§212. Besides this over-turning from without, governments are dissolved from within,
First, When the legislative14 is altered. Civil society being a state of peace, amongst those who are of it, from whom the state of war is excluded by the umpirage, which they have provided in their legislative, for the ending all differences that may arise amongst any of them, it is in their legislative, that the members of a commonwealth are united, and combined together into one coherent living body. This is the soul that gives form, life, and unity1, to the common-wealth: from hence the several members have their mutual15 influence, sympathy, and connexion: and therefore, when the legislative is broken, or dissolved, dissolution and death follows: for the essence and union of the society consisting in having one will, the legislative, when once established by the majority, has the declaring, and as it were keeping of that will. The constitution of the legislative is the first and fundamental act of society, whereby provision is made for the continuation of their union, under the direction of persons, and bonds of laws, made by persons authorized16 thereunto, by the consent and appointment of the people, without which no one man, or number of men, amongst them, can have authority of making laws that shall be binding18 to the rest. When any one, or more, shall take upon them to make laws, whom the people have not appointed so to do, they make laws without authority, which the people are not therefore bound to obey; by which means they come again to be out of subjection, and may constitute to themselves a new legislative, as they think best, being in full liberty to resist the force of those, who without authority would impose any thing upon them. Every one is at the disposure of his own will, when those who had, by the delegation19 of the society, the declaring of the public will, are excluded from it, and others usurp20 the place, who have no such authority or delegation.
§213. This being usually brought about by such in the commonwealth who misuse21 the power they have; it is hard to consider it aright, and know at whose door to lay it, without knowing the form of government in which it happens. Let us suppose then the legislative placed in the concurrence22 of three distinct persons.
A single hereditary23 person, having the constant, supreme24, executive power, and with it the power of convoking25 and dissolving the other two within certain periods of time.
An assembly of hereditary nobility.
An assembly of representatives chosen, pro6 tempore, by the people. Such a form of government supposed, it is evident,
§214. First, That when such a single person, or prince, sets up his own arbitrary will in place of the laws, which are the will of the society, declared by the legislative, then the legislative is changed: for that being in effect the legislative, whose rules and laws are put in execution, and required to be obeyed; when other laws are set up, and other rules pretended, and inforced, than what the legislative, constituted by the society, have enacted27, it is plain that the legislative is changed. Whoever introduces new laws, not being thereunto authorized by the fundamental appointment of the society, or subverts28 the old, disowns and overturns the power by which they were made, and so sets up a new legislative.
§215. Secondly30, When the prince hinders the legislative from assembling in its due time, or from acting31 freely, pursuant to those ends for which it was constituted, the legislative is altered: for it is not a certain number of men, no, nor their meeting, unless they have also freedom of debating, and leisure of perfecting, what is for the good of the society, wherein the legislative consists: when these are taken away or altered, so as to deprive the society of the due exercise of their power, the legislative is truly altered; for it is not names that constitute governments, but the use and exercise of those powers that were intended to accompany them; so that he, who takes away the freedom, or hinders the acting of the legislative in its due seasons, in effect takes away the legislative, and puts an end to the government,
§216. Thirdly, When, by the arbitrary power of the prince, the electors, or ways of election, are altered, without the consent, and contrary to the common interest of the people, there also the legislative is altered: for, if others than those whom the society hath authorized thereunto, do chuse, or in another way than what the society hath prescribed, those chosen are not the legislative appointed by the people.
§217. Fourthly, The delivery also of the people into the subjection of a foreign power, either by the prince, or by the legislative, is certainly a change of the legislative, and so a dissolution of the government: for the end why people entered into society being to be preserved one intire, free, independent society, to be governed by its own laws; this is lost, whenever they are given up into the power of another.
§218. Why, in such a constitution as this, the dissolution of the government in these cases is to be imputed32 to the prince, is evident; because he, having the force, treasure and offices of the state to employ, and often persuading himself, or being flattered by others, that as supreme magistrate33 he is uncapable of controul; he alone is in a condition to make great advances toward such changes, under pretence34 of lawful35 authority, and has it in his hands to terrify or suppress opposers, as factious36, seditious, and enemies to the government: whereas no other part of the legislative, or people, is capable by themselves to attempt any alteration37 of the legislative, without open and visible rebellion, apt enough to be taken notice of, which, when it prevails, produces effects very little different from foreign conquest. Besides, the prince in such a form of government, having the power of dissolving the other parts of the legislative, and thereby38 rendering39 them private persons, they can never in opposition40 to him, or without his concurrence, alter the legislative by a law, his consent being necessary to give any of their decrees that sanction. But yet so far as the other parts of the legislative any way contribute to any attempt upon the government, and do either promote, or not, what lies in them, hinder such designs, they are guilty, and partake in this, which is certainly the greatest crime men can be guilty of one towards another.
§219. There is one way more whereby such a government may be dissolved, and that is: When he who has the supreme executive power, neglects and abandons that charge, so that the laws already made can no longer be put in execution. This is demonstratively to reduce all to anarchy41, and so effectually to dissolve the government: for laws not being made for themselves, but to be, by their execution, the bonds of the society, to keep every part of the body politic in its due place and function; when that totally ceases, the government visibly ceases, and the people become a confused multitude, without order or connexion. Where there is no longer the administration of justice, for the securing of men’s rights, nor any remaining power within the community to direct the force, or provide for the necessities of the public, there certainly is no government left. Where the laws cannot be executed, it is all one as if there were no laws; and a government without laws is, I suppose, a mystery in politics, unconceivable to human capacity, and inconsistent with human society.
