and to cut my throat, if they cou'd do no
better. And if they cry'd conscience ! all was well.
This rais'd an abhorrence in me ; I have gone round them all, and can sind no other answer. And I desire thee to put it in print, to see if all of them put together can give any answer to or shew wherein the cases are
not exactly parallel.
dear love to have things made thus plain to us.
Here's no intricacy of learning, nor long quotations out of books we don't understand but persect picture made
of that nothing but downright obstinacy can hold out against and shews, that riot conscience, but some intrigue and design at the bottom.
R. give thee leave to make thjs challenge to them all. And will stand thee in let them answer
that single Rehearsal. This may be thought self-conceit: but do on purpose, as dp with the whigs on the
point
I it
O ;
I I
it,
by
I it;
it,
it ;
is
a
is
! 1
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317
point os government, to provoke them to answer, which I know they cannot. And then to expose them for their
filence, and to gain over more of my countrymen, as I have done thee. And I tell them, that is my defign, and that I have gain'd several already, and will do more ; till the dissenters that remain become the contempt and abhorrence —of the nation, unless they repent, and join
with us to bury their horrid principles in eternal oblivion.
till then . . have
And then and not we shall peact
and union.
If they will not answer, we will write over them ;
and gain the nation from them, as we did before. They have not forgot it; and we tell them, that we will do it again ; and that this is the defign of this paper, as it is ; we are now about it. If this be not provocation sufficient, let all the world see them self-condemn d, beat down, and
humbsd! They bellow and roar, like a spirit disi-os- sess'd ; but have not a word to fay. The case is plain ; and there is not a country farmer in England but can see through it. We are above them, and will keep above
them, let them do what they can ; for they can do no thing. There is neither sense nor reason on their side. We Know all that they can fay; they have faid it a thou fand times in Queen Elizabeth's time, and ever since.
And all that they have faid put together cannot anjwir
that single half-sheet of a Rehearsal, or shew that their case difsers in one tittle from the case there put. They have had many and learned answers to all their pretences. To which they never did or cou'd reply any thing; but, as I faid before, like the cuckoo, by repeating their old
objections over and over again, without taking any no tice of the solid and substantial answers which they had already receiv'd. Of this I spoke before, N. 16, is'c.
And sinding nothing wou'd do with them ; I made a brief flate of their case, N. zo. familiar, as thou fay'it, countryman, to thy undirstanding. And this sticks in their throat to this day ; which is the thing I now am provok ing them to answer. But have little hopes ! for they know it is a true state of their case, and their very case.
P3 And
The REHEARSAL.
And being put in the per/on of another, wherein every body is concern'd, it appears ridiculous and abhorrent to
every body ; and every body is capable ofjudging it. There fore I think we may leave them, and that we shall hear no more from them ; they are cut at the root, and must wither, with all men of common fense or honesty. Nay, with themselves ; for there is not a dissenter in England wou'd endure himself, that is, another in his own shape,
and with his pretences, to stay an hour under his rocs. For which I appeal to every dissenter, and to every single man in England, or in the world, according to the state of the case, N. 20. and likewise, whether the case be not truly put ? So that I think this cause cannot be fufb'd further. plain,
(2. ) C. Thou hast made things so
that he that runs may read ; which if thou hadst not done, it had been of little use to us poor ctuntry-folks, who read no books, and learn only by conversation ; which being mostly among ourselves, we seldom grow wifer. For how shou'd we ? all the information we had was from the Obfervators, and the like. We met every night that the news came in, at a coffee-house, an alt- house, or sometimes a barn. And some one among us that cou'd read, took out Mr. Observator, and read ita- loud to us all, who —hearken'd to it more attentively than to a sermon. Then the discourse began, and every
for we knew no otherwise. The fame course was taken
have seen there an old cobler sitting in his flall in the street, lay by his auls, put on his spectacles,
and gravely reading the Observator . aloud to a listning ting of mob. And when any thing smutty or propbane came out, they set up a laugh you might have heard to the end of the street. But when the government and ad
came to be exposed, they look'd wife, and
5i8
in London :
I
ministration
shook —their heads, and wou'd fay, Come, come, this •u>ill
not do All is wrong,
repeat.
But their mirth and indignation were join'd, when the
Oi-
— and so forth, which I dare not
master,
the side ; one pass'd his verdict All on Observator's
The REHEARSAL.
