Franco-Gallia - Or, An Account of the Ancient Free State of France, and - Most Other Parts of Europe, Before the Loss of Their - Liberties by François Hotman
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page 9 of 172 (05%)
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the People of _England_ took up Arms against their _Prince_, but when
constrain'd to it by a necessary Care of their _Liberties_ and true _Constitution_. 'Tis certainly as much a _Treason_ and _Rebellion_ against this _Constitution_, and the _known_ Laws, in a _Prince_ to endeavor to break thro them, as 'tis in the _People_ to rise against him, whilst he keeps within their Bounds, and does his Duty. Our Constitution is a Government of _Laws_, not of _Persons. Allegiance_ and _Protection_ are Obligations that cannot subsist separately; when one fails, the other falls of Course. The true Etymology of the word _Loyalty_ (which has been so strangely wrested in the late Reigns) is an entire Obedience to the Prince in all his Commands according to Law; that is, to the _Laws themselves_, to which we owe both an active and passive Obedience. By the old and true Maxim, that _the King can do no Wrong_, nobody is so foolish as to conclude, that he has not Strength to murder, to offer Violence to Women, or Power enough to dispossess a Man wrongfully of his Estate, or that whatever he does (how wicked soever) is just: but the Meaning is, he has no _lawful Power_ to do such Things; and our Constitution considers no _Power_ as _irresistible_, but what is _lawful_. And since _Religion_ is become a great and universal Concern, and drawn into our Government, as it affects every single Man's Conscience; tho my private Opinion, they ought not to be mingled, nor to have any thing to do with each other; (I do not speak of our Church Polity, which is a Part of our State, and dependent upon it) some account must be given of that Matter. |
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