§220. In these and the like cases, when the government is dissolved, the people are at liberty to provide for themselves, by erecting43 a new legislative, differing from the other, by the change of persons, or form, or both, as they shall find it most for their safety and good: for the society can never, by the fault of another, lose the native and original right it has to preserve itself, which can only be done by a settled legislative, and a fair and impartial44 execution of the laws made by it. But the state of mankind is not so miserable45 that they are not capable of using this remedy, till it be too late to look for any. To tell people they may provide for themselves, by erecting a new legislative, when by oppression, artifice46, or being delivered over to a foreign power, their old one is gone, is only to tell them, they may expect relief when it is too late, and the evil is past cure. This is in effect no more than to bid them first be slaves, and then to take care of their liberty; and when their chains are on, tell them, they may act like freemen. This, if barely so, is rather mockery than relief; and men can never be secure from tyranny, if there be no means to escape it till they are perfectly47 under it: and therefore it is, that they have not only a right to get out of it, but to prevent it.
§221. There is therefore, secondly, another way whereby governments are dissolved, and that is, when the legislative, or the prince, either of them, act contrary to their trust. First, The legislative acts against the trust reposed48 in them, when they endeavour to invade the property of the subject, and to make themselves, or any part of the community, masters, or arbitrary disposers of the lives, liberties, or fortunes of the people.
§222. The reason why men enter into society, is the preservation49 of their property; and the end why they chuse and authorize17 a legislative, is, that there may be laws made, and rules set, as guards and fences to the properties of all the members of the society, to limit the power, and moderate the dominion50, of every part and member of the society: for since it can never be supposed to be the will of the society, that the legislative should have a power to destroy that which every one designs to secure, by entering into society, and for which the people submitted themselves to legislators of their own making; whenever the legislators endeavour to take away, and destroy the property of the people, or to reduce them to slavery under arbitrary power, they put themselves into a state of war with the people, who are thereupon absolved51 from any farther obedience52, and are left to the common refuge, which God hath provided for all men, against force and violence. Whensoever therefore the legislative shall transgress53 this fundamental rule of society; and either by ambition, fear, folly54 or corruption56, endeavour to grasp themselves, or put into the hands of any other, an absolute power over the lives, liberties, and estates of the people; by this breach57 of trust they forfeit58 the power the people had put into their hands for quite contrary ends, and it devolves to the people, who. have a right to resume their original liberty, and, by the establishment of a new legislative, (such as they shall think fit) provide for their own safety and security, which is the end for which they are in society. What I have said here, concerning the legislative in general, holds true also concerning the supreme executor, who having a double trust put in him, both to have a part in the legislative, and the supreme execution of the law, acts against both, when he goes about to set up his own arbitrary will as the law of the society. He acts also contrary to his trust, when he either employs the force, treasure, and offices of the society, to corrupt55 the representatives, and gain them to his purposes; or openly preengages the electors, and prescribes to their choice, such, whom he has, by sollicitations, threats, promises, or otherwise, won to his designs; and employs them to bring in such, who have promised before-hand what to vote, and what to enact26. Thus to regulate candidates and electors, and new-model the ways of election, what is it but to cut up the government by the roots, and poison the very fountain of public security? for the people having reserved to themselves the choice of their representatives, as the fence to their properties, could do it for no other end, but that they might always be freely chosen, and so chosen, freely act, and advise, as the necessity of the common-wealth, and the public good should, upon examination, and mature debate, be judged to require. This, those who give their votes before they hear the debate, and have weighed the reasons on all sides, are not capable of doing. To prepare such an assembly as this, and endeavour to set up the declared abettors of his own will, for the true representatives of the people, and the law-makers of the society, is certainly as great a breach of trust, and as perfect a declaration of a design to subvert29 the government, as is possible to be met with. To which, if one shall add rewards and punishments visibly employed to the same end, and all the arts of perverted59 law made use of, to take off and destroy all that stand in the way of such a design, and will not comply and consent to betray the liberties of their country, it will be past doubt what is doing. What power they ought to have in the society, who thus employ it contrary to the trust went along with it in its first institution, is easy to determine; and one cannot but see, that he, who has once attempted any such thing as this, cannot any longer be trusted.
§223. To this perhaps it will be said, that the people being ignorant, and always discontented, to lay the foundation of government in the unsteady opinion and uncertain humour of the people, is to expose it to certain ruin; and no government will be able long to subsist, if the people may set up a new legislative, whenever they take offence at the old one. To this I answer, Quite the contrary. People are not so easily got out of their old forms, as some are apt to suggest. They are hardly to be prevailed with to amend60 the acknowledged faults in the frame they have been accustomed to. And if there be any original defects, or adventitious61 ones introduced by time, or corruption; it is not an easy thing to get them changed, even when all the world sees there is an opportunity for it. This slowness and aversion in the people to quit their old constitutions, has, in the many revolutions which have been seen in this kingdom, in this and former ages, still kept us to, or, after some interval62 of fruitless attempts, still brought us back again to our old legislative of king, lords and commons: and whatever provocations63 have made the crown be taken from some of our princes heads, they never carried the people so far as to place it in another line.
§224. But it will be said, this hypothesis lays a ferment65 for frequent rebellion. To which I answer,
First, No more than any other hypothesis: for when the people are made miserable, and find themselves exposed to the ill usage of arbitrary power, cry up their governors, as much as you will, for sons of Jupiter; let them be sacred and divine, descended66, or authorized from heaven; give them out for whom or what you please, the same will happen. The people generally ill treated, and contrary to right, will be ready upon any occasion to ease themselves of a burden that sits heavy upon them. They will wish, and seek for the opportunity, which in the change, weakness and accidents of human affairs, seldom delays long to offer itself. He must have lived but a little while in the world, who has not seen examples of this in his time; and he must have read very little, who cannot produce examples of it in all sorts of governments in the world.
