DIverse have written of the diverse sorts of Laws amongst men ; Of the Laws of Nature , and Nations , and of the Divine Laws : And that both more generally and particularly . Diverse also have applyed those Laws diversly : And that both in respect to the Civil and Ecclesiastical part of Humane Affairs : But none yet hath applyed them to the Rights of an Ecclesiastical Vniformity , ( viz. ) those of the Prince , the Priest , and the People belonging to it ; Nor digested those Rights into any due connexion and order ( viz. ) as they make to the preserving , and promoting the publick welfare both of Religion , and Government , and the Consistency of Religion with Government . And yet scarce any thing , next to the Divine Law it self , is of greater moment to Humane Societies . Right is the Publick Cement of all Humane Affairs ; and that which all men contend about , and expect , even from God himself ; And Religion and Government , and their mutual consistency , are the things primarily fundamental to the very being , and welfare of all Humane Societies , besides what respects they have to another world . Wherefore Plato calls , In Gorgiā , prope fin . all preparations both of War and Peace which are made in a City , Toys , if Justice and Temperance be not preserved in it . In Hercule furent . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 paulò post princip. And Amphitryo in Euripides , cryes out to Jupiter ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . But dost thou not know how to save thy Friends ? Either thou art an unskilful God , or else thou art not just . And Cicero , in his Books of Laws , Nihil tam aptum est ad jus , conditionemque naturae ; quam Imperium , sine quo nec Domus ulla , nec Civitas , nec Gens , nec hominum Vniversorum Genus stare , nec Rerum Natura omnis , nec ipse Mundus potest : There is nothing is so suitable to the Right and condition of Nature as Government ; without which neither any private Family , nor City , nor Nation , nor all Mankind , nor yet the whole nature of things , nor the very world it self can subsist . R. Simeon , in Pirke Avoth . Cap. 4. & Talmud L. Jucasin , Fol. 13. Plaut. Pers. 5. And the Jewes Celebrate a three-fold Crown , which made Israel to flourish : The Crown of the Law , and of the King , and of the Priest . And the acute Comedian ; Quid id , quod vidisti , ut munitum muro tibi visu ' st oppidum ? &c. What is that thou sawest , which seemed to be like a Town , fortified with a wall ? P. If the Inhabitants be well manner'd , I think it to be very well fortified : If Perfidiousness , and Theft , and Covetousness , be banished out of the City . If the fourth thing Envie , the fifth Ambition , the sixth Slander , The seventh Perjury . T. Ha well said . P. The eight Idleness ; The Ninth Oppression ; and the Tenth the worst of wickedness . Vnless these things be absent from it , an hundred-fold wall will be but a small matter for the preservation of it's Affairs .

In the Kingdome of Israel , God himself distributed those Rights of an Uniformity amongst the several Estates . And that at diverse times , and in diverse manners , according to the several occasions of that Society : But yet there are no foot-steps to be found of any Humane Collection that ever was made of them . The first Governments of Greece were fetch'd from other Countries ; but most of all from Egypt , which was then of most Fame and Note , for learning and wisdom , and the better ordering of mankind : and whether all , who would be men of Renown , were wont first to Travel ; and from whence the Aegyptians boast , that Moses the Hebrew , and Orpheus , and Homer , and Lycurgus , and Solon , and the other men of Fame , of those times , derived their Knowledge . And the like is to be said of the Roman State ; that the most ancient setled Laws of the Ten Tables ( afterwards made Twelve ) in the time of the first Consuls were fetch'd from Greece . Placuit Publica Authoritate , D. De Origine Jur. L. 2. ¶ Exoctis . sayes Pomponius , decem constitui viros , per quos peterentur Leges a Graecis Civitatibus : That it was thought fit , that Ten men should be appointed by Publick Authority , by whom Laws should be fetch'd from the Cities of Greece . And in the remainders of the many excellent , both Greek and Romane Writers , ( of several sorts ) there are diverse of the Rights of an Ecclesiastical Uniformity , and of the matters relating to them , dispersedly mentioned ; especially those belonging to the Prince and Priest . But yet none of them as reduced to their certain Title , or head of things ; nor under the notion of such Rights , so belonging to such Persons , and as concerned in such an Uniformity . Last of all , in the Christian Church , all Canons of Councels , Bodies of Lawes , Ecclesiastical Histories , Systemes of Civil Policy , and the like , are full of the recitals and assertions of them , and the things belonging to them also ; but yet still not under their specifical Notion : and there are many defences which have been made of the Doctrine of the several subdivided Professions ; and many Rationales , which have been written upon Liturgies , both in the Roman and other Churches : And several Irenicums , which have been occasionally published ; especially in the European Churches , late called Reformed . But all these things , or any other the like , either in the Christian ( or Mahometan ) communion , have not reached the common occasions of Churches , nor given the last and general grounds for pacification . And the interiors , belonging to the explication of the Rights of an Ecclesiastical Uniformity , especially of those on the peoples part , have never yet been touch'd upon by any . And these then are those Rights which are here unfolded , and stated , according to the dictates of the several sorts of Laws mentioned and digested into their due Connexion and Order .

