Alexander Shields

“ This Buchanan shews to be very absurd, 'When you grant the interpretation of laws to a king, you give him such a license, that the law should not speak what the lawgiver meaneth, but what is for the interpreter's interest; so that he may turn it to all actions, as a Lesbian rule, for his own advantage; and so what he pleases the law shall speak, and what he will not, it shall not speak.' Now the king's absolute pleasure can no more be the sense of the law, than it can be the law itself: he is king by law, but he is not king of law; no mortal can make a sense to a law, contrary to the law ”

“ By me tyrants reign, and usurpers decree injustice? Harsh to Christian ears. Can they be said to be gods among whom the Lord judgeth? If they be, they must be such as the witch of Endor saw, gods coming out of the earth, when she raised the devil; in a very catechrestical meaning, as the devil is called the god of this world. And indeed they have no more power, nor otherwise to be owned, than he hath: for this is a truth, tyranny is a work of satan, and not from God; because sin, either habitual or actual, is not from God ”

“ There is no need of the formality of a judge, in things evident to nature's eye, as grassant tyranny undermining and overturning religion and liberty must be. Nature, in the acts of necessitated ressistance, in such a case, is judge, party, accuser, witness, and all. Neither is it an act of judgment, for people to defend their own: defence is no act of jurisdiction, but a privilege of nature. Hence, these common sayings, all laws permit force to be repelled by force; and the law of nature allows self defence: the defence of life is necessary, and flows from the law of nature. ”

“ Can we imagine, that men in the whole of that blessed work so remarkably led of God, being convocate by a parliament of the wisest and worthiest men that ever were in England, whom they did encourage, by writing and preaching, and every way to stand fast in their opposition to the then king displaying a banner for his prerogative (a court dream) against religion and liberty, should be so far left, as to drop that as a principle and part of our religion, which would sacrifice religion itself to the lust of a raging tyrant? ”

“ If it be a congratulation (as always it is used in scripture, and in cases formerly; being never imposed on men, by way of compulsion, before this set of tyrants started up, that know they can get no deference of honest men, but by extortion) it is the more abominable; not only for the hypocrisy that is in it, but the blasphemy, in giving thanks for the promoter of the devil's interest, and the destroyer of Christ's, and the liberties of mankind. What have we to congratulate him for, but for overturning our laws and liberties, and oppressing us in most grievous tyranny? ”

“ But will the world never be awakened out of this dream and dotage, of dull and stupid subjection to every monster that can mount a throne? Sure at length it may be expected, either conscience from within as God's deputy, challenging for the palpable perversion of this his excellent ordinance, or judgments from without, making sensible of the effects of it, will convince and confute these old inveterate prejudices. And then these martyrs for that universal interest of mankind, who got the fore-start and the first sight of this, will not be so flouted as fools, as now they are. ”

“ A king as king, and by virtue of his royal office, must be owned to be a father, tutor, protector, shepherd, and patron of the people; but a mere conqueror, without consent cannot be owned as such.
Can he be a father and a patron to us against our will, by the sole power of the sword? A father to these that are unwilling to be sons? An head over such as will not be members? And a defender thro' violence? 4. A king, as such, is a special gift of God, and blessing, not a judgment: but a conqueror, as such, is not a blessing, but a judgment, his native end being not peace, but fire and sword. ”

“ For herein that monster of prerogative is not only advanced, paramount to all laws divine and human, but far surmounting all the lust, impudence, and insolence of all the Roman, Sicilian, Turkish, Tartarian, or Indian tyrants that ever trampled upon the liberties of mankind: who have indeed demanded absolute subjection, and surrender of their lives, lands, and liberties at their pleasure, but never arrived at such a height of arrogance as this does, to claim absolute obedience, without reserve of conscience, religion, honour, or reason ”

“ As tyranny is a destructive plague to all the interests of men and Christians; to anarchy, the usual product of it, is no less pernicious, bringing a community into a paroxysm as deadly and dangerous. We must own government to be absolutely necessary, for the constitution and conservation of all societies. I shall not enter into a disquisition, let be determination of the species or kind of magistracy, whether monarchy aristocracy or democracy, be preferable. ”