§225. Secondly, I answer, such revolutions happen not upon every little mismanagement in public affairs. Great mistakes in the ruling part, many wrong and inconvenient67 laws, and all the slips of human frailty68, will be born by the people without mutiny or murmur69. But if a long train of abuses, prevarications and artifices70, all tending the same way, make the design visible to the people, and they cannot but feel what they lie under, and see whither they are going; it is not to be wondered, that they should then rouze themselves, and endeavour to put the rule into such hands which may secure to them the ends for which government was at first erected71; and without which, ancient names, and specious72 forms, are so far from being better, that they are much worse, than the state of nature, or pure anarchy; the inconveniencies being all as great and as near, but the remedy farther off and more difficult.
§226. Thirdly, I answer, that this doctrine73 of a power in the people of providing for their safety a-new, by a new legislative, when their legislators have acted contrary to their trust, by invading their property, is the best fence against rebellion, and the probablest means to hinder it: for rebellion being an opposition, not to persons, but authority, which is founded only in the constitutions and laws of the government; those, whoever they be, who by force break through, and by force justify74 their violation75 of them, are truly and properly rebels: for when men, by entering into society and civil-government, have excluded force, and introduced laws for the preservation of property, peace, and unity amongst themselves, those who set up force again in opposition to the laws, do rebellare, that is, bring back again the state of war, and are properly rebels: which they who are in power, (by the pretence they have to authority, the temptation of force they have in their hands, and the flattery of those about them) being likeliest to do; the properest way to prevent the evil, is to shew them the danger and injustice76 of it, who are under the greatest temptation to run into it.
§227. In both the fore4-mentioned cases, when either the legislative is changed, or the legislators act contrary to the end for which they were constituted; those who are guilty are guilty of rebellion: for if any one by force takes away the established legislative of any society, and the laws by them made, pursuant to their trust, he thereby takes away the umpirage, which every one had consented to, for a peaceable decision of all their controversies77, and a bar to the state of war amongst them. They, who remove, or change the legislative, take away this decisive power, which no body can have, but by the appointment and consent of the people; and so destroying the authority which the people did, and no body else can set up, and introducing a power which the people hath not authorized, they actually introduce a state of war, which is that of force without authority: and thus, by removing the legislative established by the society, (in whose decisions the people acquiesced78 and united, as to that of their own will) they untie79 the knot, and expose the people a-new to the state of war, And if those, who by force take away the legislative, are rebels, the legislators themselves, as has been shewn, can be no less esteemed80 so; when they, who were set up for the protection, and preservation of the people, their liberties and properties, shall by force invade and endeavour to take them away; and so they putting themselves into a state of war with those who made them the protectors and guardians81 of their peace, are properly, and with the greatest aggravation82, rebellantes, rebels.
§228. But if they, who say it lays a foundation for rebellion, mean that it may occasion civil wars, or intestine83 broils84, to tell the people they are absolved from obedience when illegal attempts are made upon their liberties or properties, and may oppose the unlawful violence of those who were their magistrates85, when they invade their properties contrary to the trust put in them; and that therefore this doctrine is not to be allowed, being so destructive to the peace of the world: they may as well say, upon the same ground, that honest men may not oppose robbers or pirates, because this may occasion disorder86 or bloodshed. If any mischief87 come in such cases, it is not to be charged upon him who defends his own right, but on him that invades his neighbours. If the innocent honest man must quietly quit all he has, for peace sake, to him who will lay violent hands upon it, I desire it may be considered, what a kind of peace there will be in the world, which consists only in violence and rapine; and which is to be maintained only for the benefit of robbers and oppressors. VVho would not think it an admirable peace betwix the mighty88 and the mean, when the lamb, without resistance, yielded his throat to be torn by the imperious wolf? Polyphemus’s den5 gives us a perfect pattern of such a peace, and such a government, wherein Ulysses and his companions had nothing to do, but quietly to suffer themselves to be devoured89. And no doubt Ulysses, who was a prudent90 man, preached up passive obedience, and exhorted91 them to a quiet submission92, by representing to them of what concernment peace was to mankind; and by shewing the inconveniences might happen, if they should offer to resist Polyphemus, who had now the power over them.
§229. The end of government is the good of mankind; and which is best for mankind, that the people should be always exposed to the boundless93 will of tyranny, or that the rulers should be sometimes liable to be opposed, when they grow exorbitant94 in the use of their power, and employ it for the destruction, and not the preservation of the properties of their people?
§230. Nor let any one say, that mischief can arise from hence, as often as it shall please a busy head, or turbulent spirit, to desire the alteration of the government. It is true, such men may stir, whenever they please; but it will be only to their own just ruin and perdition: for till the mischief be grown general, and the ill designs of the rulers become visible, or their attempts sensible to the greater part, the people, who are more disposed to suffer than right themselves by resistance, are not apt to stir. The examples of particular injustice, or oppression of here and there an unfortunate man, moves them not. But if they universally have a persuation, grounded upon manifest evidence, that designs are carrying on against their liberties, and the general course and tendency of things cannot but give them strong suspicions of the evil intention of their governors, who is to be blamed for it? Who can help it, if they, who might avoid it, bring themselves into this suspicion? Are the people to be blamed, if they have the sense of rational creatures, and can think of things no otherwise than as they find and feel them? And is it not rather their fault, who put things into such a posture95, that they would not have them thought to be as they are? I grant, that the pride, ambition, and turbulency of private men have sometimes caused great disorders96 in commonwealths97, and factions98 have been fatal to states and kingdoms. But whether the mischief hath oftener begun in the peoples wantonness, and a desire to cast off the lawful authority of their rulers, or in the rulers insolence99, and endeavours to get and exercise an arbitrary power over their people; whether oppression, or disobedience, gave the first rise to the disorder, I leave it to impartial history to determine. This I am sure, whoever, either ruler or subject, by force goes about to invade the rights of either prince or people, and lays the foundation for overturning the constitution and frame of any just government, is highly guilty of the greatest crime, I think, a man is capable of, being to answer for all those mischiefs100 of blood, rapine, and desolation, which the breaking to pieces of governments bring on a country. And he who does it, is justly to be esteemed the common enemy and pest of mankind, and is to be treated accordingly.