This then being the more general matter of this work ; the manner of handling it , is accordingly . When we inscribe it , of the Consistency of the Ecclesiastical estate with the Civil , or of Religion with the Government ( which is all one ) it is , because that is the thing which we do most principally , and designedly treat of . The welfare both of Religion and Government , as separately and singly taken , being suppos'd to it , and as alwayes co-incident with it : And the consistency of Government with Religon being touch'd upon but by the by . And when we entitle it , Of the Rights belonging to an Vniformity in Churches ; it is because such an Uniformity ( in some kind of it or other ) is the necessary and only means for the effecting and preserving of that Consistency of Religion with Government ; and the Rights belonging to such an Uniformity are the bounds , within which all ought to acquiess , for that effecting and preserving of it : which , when they are Transgressed and Invaded , either by the Prince on his part , then either the Priest or People are injured : or else by the Priest or People on their parts , then there is undutifulness and Rebellion practis'd towards the Prince , and mutual Religious Feuds are created and contested amongst the People ; — Et , ruptis inter se Legibus , Vrbes Arma ferunt — So that it is very much for the Common peace and welfare of all affairs amongst men , that those Rights be duely stated , and unfolded , both on the Prince's part , and in order to his affording the Priest and People their due ; and also on the Priest and People's parts , and in order to their enjoyment of , and acquiescence under the Liberties ( both external , and internal ) belonging to them . And the work it self then is accordingly divided into three Books : to each of them being assigned it 's proper subject matter . In the first Book ; after the explications and distinctions of things laid down , which are common to the whole , I have treated of the Divine Original , both of Religion and Government : which things being so primarily Fundamental to the whole body of this Discourse , I did suppose that men would expect a rational account of them . And I have treated of them more immediatly and principally , in order to the stating the Consistency of Religion with Government , in the general , and whose charge and Right the Tuition of all three of them , ( viz. ) of Religion , and Government , and the consistency of Religion with Government , is . And within the compass of these things , there are many things co-incident with them which are common to the whole . And as to Religion , in my discoursing over the distinction of true and false , particularly , I have laid down the general grounds of all Religions . And as to Government , I have done one thing remarkeable , and that is , I have absolutely denied the Jus ad arma , the right of rising in Armes ( and particularly in defence of matters of Religion , and in opposition to the Laws of an Ecclesiastical Uniformity in any State ) which is claimed by some , both of the Priesthood , and people ; Contrary to what Grotius and others of note have done , in the stating of that Question : But I have given the Reasons for the denial of it . And no less then the whole conforming Clergie and others in publick imployment of the State at this day in England have subscribed to the very same matter : And in the end of the stating of it I have more explicitly disputed the tendency of the derivation of Government from the people , and of the Doctrine of Rising , depending upon it , to the good of Religion , and Humane Society . Which thing , truly , ought to have been done by Grotius and others , who have stated that question ; although in a separate Notion from an Ecclesiastical Uniformity . In the Second and Third Books , I have treated of an Ecclesiastical Uniformity ; the necessary means mention'd , for the accomplishing the Consistency of Religion with Government . In the Second Book I have treated of it , and the Rights belonging to it , more Generally . And in the Third Book of both of them more particularly . And in both these Books , I have taken In the several Cases , Questions and Quere's belonging to the treating of both those sorts of things : and in the stating both of those Cases , and of other matters , I have many times considered Humane Nature , ( sometimes Tacitly , and sometimes expresly ) and how it is to be dealt with : And he that will not consider it in such things , is never likely to govern the World . Omnes , De Natura Deor. lib. 1. naturâ duce , vehimur , sayes