319
Objer<vator sell upon the church and the clergy. When Squintifego came out, or reverend father in Satan, they wou'd cry, That again ! and it wou'd be echo'd through the crewd. When they heard out of the Observator, that whenever a clergyman went into any house, it was
either to pick the man's pocket, or to cuckold him ; they wou'd clinch their fists, and fay, my oaken towel shall be upon any black-coat that comes near my house. When the Obfervator argues, that the clergy are all beggars, they live merely upon the alms of the people, and ought
neighbours, he is in the right ; and we keep our alms- folks too fine ! 'tis time they were reduc'd.
to have no votes for parliament-men ; they cry'd, Mass I
But when getting ready their Marstoio-moor and
Edge-hill swords and guns was read they put on
a difserent air. They clapt their wings, and cry'd, Ha !
my boys
I will not take upon me to fay what consequence there
may be in all this to the church or to thestate ; to be thus made vile in the eyes of the meanest of the people ; but surely they who can lead them into such open contempt of their gavemours, both in church and state, can lead them into the fietd too. They have done it before, when
••.
reverence to government is lost, obedience sits very loose. Is it nothing to have the mtb of a nation enflam'd,
corrupted, and debauch'd in their principles and affection to both church and state ; that that which shou'd be their reverence is become their jest and their averr
fion ! Is there no harm to let them be made tinder, to take
at ? every spark
fire — —I
R. It
the people. There is none to do justice — Wou'd
made a judge Just the fame doings were before the rebellion offorty-one ; as silly pampblets and papers as a-
ny now came out. The cobler of Gloucester, and others
so senselfs, that men offigure thought it a refieftion upoa them to meddle with them, and that they cou'd do no hurt. The king was minded of it then, and thought the fame ; but was convine'd of his error, when k was
P 4. to*
(3. )
is that
by
which s Absalom
tole the hearts of
were
320
The REHEARSAL.
1
too late, when he issu'd his di cleration of May 5, 1 642 fcfl down in Lord Clarendons history ,Vol. I. p. 408. whereTM he attributes the chief cause of those trouble. ' to these ,c9 ry papers, which, fays he, was before the high and royrl aignity wherein God bad plac'd kin:, to tab: no. 'ire os'
[For which reason they noticed off his hie,*/! ] but he adds, Notwithstanding bis mijesty's earnest dc jlre Jo osten,
departing
in vain, press d for a reformation. His defire ! Why
?
It was his offxe to have reform d it j and his
from that pewer wherewith God had invested him, and
becoming a petitioner to his subjects for jus ice, was realty
a divesting of himftlf, and a betraying of the authority cl Gcd, which he bore. But there were faults in others, as he goes on in the faid declaration, That whilst the fresfes
swarm d with, end every day produc'd new tracts against the cste,b! ij/Sd government of the church and state, mest mm wanted the courage or the ccvsciince to . write — [that
is, in opposition to them] either to preserve the minds of his good iubj,cis from such inferiors, or restore and recover tbsm when they were infected.
And the objcctian was then, as now ; they are nasty, scoundrel papers, and it is below any man of charactcr to engage with them ! It was below the king to take notice, or the clergy to answer, for sear of dirtying their fingers, or defiling their cka- racters ! And so they were both brought below in deed !
But I go on :
upon this point, but of the whole nation in peirHamcnt ailembl'd, 13 Car. 2. c. 1. which fays, " That the growth and encrease of the late troubles and disorders did, in a very great measure, proceed from a multiture of seditious sermons, pamphlets, and speeches, daily preached and published with a transcendent boldness, defaming the person and government of your majesty, and your royal father; wherein men were too much en couraged : And above all, from the wilful mistake of the supreme and lawful authority ; whilst men were for ward to cry up, and maintain those orders and ordi.
It was not only the
thoughts
of the
king
nances, oaths and covenants, to be afls legal and war rantable,
The
REHEARSAL,
5zr Tamable, which in themselves had not the least colour of
law or justice to support them ; from which kind of di stempers, as the present age is not wholly freed, so po sterity may be apt to relapse into them, if timely remedy
be not provided. "
Now, countryman, my labour has been, in the sirst
place, to give a true notion of the supreme and law ful authority, to the mislake of which the parliament
ascribes, above all, the cause of our late confufiom. And, in the next place, to encounter our scandalous pampble teers, who had the second part in our rebellions, by the o-
pinion of two kings and parliament.