§231. That subjects or foreigners, attempting by force on the properties of any people, may be resisted with force, is agreed on all hands. But that magistrates, doing the same thing, may be resisted, hath of late been denied: as if those who had the greatest privileges and advantages by the law, had thereby a power to break those laws, by which alone they were set in a better place than their brethren: whereas their offence is thereby the greater, both as being ungrateful for the greater share they have by the law, and breaking also that trust, which is put into their hands by their brethren.
§232. Whosoever uses force without right, as every one does in society, who does it without law, puts himself into a state of war with those against whom he so uses it; and in that state all former ties are cancelled, all other rights cease, and every one has a right to defend himself, and to resist the aggressor. This is so evident, that Barclay himself, that great assertor of the power and sacredness of kings, is forced to confess, That it is lawful for the people, in some cases, to resist their king; and that too in a chapter, wherein he pretends to shew, that the divine law shuts up the people from all manner of rebellion. Whereby it is evident, even by his own doctrine, that, since they may in some cases resist, all resisting of princes is not rebellion. His words are these.
Quod siquis dicat, Ergone populus tyrannicae crudelitati & furori jugulum semper praebebit? Ergone multitude civitates suas fame, ferro, & flamma vastari, seque, conjuges, & liberos fortunae ludibrio & tyranni libidini exponi, inque omnia vitae pericula omnesque miserias & molestias a rege deduci patientur? Num illis quod omni animantium generi est a natura tributum, denegari debet, ut sc. vim101 vi repellant, seseq; ab injuria, tueantur? Huic breviter responsum sit, Populo universo negari defensionem, quae juris naturalis est, neque ultionem quae praeter naturam est adversus regem concedi debere. Quapropter si rex non in singulares tantum personas aliquot privatum odium exerceat, sed corpus etiam reipublicae, cujus ipse caput est, i.e. totum populum, vel insignem aliquam ejus partem immani & intoleranda saevitia seu tyrannide divexet; populo, quidem hoc casu resistendi ac tuendi se ab injuria potestas competit, sed tuendi se tantum, non enim in principem invadendi: & restituendae injuriae illatae, non recedendi a debita reverentia propter acceptam injuriam. Praesentem denique impetum propulsandi non vim praeteritam ulciscenti jus habet. Horum enim alterum a natura est, ut vitam scilicet corpusque tueamur. Alterum vero contra naturam, ut inferior de superiori supplicium sumat. Quod itaque populus malum, antequam factum sit, impedire potest, ne fiat102, id postquam factum est, in regem authorem sceleris vindicare non potest: populus igitur hoc amplius quam privatus quispiam habet: quod huic, vel ipsis adversariis judicibus, excepto Buchanano, nullum nisi in patientia remedium superest. Cum ille si intolerabilis tyrannus est (modicum enim ferre omnino debet) resistere cum reverentia possit, Barclay contra Monarchom. 1. iii. c. 8.
In English thus:
§233. But if any one should ask, Must the people then always lay themselves open to the cruelty and rage of tyranny? Must they see their cities pillaged103, and laid in ashes, their wives and children exposed to the tyrant’s lust104 and fury, and themselves and families reduced by their king to ruin, and all the miseries105 of want and oppression, and yet sit still? Must men alone be debarred the common privilege of opposing force with force, which nature allows so freely to all other creatures for their preservation from injury? I answer: Self-defence is a part of the law of nature; nor can it be denied the community, even against the king himself: but to revenge themselves upon him, must by no means be allowed them; it being not agreeable to that law. Wherefore if the king shall shew an hatred106, not only to some particular persons, but sets himself against the body of the common-wealth, whereof he is the head, and shall, with intolerable ill usage, cruelly tyrannize over the whole, or a considerable part of the people, in this case the people have a right to resist and defend themselves from injury: but it must be with this caution, that they only defend themselves, but do not attack their prince: they may repair the damages received, but must not for any provocation64 exceed the bounds of due reverence107 and respect. They may repulse108 the present attempt, but must not revenge past violences: for it is natural for us to defend life and limb, but that an inferior should punish a superior, is against nature. The mischief which is designed them, the people may prevent before it be done; but when it is done, they must not revenge it on the king, though author of the villany. This therefore is the privilege of the people in general, above what any private person hath; that particular men are allowed by our adversaries109 themselves (Buchanan only excepted) to have no other remedy but patience; but the body of the people may with respect resist intolerable tyranny; for when it is but moderate, they ought to endure it.
§234. Thus far that great advocate of monarchical110 power allows of resistance.
§235. It is true, he has annexed111 two limitations to it, to no purpose:
First, He says, it must be with reverence.
Secondly, It must be without retribution, or punishment; and the reason he gives is, because an inferior cannot punish a superior.
First, How to resist force without striking again, or how to strike with reverence, will need some skill to make intelligible112. He that shall oppose an assault only with a shield to receive the blows, or in any more respectful posture, without a sword in his hand, to abate113 the confidence and force of the assailant, will quickly be at an end of his resistance, and will find such a defence serve only to draw on himself the worse usage. This is as ridiculous a way of resisting, as Juvenal thought it of fighting; ubi tu pulsas, ego114 vapulo tantum. And the success of the combat will be unavoidably the same he there describes it:
—— Libertas pauperis haec est:
Pulsatus rogat, & pugnis concisus, adorat,
Ut liceat paucis cum dentibus inde reverti.