“ It is that great ordinance of God, most signally impressed by a very sacred and illustrious character of the glorious majesty of the Most High, who hath appointed magistracy; in which, considering either its fountain, or dignity, ends, or effects, conscience must have a very great concern. The fountain, or efficient cause of magistracy, is high and sublime. The powers that are, be of God, not only by the all-disposing hand of God in his providence, as tyranny is, nor only by way of naked approbation, but by divine in-institution ”

“ It is indeed the honour of kings and happiness of people, to have true human and Christian liberty established in the common wealth, that is, liberty of persons from slavery; liberty of privileges from tyranny, and liberty of conscience from all impositions of men ”

“ There must be a moral power, a lawful title and investiture, as is shewed above; which, if it be wanting, the power is null, and the person but a scenical king, like John of Leyden. This is essentially necessary to the being of a magistrate; which only properly distinguishes him from a private man; for when a person becomes a magistrate, what is the change that is wrought in him? what new habit or endowment is produced in him? he hath no more natural power than he had before, only now he hath the moral power, right and authority to rule, legally impowering him to govern. ”

“ But, to bring it home to our present case, and answer the laxness of the adversaries position of the uncontroulableness of every one that wears a crown, I shall state it thus: Whether or not is it a necessary duty for a community (whether they have the concurrence of the primores or nobles, or not) to endeavour, in the defence of their lives, religion, laws and liberties, to resist and repress the usurpation and tyranny of prevailing dominators, using or abusing their power for subverting religion, invading the liberties, and overturning the fundamental laws of their country? ”

“ As the sentence of a judge does not make a man a murderer or thief, only declares him convict of these crimes, and punishable for them; it is their own committing them that makes him criminal: and, as before the sentence, having certain knowledge of the fact, we might disown the man's innocency or honesty; so a ruler's acts of tyranny and usurpation make him a tyrant and usurper, and give ground to disown his just and legal authority; which he can have no more than a murderer or thief can have innocency or honesty. ”

“ But to make the parallel; if the robber should demand, in our subjecting ourselves to him, an owning of him to be no robber but an honest man, as the tyrant demands in our subjecting ourselves to him in owning him to be no tyrant, but a magistrate, then we ought not to yield it to the one no more than to the other. For the second, to allow them passive obedience is unintelligible nonsense and a mere contradiction; for nothing that is merely passive can be obedience as relative to a law; nor can any obedience be merely passive; for obedience is always active. ”

“ The people have as great interest to defend their religion as the peers, and more, because they have more souls to care for than they, who are fewer. And to be violented in their consciences, which are as free to them as to the peers, is as insupportable to them: yea, both are equally concerned to maintain truth, and rescue their brethren suffering for it, which are the chief grounds of war; and if the ground of the defensive war be the same with them and without them, what reason can be given, making their resistance in one case lawful, and not in the other? ”

“ Tyranny is against nature, and a masterly principality over slaves. Can he be called a father, who accounts his subjects slaves; or a shepherd, who does not feed, but devours his flock? or a pilot, who doth always study to make shipwreck of the goods, and strikes a leak in the very ship where he fails? 'What is he then that bears command, not for the people's advantage, but studies only himself, who leadeth his subjects into manifest snares? ”

“ Now then, let the world be judge, if the people of Scotland can be judged in conscience, reason, prudence, policy, or any imaginable way, bound to own their authority, being so stated, and by the act rescissory all human ground rescinded, that ever it shall be otherwise; let them go seek other slaves where they can find them, for we will not sell ourselves and posterity to tyrants as slaves, nor give up our religion and the exercise of it to the mouldings of the court. ”

“ Grace does not restrain the right of sinless nature, though it restrains corruption: but self-defence is no corruption: Grace makes a man more a man than he was. And nothing can be more dishonourable to the gospel, than that by the law of nature it is lawful to resist tyrants, but we are bound by religion from withstanding their cruelty: the laws of God do not interfere one with another. ”