And if in this I have been the scavinger of the church,
as the Observator calls me, I will condescend yet loivir,
if I may
the truth of God, the authority of his church, and the rights of the crown ; wherein consist the true liberty and
be serviceable, in to vindicate any capacity,
property of the subject ; and
The peace and happiness of England; which Gcd fend.
From gs&t. July 28, to &at. Aug. 4. 1705. N° 53.
Divine right in government acknowledged by all ; even • by the whigs. Their plea of vox populi, vox Dei, exa min'd to the bottom.
Ccun. '\T A M fully convine'd, master, that all the schemes
of are and contradic popular government nonsens
tion in themselves, and the destruction and ruin of man kind, without end or ranedy in the effect. But there i• something still I am not so clear in, that is what you call
jure divino, by which you fay kings hold their crowns ; can they hold by no less a tenure than a di vine right ? .
R. There is but divine and human right, aud if it be not the one, it must be the other.
C. Is there no human right can found government ?
P 5 R. What-
government among human authority.
men cannot be derived from meer
The REHEARSAL.
322
R. Whatever founds government must be superior to
and above it. Government must derive its original and whole authority from and must be accountable to
and dissolvable at its pleasure whenever thinks sit.
Now human cannot be superior to human, therefore
This so very obvious, that all governments whatever,
of whatever sort, and among all nations and religions do
pretend to divine right.
C. What! our whigs and cottunonusecilth-Tnen do they
pretend to divine right, when they found all govern ment in the people?
R. Yes, they do, their maxim vox populi, vox Dei, that the voice of the people the voice of God that whomsoever the people set up set up by God, God's anointed, vicegerent, Sec.
told thee before Num. 37. of the heathen notion of government, that they pleaded divine right, but not knowing the holy scriptures they grop'd in the dark after
they Jailed their kings to have been begotten some God or other, and so to be heroes of race superior' TO .
other men, and they deify their kings. They gave out, that their laws were reveafd from heaven, this or that God, to their legiflators, ofwhich several instances are there given, in several nations. This was their way of com ing ata divine right and authority in their governors.
So that here, on all hands, consess'd, that no go vernment can stand without divine original, right and authority for what else can give one man power over another, over his life, liberty, and property What else but divine authority can give this when, as Mr. Lock consesses, no man has ponucr over his own life, and con sequently cannot grant that power to another nor can give to any other an absolute power over his liberty or
property, to maintain which, being the end, as he fays,,
of men's entering into society, consequently, as he insers, «tt maa can give power to another to infringe these; which
;
is; ! it so
a
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; is
?
a
is is a
it is
is
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it,
it ;
by
a
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by it,
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TBc REHEARSAL. m
tte thinks would put him, and, by the fame rea on, all mankind, into a worse condition than if they were alt in the supposed independent state of nature ; all whigh I have fully shewed from him, Num. 38- Besides that it was ut
terly impojsible for any government to have been set up by the free vote of every individual, which is his fgundation,
and of all our republican schemes.
So that if I should allow their maxim of vox populi,vo>c
Dei, if by the voice of thepeople is meant theveice of all the' people in any nation, of e*ery individual, fairly and truly
I need not be afraid of the divine right of any such act of
collected, without fear, force, or any other collufion ;
the people, since they never did any act whatever, front! the beginning of the world, much less so material an act as the contriving and erecting of government, by any such.
free and unanimous consent.
And if any nation, especially in England, they should
oil so agree, to a man, I would allow it to be the voice of God indeed ! since nothing but a miracle could effect it, and it would be the sirst instance of it since Adam.
C. You have the whigs fast, for ever fast, ty'd hand and foot, upon that foolish notion of the consent of every individual, which never was aftfd, or ever could be given ; and yet, at the fame time, they cannot go off
from such zfupposttion, however senseless, to- found their beloved poiver of the people ; and that nc• man's life, li berty, or property, can be taken from him, but by his- own consent, forsooth
his reputation, or would be thought to know common fense. Let it be eccho'd and cuckoo Vby Tutchin and De Foe till it become a shame even to them! and let the nation be res cued from this witchcrasst of Belial, which, has set us at
! this is made evident to the un
derstanding of a footman or porter ; so that I suppose it will never be set up any more by any man that values
cutting of throats for liberty and property !
But now, master, I would go a little further with thee.
It has been objected to me, that in histories, and even \m the holy script ures,\t is -often faid, the people did so and sor fet up. such a- one to hiking, and the like. What shall I
P 6. seyr
324
The REHEARSAL.
fay to this ? Will you allow the •voice of the people here to be the voicc of God?