This will always be the event of such an imaginary resistance, where men may not strike again. He therefore who may resist, must be allowed to strike. And then let our author, or any body else, join a knock on the head, or a cut on the face, with as much reverence and respect as he thinks fit. He that can reconcile blows and reverence, may, for aught I know, desire for his pains, a civil, respectful cudgeling where-ever he can meet with it.
Secondly, As to his second, An inferior cannot punish a superior; that is true, generally speaking, whilst he is his superior. But to resist force with force, being the state of war that levels the parties, cancels all former relation of reverence, respect, and superiority: and then the odds116 that remains117, is, that he, who opposes the unjust agressor, has this superiority over him, that he has a right, when he prevails, to punish the offender118, both for the breach of the peace, and all the evils that followed upon it. Barclay therefore, in another place, more coherently to himself, denies it to be lawful to resist a king in any case. But he there assigns two cases, whereby a king may un-king himself. His words are,
Quid ergo, nulline casus incidere possunt quibus populo sese erigere atque in regem impotentius dominantem arma capere & invadere jure suo suaque authoritate liceat? Nulli certe quamdiu rex manet. Semper enim ex divinis id obstat, Regem honorificato; & qui potestati resistit, Dei ordinationi resisit: non alias119 igitur in eum populo potestas est quam si id committat propter quod ipso jure rex esse desinat. Tunc enim se ipse principatu exuit atque in privatis constituit liber: hoc modo populus & superior efficitur, reverso ad eum sc. jure illo quod ante regem inauguratum in interregno habuit. At sunt paucorum generum commissa ejusmodi quae hunc effectum pariunt. At ego cum plurima animo perlustrem, duo tantum invenio, duos, inquam, casus quibus rex ipso facto ex rege non regem se facit & omni honore & dignitate regali atque in subditos potestate destituit; quorum120 etiam meminit Winzerus. Horum unus est, Si regnum disperdat, quemadmodum de Nerone fertur, quod is nempe senatum populumque Romanum, atque adeo urbem ipsam ferro flammaque vastare, ac novas sibi sedes quaerere decrevisset. Et de Caligula, quod palam denunciarit se neque civem neque principem senatui amplius fore, inque animo habuerit interempto utriusque ordinis electissimo quoque Alexandriam commigrare, ac ut populum uno ictu interimeret, unam ei cervicem optavit. Talia cum rex aliquis meditator121 & molitur serio, omnem regnandi curam & animum ilico abjicit, ac proinde imperium in subditos amittit, ut dominus servi pro derelicto habiti dominium.
§236. Alter casus est, Si rex in alicujus clientelam se contulit, ac regnum quod liberum a majoribus & populo traditum accepit, alienae ditioni mancipavit. Nam tunc quamvis forte122 non ea mente id agit populo plane ut incommodet: tamen quia quod praecipuum est regiae dignitatis amifit, ut summus scilicet in regno secundum Deum sit, & solo Deo inferior, atque populum etiam totum ignorantem vel invitum, cujus libertatem sartam & tectam conservare debuit, in alterius gentis ditionem & potestatem dedidit; hac velut quadam regni ab alienatione effecit, ut nec quod ipse in regno imperium habuit retineat, nec in eum cui collatum voluit, juris quicquam transferat; atque ita eo facto liberum jam & suae potestatis populum relinquit, cujus rei exemplum unum annales Scotici suppeditant. Barclay contra Monarchom. 1. iii. c. 16.
Which in English runs thus:
§237. What then, can there no case happen wherein the people may of right, and by their own authority, help themselves, take arms, and set upon their king, imperiously domineering over them? None at all, whilst he remains a king. Honour the king, and he that resists the power, resists the ordinance124 of God; are divine oracles125 that will never permit it, The people therefore can never come by a power over him, unless he does something that makes him cease to be a king: for then he divests126 himself of his crown and dignity, and returns to the state of a private man, and the people become free and superior, the power which they had in the interregnum, before they crowned him king, devolving to them again. But there are but few miscarriages127 which bring the matter to this state. After considering it well on all sides, I can find but two. Two cases there are, I say, whereby a king, ipso facto, becomes no king, and loses all power and regal authority over his people; which are also taken notice of by Winzerus.
The first is, If he endeavour to overturn the government, that is, if he have a purpose and design to ruin the kingdom and commonwealth, as it is recorded of Nero, that he resolved to cut off the senate and people of Rome, lay the city waste with fire and sword, and then remove to some other place. And of Caligula, that he openly declared, that he would be no longer a head to the people or senate, and that he had it in his thoughts to cut off the worthiest128 men of both ranks, and then retire to Alexandria: and he wisht that the people had but one neck, that he might dispatch them all at a blow, Such designs as these, when any king harbours in his thoughts, and seriously promotes, he immediately gives up all care and thought of the common-wealth; and consequently forfeits129 the power of governing his subjects, as a master does the dominion over his slaves whom he hath abandoned.
§238. The other case is, When a king makes himself the dependent of another, and subjects his kingdom which his ancestors left him, and the people put free into his hands, to the dominion of another: for however perhaps it may not be his intention to prejudice the people; yet because he has hereby lost the principal part of regal dignity, viz. to be next and immediately under God, supreme in his kingdom; and also because he betrayed or forced his people, whose liberty he ought to have carefully preserved, into the power and dominion of a foreign nation. By this, as. it were, alienation123 of his kingdom, he himself loses the power he had in it before, without transferring any the least right to those on whom he would have bestowed130 it; and so by this act sets the people free, and leaves them at their own disposal. One example of this is to be found in the Scotch131 Annals.