“ Whence we may gather not obscurely, what is the proper tendency of it, both as to the work and worker, to wit, to incline and induce us by flattery to a lawless loyalty, and a stupid contented slavery when he cannot compel us by force, and make us actively co-operate in setting and settling his tyranny, in the peaceable possession of all his usurpations, robberies, and encroachments upon our religion, laws, and liberties, and to incorporate us with Babylon; for who are the neighbours he would have us unite with in love, but the papists? ”

“ Is it that we should arm with authority tyrants convicted of grievous crimes, maintained by the spoils of the subjects, having hands embrued in loyal blood, and hearts gaping for the oppression of all good men? ”

“ For by a tyrant strangers are employed to oppress the subjects: 'they place the establishment of their authority in the people's weakness, and think that a kingdom is not a procuration concredited to them by God, but rather a prey fallen into their hands; such are not joined to us by any civil bond, or any bond of humanity, but should be accounted the most capital enemies of God, and of all men.' King James, as above says, he is a tyrant that imposes unlawful taxes, raises forces, makes war upon his subjects, to pillage, plunder, waste, and spoil his kingdoms. ”

“ It is certain, God would not command us to obey kings, and leave us in the dark, that we should not know him that hath a real call to it. And if he have not the peoples call, where shall we find another? It remains therefore they must have it from the people, who have it to give radically and virtually, having a power to preserve themselves, and to put it in the hands of one or more rulers, that they may preserve themselves by them. All men are born alike as to civil power (no man being born with a crown on his head) and yet men united in society may give it to this man, and not to that man ”

“ The national engagements are national promises, plighting and pledging the nation's public faith, for the preservation and propagation of religion and liberty, to succeeding posterity; which if succeeding generations may reverse, then the faith of men, and the faith of nations, can be of no force above a century of years; nay nor after the decease of them that personally made the promise: and so every new ruler, every new parliament, yea every person coming up to succeed the father in any capacity, might be free not to stand to it, which were very absurd. ”

“ What watchman must not see it his indispensible duty, to warn all people of his devilish designs to destroy the church and nation, and preach so that people may hate the whore, and this pimp of her's? sure if he preach the whole counsel of God, he must preach against popery and tyranny. And if he think this indulgence from absolute prerogative, granted and accepted on these terms, can supersede him from this faithfulness, then he is no more the servant of Christ but a pleaser of men. ”

“ All the forecited commands, admonitions, and certifications, to execute judgment, must necessarily involve and imply a power to conveen, without which they could not be in a capacity for it: not only unjust judgment, but no judgment, in a time when truth is fallen in the streets, and equity cannot enter, is charged as the sin of the state; therefore they must conveen to prevent this sin, and the wrath of God for it: God hath committed the keeping of the commonwealth, not to the king's only, but also to the people's representatives and heads. ”

“ All which, as it is palpable in itself, so we have sensibly felt in our experience to be the natural description of tyranny, but more tolerable than any account of ours would amount to. It is both foolishly and falsely alledged by royalists or tyrannists, that here is a grant of uncontroulable absoluteness to kings to tyrannize over the people without resistance, and that this manner of the king is in the original Mishphat, which signifies right or law; so that here was a permissive law given to kings to tyrannize, and to oblige people to passive obedience, without any remedy but tears ”

“ Therefore being such a person with whom in reason no honest man could transact, for a tenure of the least piece of land or house, or any holding whatsoever, they dare not accept of his security or protection for so great an interest, as the freedom and exercise of their religion under the shadow of such a bramble. If it was the Shechemites sin and shame to strengthen a naughty Abimelech, and strengthen themselves under the shadow of his protection, much more must it be to take protection for religion, as well as peace, from such a monster of cruelty and treachery. ”

“ For the evil shunned is suffering, but the evil done to shun this, is real and active concurrence, in manner, measure, and method, enjoined by law, in strengthening the hands of those who have displayed a banner against all the lovers of our Lord Jesus Christ; a manifest chusing of sin to shun suffering, and a saving of life with the prejudice of that in the preservation whereof he should be ready to lay down all, and be at a point to endure the worst this wicked world can make him suffer, ere he be found guilty in the matter of a compliance of that nature. ”