R. By that phrase of the people, or all'the people, is not meant every individual, but the greater part, as when a thing becomes very general among the people. Thus,
Num. xvi. 41 .
It is faid, That all the the congregation of
children of Israel murmured against Moses, Sic. Whereas
it is plain, that many were on Moses's side. And it is
faid, 2 Sam. xvi. 15, 18, That all the men ofIsrael came
to Jerufalem and chose Absalom. Whereas many were with David, and fled with him, and at last overcame the
rest. And of those that remained with Alsalom, there werefriends of David who consented not to the deed of the rest. It is faid, Ifai. xxxvii. 36. That the angelsmote in the camp of the Assyrians 1 85000 ; and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they wcre all dead men. Where by the word all can only be meant a great many, and that there was a very general flaughter ; for the rest
of the army returned.
Thus for the voice of the people, thus understood, that
is, of the generality of the people, bung the voice of God, we sind, that Belialhad put that notion into the heads of hissons, whom he stirred up, to vindicate their liberty against David, the best king ever they had, and to set up his son, a vain, young man, in his stead, as Heshai speaks,
in the language, we must suppose, that then prevailed among these Rebel. ', 2 Sam. xvi. 1 8. Nay, but vehom the Lord, and this people, and all the men of Israel cheese, his
be, find v. ith him will I
will Iwe have of vox pofuli, vox Dei. That whom the
siance
people chose,
we must conclude, that God did choose- After this, ten parts of twclve of the people, who art
called all Israel, boufeofDAyid,
1 Kin. xii. 16. rE bell'd
the as it is faid, ver. 19 andchoseanew king for themselves ; and yet all even of the ten tiiks
were not in this conspiracy, tho' it be faid all Israel; for we sind 2 Chron. xi. 13, 14, 15. That the priests and the hevites thatswere in all Israel resorted to him (their le? ui-
ful hereditary king) tut of all their coasts; sir the Levitts
ahide. This is the sirst in-
against
The REHEARSAL.
325
left their suburbs, and their posses/ions, and eame to Judah *a. nd Jerufalem. And not only these priests and Levites, but as it is faid, ver. 16. And aster them, out of all the
tribes of Israel such as set their hearts to seek the Lord God
of Israel, came to Jerufalem So they strengthened the
kingdom ofJudah.
From this time forth, the ten tribes became a distinct
kingdom, and their kings were elective by the people,
(the rule of hereditary succession continuing in Judah) and whether the voice of the people, in this case, was the voice
of God, is determined by the mouth of God himself. Has.
up kings, but not mt, have viii. 4. They haveIset by they
knew it not .
But to conclude this point, was the voice of the people
the voice of God, when they preserr'd Barabbas to our blessed Saviour, and cry'd crucify him, crucify him? And it is faid, Luke xxiii. 23. And the voice of them prevailed, that is, with Pilate to condemn our Lord. Was the voice
of the people then the voice ofGod?
Go thro* all histories and instances, you will sind it oftener the voice of the devil, especially in matters of go vernment ; for God ordained the people to be governed; and when they usurp the office of being governottrs, they invert the institution of Gc•/, and are actual rebels against
him, and inlist themselves under the banner of Belial ;
whose service (instead of God's) they take to be perfect fREEdOM.
The holy scriptures give us the history of two king doms, that of 'judah, which was hereditary to the house of David, and that of the ten tribes, which was by the voice of the people. In the sirst the right of succession be
ing preserv'd, the people were in quiet, and the kingdom prolper'd, until the Babylonish captivity. But in the other, where little regard was had to succession, what else is to be met with but seditions, murders and destruction ?
Baa/ha conspir'd against his master, and being made king by the people, destroy'd all the posterity of Jeroboam, the people's king. Thus Zimri served Elam and was
killed himself seven days after. Omri again chosen by
mn de princes, and
326
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all the people, and then Tibni and the people were divided - K. Zacharias was destroy 'd by Sballum, Sballum by Me- nabem, Sec. And as these kings mounted the throne by blood of their predecessors, and were not removed with out blood, so the people that chest them were continually
butchering and destroying one another.
From &at. Aug. 4, to &flt. Aug. 11, 170 y. N° 54.