§239. In these cases Barclay, the great champion of absolute monarchy132, is forced to allow, that a king may be resisted, and ceases to be a king. That is, in short, not to multiply cases, in whatsoever133 he has no authority, there he is no king, and may be resisted: for wheresoever the authority ceases, the king ceases too, and becomes like other men who have no authority. And these two cases he instances in, differ little from those above mentioned, to be destructive to governments, only that he has omitted the principle from which his doctrine flows: and that is, the breach of trust, in not preserving the form of government agreed on, and in not intending the end of government itself, which is the public good and preservation of property. When a king has dethroned himself, and put himself in a state of war with his people, what shall hinder them from prosecuting134 him who is no king, as they would any other man, who has put himself into a state of war with them, Barclay, and those of his opinion, would do well to tell us. This farther I desire may be taken notice of out of Barclay, that he says, The mischief that is designed them, the people may prevent before it be clone: whereby he allows resistance when tyranny is but in design. Such designs as these (says he) when any king harbours in his thoughts and seriously promotes, he immediately gives up all care and thought of the common-wealth; so that, according to him, the neglect of the public good is to be taken as an evidence of such design, or at least for a sufficient cause of resistance. And the reason of all, he gives in these words, Because he betrayed or forced his people, whose liberty he ought carefully to have preserved. What he adds, into the power and dominion of a foreign nation, signifies nothing, the fault and forfeiture135 lying in the loss of their liberty, which he ought to have preserved, and not in any distinction of the persons to whose dominion they were subjected. The peoples right is equally invaded, and their liberty lost, whether they are made slaves to any of their own, or a foreign nation; and in this lies the injury, and against this only have they the right of defence. And there are instances to be found in all countries, which shew, that it is not the change of nations in the persons of their governors, but the change of government, that gives the offence. Bilson, a bishop136 of our church, and a great stickler137 for the power and prerogative138 of princes, does, if I mistake not, in his treatise139 of Christian140 subjection, acknowledge, that princes may forfeit their power, and their title to the obedience of their subjects; and if there needed authority in a case where reason is so plain, I could send my reader to Bracton, Fortescue, and the author of the Mirrour, and others, writers that cannot be suspected to be ignorant of our government, or enemies to it. But I thought Hooker alone might be enough to satisfy those men, who relying on him for their ecclesiastical polity, are by a strange fate carried to deny those principles upon which he builds it. Whether they are herein made the tools of cunninger workmen, to pull down their own fabric141, they were best look. This I am sure, their civil policy is so new, so dangerous, and so destructive to both rulers and people, that as former ages never could bear the broaching142 of it; so it may be hoped, those to come, redeemed143 from the impositions of these Egyptian under-task-masters, will abhor144 the memory of such servile flatterers, who, whilst it seemed to serve their turn, resolved all government into absolute tyranny, and would have all men born to, what their mean souls fitted them for, slavery.
§240. Here, it is like, the common question will be made, Who shall be judge, whether the prince or legislative act contrary to their trust? This, perhaps, ill-affected and factious men may spread amongst the people, when the prince only makes use of his due prerogative. To this I reply, The people shall be judge; for who shall be judge whether his trustee or deputy acts well, and according to the trust reposed in him, but he who deputes him, and must, by having deputed him, have still a power to discard him, when he fails in his trust? If this be reasonable in particular cases of private men, why should it be otherwise in that of the greatest moment, where the welfare of millions is concerned, and also where the evil, if not prevented, is greater, and the redress145 very difficult, dear, and dangerous?
§241. But farther, this question, (Who shall be judge?) cannot mean, that there is no judge at all: for where there is no judicature on earth, to decide controversies amongst men, God in heaven is judge. He alone, it is true, is judge of the right. But every man is judge for himself, as in all other cases, so in this, whether another hath put himself into a state of war with him, and whether he should appeal to the Supreme Judge, as leptha did.
§242. If a controversy146 arise betwixt a prince and some of the people, in a matter where the law is silent, or doubtful, and the thing be of great consequence, I should think the proper umpire, in such a case, should be the body of the people: for in cases where the prince hath a trust reposed in him, and is dispensed147 from the common ordinary rules of the law; there, if any men find themselves aggrieved148, and think the prince acts contrary to, or beyond that trust, who so proper to judge as the body of the people, (who, at first, lodged149 that trust in him) how far they meant it should extend? But if the prince, or whoever they be in the administration, decline that way of determination, the appeal then lies no where but to heaven; force between either persons, who have no known superior on earth, or which permits no appeal to a judge on earth, being properly a state of war, wherein the appeal lies only to heaven; and in that state the injured party must judge for himself, when he will think fit to make use of that appeal, and put himself upon it.
§243. To conclude, The power that every individual gave the society, when he entered into it, can never revert115 to the individuals again, as long as the society lasts, but will always remain in the community; because without this there can be no community, no common-wealth, which is contrary to the original agreement: so also when the society hath placed the legislative in any assembly of men, to continue in them and their successors, with direction and authority for providing such successors, the legislative can never revert to the people whilst that government lasts; because having provided a legislative with power to continue for ever, they have given up their political power to the legislative, and cannot resume it. But if they have set limits to the duration of their legislative, and made this supreme power in any person, or assembly, only temporary; or else, when by the miscarriages of those in authority, it is forfeited150; upon the forfeiture, or at the determination of the time set, it reverts151 to the society, and the people have a right to act as supreme, and continue the legislative in themselves; or erect42 a new form, or under the old form place it in new hands, as they think good.
The End
点击收听单词发音
1 unity | |
n.团结,联合,统一;和睦,协调 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
2 politic | |
adj.有智虑的;精明的;v.从政 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
3 commonwealth | |
n.共和国,联邦,共同体 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
4 fore | |
adv.在前面;adj.先前的;在前部的;n.前部 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
5 den | |
n.兽穴;秘密地方;安静的小房间,私室 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
6 pro | |
n.赞成,赞成的意见,赞成者 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
7 conquerors | |
征服者,占领者( conqueror的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
8 mangle | |
vt.乱砍,撕裂,破坏,毁损,损坏,轧布 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
9 subdued | |
adj. 屈服的,柔和的,减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
10 scattered | |
adj.分散的,稀疏的;散步的;疏疏落落的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
11 dependence | |
n.依靠,依赖;信任,信赖;隶属 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
12 subsist | |
vi.生存,存在,供养 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
13 jumbled | |
adj.混乱的;杂乱的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
14 legislative | |
n.立法机构,立法权;adj.立法的,有立法权的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
15 mutual | |
adj.相互的,彼此的;共同的,共有的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
16 authorized | |
a.委任的,许可的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
17 authorize | |
v.授权,委任;批准,认可 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
18 binding | |
有约束力的,有效的,应遵守的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
19 delegation | |
n.代表团;派遣 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
20 usurp | |
vt.篡夺,霸占;vi.篡位 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
21 misuse | |
n.误用,滥用;vt.误用,滥用 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
22 concurrence | |
n.同意;并发 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
23 hereditary | |
adj.遗传的,遗传性的,可继承的,世袭的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
24 supreme | |
adj.极度的,最重要的;至高的,最高的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
25 convoking | |
v.召集,召开(会议)( convoke的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
26 enact | |
vt.制定(法律);上演,扮演 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
27 enacted | |
制定(法律),通过(法案)( enact的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
28 subverts | |
v.颠覆,破坏(政治制度、宗教信仰等)( subvert的第三人称单数 );使(某人)道德败坏或不忠 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
29 subvert | |
v.推翻;暗中破坏;搅乱 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
30 secondly | |
adv.第二,其次 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
31 acting | |
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
32 imputed | |
v.把(错误等)归咎于( impute的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
33 magistrate | |
n.地方行政官,地方法官,治安官 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
34 pretence | |
n.假装,作假;借口,口实;虚伪;虚饰 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
35 lawful | |
adj.法律许可的,守法的,合法的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
36 factious | |
adj.好搞宗派活动的,派系的,好争论的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
37 alteration | |
n.变更,改变;蚀变 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
38 thereby | |
adv.因此,从而 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
39 rendering | |
n.表现,描写 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
40 opposition | |
n.反对,敌对 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
41 anarchy | |
n.无政府状态;社会秩序混乱,无秩序 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
42 erect | |
n./v.树立,建立,使竖立;adj.直立的,垂直的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
43 erecting | |
v.使直立,竖起( erect的现在分词 );建立 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
44 impartial | |
adj.(in,to)公正的,无偏见的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
45 miserable | |
adj.悲惨的,痛苦的;可怜的,糟糕的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
46 artifice | |
n.妙计,高明的手段;狡诈,诡计 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
47 perfectly | |
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
48 reposed | |
v.将(手臂等)靠在某人(某物)上( repose的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
49 preservation | |
n.保护,维护,保存,保留,保持 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
50 dominion | |
n.统治,管辖,支配权;领土,版图 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
51 absolved | |
宣告…无罪,赦免…的罪行,宽恕…的罪行( absolve的过去式和过去分词 ); 不受责难,免除责任 [义务] ,开脱(罪责) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
52 obedience | |
n.服从,顺从 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
53 transgress | |
vt.违反,逾越 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
54 folly | |
n.愚笨,愚蠢,蠢事,蠢行,傻话 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
55 corrupt | |
v.贿赂,收买;adj.腐败的,贪污的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
56 corruption | |
n.腐败,堕落,贪污 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
57 breach | |
n.违反,不履行;破裂;vt.冲破,攻破 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
58 forfeit | |
vt.丧失;n.罚金,罚款,没收物 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
59 perverted | |
adj.不正当的v.滥用( pervert的过去式和过去分词 );腐蚀;败坏;使堕落 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
60 amend | |
vt.修改,修订,改进;n.[pl.]赔罪,赔偿 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
61 adventitious | |
adj.偶然的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
62 interval | |
n.间隔,间距;幕间休息,中场休息 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
63 provocations | |
n.挑衅( provocation的名词复数 );激怒;刺激;愤怒的原因 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
64 provocation | |
n.激怒,刺激,挑拨,挑衅的事物,激怒的原因 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
65 ferment | |
vt.使发酵;n./vt.(使)激动,(使)动乱 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
66 descended | |
a.为...后裔的,出身于...的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
67 inconvenient | |
adj.不方便的,令人感到麻烦的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
68 frailty | |
n.脆弱;意志薄弱 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
69 murmur | |
n.低语,低声的怨言;v.低语,低声而言 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
70 artifices | |
n.灵巧( artifice的名词复数 );诡计;巧妙办法;虚伪行为 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
71 ERECTED | |
adj. 直立的,竖立的,笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立,建立 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
72 specious | |
adj.似是而非的;adv.似是而非地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
73 doctrine | |
n.教义;主义;学说 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
74 justify | |
vt.证明…正当(或有理),为…辩护 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
75 violation | |
n.违反(行为),违背(行为),侵犯 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
76 injustice | |
n.非正义,不公正,不公平,侵犯(别人的)权利 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
77 controversies | |
争论 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
78 acquiesced | |
v.默认,默许( acquiesce的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