1. The neceffity if a divine right in government. No di vine right in the pretences of the whigs ane/ heathens, the' they consirm it. 2. Some account of the heathens
deifying their kings. 3 . The original of government was among the angels in heaven. 4. And what the rebellion of Luciser was.
(1. ) Coun. 'XT O U have given me full fatisfaction, maf- X ter, as to the weak pretence of the popular orators, to any divine right in the people, either towards the foundation, or alteration of government . You have
shewed how it is exploded in holy scripture, as the princi ple of Belial, who has instill'd it into mankind, under the notion of asserting their liberty, which is, their liberty
from the institution of God; all of whom that are thus per suaded, are, as the holy scripture calls them, sons of Be lial, and directly rebel against God, that is against his in-
stitution.
You have shewed that a divine right is neceflary to
found and support government among men ; and the pre
tence of the people to strong confirmation of it, and shews, that even in their own sense divine right ne
cessary.
The pretence of the heathen likewise great confirm
ation of this but their plea of their laws having been
ven from heaven, and their kings being begotten Godsr
fable and superstition and their deifying and worfiip- ing their kings was wild idolatry*
These
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The SHEARS AiL.
327 These dr/honour the great God, and the wxptpali cru-
cisy'd Christ.
Therefore I have done with them, I'm sure there can
be no divine right here.
But now, master, where shall we sind it ? When did
government begin ? and by whom ? that we may know whether its original was divine or not. I want some in struction in these things.
(2. ) J3ut before you give me an answer to this, pray tell me, were these heathens such dolts, (vxhfilly sellows, as to believe their kings, whom they faw die before their eyes, to be all God Almighties ? I have heard much of the -wisdom of the heathen, and of the fame of their phi- Infipbers.
R. They were wifi men, and not such dolts as you
imagine. They acknowledged one supreme Being Sove reign over all, and spoke as great things of him as we
tan- This supreme God they called Jupiter, tho' some times they gave even that name, in high flattery, to some
with distinction of Jupiter of this or that
ef their kings,
pace. But then they imagined that this supreme God de
puted others under him to govern in their several pro
vinces, as Æolus to command the •winds, Neptune the fia, Vulcan the fire, and so forth. These they called Dii medioxumi, lesser Gods, who stood in the middle be
twixt the supreme God and men, and governed under him, and over them.
Then they had their tutelar Gods and their Lares, and genius' who they suppos'd prefided over such and such*
countries, cities, families, and particular persons.
Now was among these lesser Gods that they ranged their kings, who had lived vertuoufly, and done great
things for them. And indeed their Gods, as Bacchus, Neptune, Hercules and others, were men that had been. &ffld, after their deaths, for remarkable things that they had done of which their stories still remain in the heathen authors.
Bat they had not foolish thought, as, that they iould make a man to become the supreme Being, which
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328
he was not before their apotheofis, or declaring him I \ God.
Your wonder at the heathen will abI
ate, when you («
kings called Gods in holy scripture.
Gods. And revile not the Gods, nor speak evil of the ndtr of the people. And our blessed Saviour gives the reason why they are called Gods, because unto them the word (that is the commijsion of God) came to be the rulers ofthe
people. Joh. x. 35. And they who bear God's office, by commixsion from him, bear likewise his name. And Chris
owned the power of Pilate against himself to be given him from heaven. Joh. xix. 1 1.
C. This strikes-us with great astonishment ! This raises the character of king very high indeed ! that they stand before us, in the person of the great God himself, and are Gods to us. And can the people create Gods! Are kings called any where in scripture the anointed of the
people, or the deputies, vice-gerents, orJubstitutes of the people? No, they are called God's anointed, and HIS
vice-gerents : So that to rebel against them is to rebel against the most high God, who has made them Gods. They are the ordinance of God, therefore to refift them is to refist the ordinance of God, and is pronounced to be dam nation. Rom. xiii. 2. and therefore, That we must needs
have ye en /aid
be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. All this is now very plain to me, and the authority un
deniable. But still, master, I would have you help me into thefact, to see how, and where, and by whom this
thing called government was sirst instituted, that we may view it from its very original, and so deduce it down wards to us at this day ; for tho' we are obliged to give absolute credence to what is deliver'din holy scripture,that
government is the ordinance of God ; yet if the fact appears plain to us, it confirms us the more, and makes us fubicit to the authority with greater alacrity, conviction of rta-
fan. (3. ) R. What you desire of me is an history of govern ment from the beginning ; wherein we shall have occasi on to mention that of rebellion also.
z
And
straining
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