79 untie | |
vt.解开,松开;解放 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
80 esteemed | |
adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 );敬重;认为;以为 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
81 guardians | |
监护人( guardian的名词复数 ); 保护者,维护者 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
82 aggravation | |
n.烦恼,恼火 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
83 intestine | |
adj.内部的;国内的;n.肠 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
84 broils | |
v.(用火)烤(焙、炙等)( broil的第三人称单数 );使卷入争吵;使混乱;被烤(或炙) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
85 magistrates | |
地方法官,治安官( magistrate的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
86 disorder | |
n.紊乱,混乱;骚动,骚乱;疾病,失调 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
87 mischief | |
n.损害,伤害,危害;恶作剧,捣蛋,胡闹 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
88 mighty | |
adj.强有力的;巨大的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
89 devoured | |
吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 ); 耗尽; 津津有味地看; 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
90 prudent | |
adj.谨慎的,有远见的,精打细算的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
91 exhorted | |
v.劝告,劝说( exhort的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
92 submission | |
n.服从,投降;温顺,谦虚;提出 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
93 boundless | |
adj.无限的;无边无际的;巨大的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
94 exorbitant | |
adj.过分的;过度的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
95 posture | |
n.姿势,姿态,心态,态度;v.作出某种姿势 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
96 disorders | |
n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 );凌乱;骚乱;(身心、机能)失调 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
97 commonwealths | |
n.共和国( commonwealth的名词复数 );联邦;团体;协会 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
98 factions | |
组织中的小派别,派系( faction的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
99 insolence | |
n.傲慢;无礼;厚颜;傲慢的态度 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
100 mischiefs | |
损害( mischief的名词复数 ); 危害; 胡闹; 调皮捣蛋的人 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
101 vim | |
n.精力,活力 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
102 fiat | |
n.命令,法令,批准;vt.批准,颁布 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
103 pillaged | |
v.抢劫,掠夺( pillage的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
104 lust | |
n.性(淫)欲;渴(欲)望;vi.对…有强烈的欲望 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
105 miseries | |
n.痛苦( misery的名词复数 );痛苦的事;穷困;常发牢骚的人 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
106 hatred | |
n.憎恶,憎恨,仇恨 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
107 reverence | |
n.敬畏,尊敬,尊严;Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称;v.尊敬,敬畏,崇敬 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
108 repulse | |
n.击退,拒绝;vt.逐退,击退,拒绝 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
109 adversaries | |
n.对手,敌手( adversary的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
110 monarchical | |
adj. 国王的,帝王的,君主的,拥护君主制的 =monarchic | |
参考例句: |
|
|
111 annexed | |
[法] 附加的,附属的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
112 intelligible | |
adj.可理解的,明白易懂的,清楚的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
113 abate | |
vi.(风势,疼痛等)减弱,减轻,减退 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
114 ego | |
n.自我,自己,自尊 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
115 revert | |
v.恢复,复归,回到 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
116 odds | |
n.让步,机率,可能性,比率;胜败优劣之别 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
117 remains | |
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
118 offender | |
n.冒犯者,违反者,犯罪者 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
119 alias | |
n.化名;别名;adv.又名 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
120 quorum | |
n.法定人数 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
121 meditator | |
沉思者,冥想者 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
122 forte | |
n.长处,擅长;adj.(音乐)强音的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
123 alienation | |
n.疏远;离间;异化 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
124 ordinance | |
n.法令;条令;条例 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
125 oracles | |
神示所( oracle的名词复数 ); 神谕; 圣贤; 哲人 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
126 divests | |
v.剥夺( divest的第三人称单数 );脱去(衣服);2。从…取去…;1。(给某人)脱衣服 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
127 miscarriages | |
流产( miscarriage的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
128 worthiest | |
应得某事物( worthy的最高级 ); 值得做某事; 可尊敬的; 有(某人或事物)的典型特征 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
129 forfeits | |
罚物游戏 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
130 bestowed | |
赠给,授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
131 scotch | |
n.伤口,刻痕;苏格兰威士忌酒;v.粉碎,消灭,阻止;adj.苏格兰(人)的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
132 monarchy | |
n.君主,最高统治者;君主政体,君主国 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
133 whatsoever | |
adv.(用于否定句中以加强语气)任何;pron.无论什么 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
134 prosecuting | |
检举、告发某人( prosecute的现在分词 ); 对某人提起公诉; 继续从事(某事物); 担任控方律师 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
135 forfeiture | |
n.(名誉等)丧失 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
136 bishop | |
n.主教,(国际象棋)象 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
137 stickler | |
n.坚持细节之人 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
138 prerogative | |
n.特权 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
139 treatise | |
n.专著;(专题)论文 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
140 Christian | |
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
141 fabric | |
n.织物,织品,布;构造,结构,组织 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
142 broaching | |
n.拉削;推削;铰孔;扩孔v.谈起( broach的现在分词 );打开并开始用;用凿子扩大(或修光);(在桶上)钻孔取液体 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
143 redeemed | |
adj. 可赎回的,可救赎的 动词redeem的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
144 abhor | |
v.憎恶;痛恨 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
145 redress | |
n.赔偿,救济,矫正;v.纠正,匡正,革除 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
146 controversy | |
n.争论,辩论,争吵 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
147 dispensed | |
v.分配( dispense的过去式和过去分词 );施与;配(药) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
148 aggrieved | |
adj.愤愤不平的,受委屈的;悲痛的;(在合法权利方面)受侵害的v.令委屈,令苦恼,侵害( aggrieve的过去式);令委屈,令苦恼,侵害( aggrieve的过去式和过去分词) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
149 lodged | |
v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 );暂住;埋入;(权利、权威等)归属 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
150 forfeited | |
(因违反协议、犯规、受罚等)丧失,失去( forfeit的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
151 reverts | |
恢复( revert的第三人称单数 ); 重提; 回到…上; 归还 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
欢迎访问英文小说网 |