Cicero ; That we are all carried on powerfully by Nature . And Bodin concerning the suiting the Government to the nature of the Country ; De Repub. lib. 5. cap. 1. in princip. Haec porro Naturae consentana ratio spectanda in primis est ei , qui Rempublicam fundare , aut Civitatem optimè instituere volet . That this agreeable respect of Nature is principally to be heeded by him , who will found a Common-weal , or set a City in order after the best manner . And Nimium ipse durus est , praeter aequumque & bonum , Mitio Senex , apud Terent : in Adelph . Act. 1. Scen. 1. Et errat longè , me a quidem sententia , Qui imperium credat gravius esse , aut stabilius , Vi quod sit , quam illud quod amicitia adjungitur . Mea est sic Ratio , & sic animum induco meum . He is too rigid , and besides all Right and Reason , And he err's much truly in my opinion , Who believes that Government to be more firm and stable , Which is framed by force , them that which is cemented by love . So is my sence of it , and so I am apt to believe . And the elegant Fabulist at the meeting of the two strangers at the Lake , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Homer in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . But how wilt thou make me thy friend , who am nothing alike to thee in nature ? And Thucydides in the case of Publick Commotions and stirrs in a Common-weal ; When a Common-weal is disturb'd , Lib. 3. the nature of men , leaping over the Lawes , doth willingly shew it self to do unjust things against them : Being transported by the greatness of Anger , more prevalent then Right , and an enemy to the more excellent things . So that he that will well govern men , must do it by first Governing humane nature . In my stating the more particular Consistency then of Religion with Government , I have taken the best care I could , That Religion should have it's due . Neither do I believe , That the particulars concerning either of them , as they stand mutually in this their relative Condition , can well be stated otherwise then here they are . And one great Reason of mens mistakes and doubts , and dissatisfactions of Judgement and Conscience , concerning the Ecclesiastical Lawes of Princes , and their submission to them in all Societies , is , their not considering of the relation in which Religion ought alwayes in the World to stand to the being and exercise of Government , both in Church and State . In my Defence of the Rights of Princes , there are two sorts of Adversaries chiefly which I have met with to be oppos'd ; and those are the Church-men of Rome , and those of the late Scotch and English Presbitery , who have trodden in the same steps with them in this matter , though under different Notions : and I have not spoken any thing concerning either of these , either invidiously , or at mine own pleasure ; but onely from the Testimonials of their own Writings , and Practises . And the like I have done , where I have met with any , who have opposed the Rights either of the Priest or People . In my going through the whole , There are three things , which have caused me to descend the deeper into the Mines of Labour : And those are , 1. The invention of matter ; it being in several places , wholly new : and almost every where , not applied , by any other , to my present purpose . 2. The digesting of that matter into it's due Method ; It being very various , and the places of connecting and disposing it into its Right Order recurring also frequently , and in a very various manner . 3. And lastly , the numerous Books which I have been forc'd to consult with , for the furnishing out of the whole body of this Discourse into the World , but in some tolerable manner , and according to the deserts of the weight of the matter . And those Books , which I have accordingly made use of , have been of those professions , which concerne the most substantial matters of the Publick Affairs amongst men . The first of those Faculties , or Professions , is Divinity . And in it , first of all , I have attended to the Books of God ; the Divine Law of the Old and New Testament . And in the Old ; for the Interpretation of the Lawes and Ordinances of Moses , and what was the external practice of them in Israel ; the writings of the Hebrew Rabbines are ordinarily produc'd , and especially those of Moses Maimonides ; Of whom the Jewes have a saying , A Mose ad Mosen non fuit similis Mosi ; That from Moses their Master , to Moses the Sonne of Maimony , there hath not been the like to Moses the Sonne of Maimony . And the Rabbinical Age began about the time of the destruction of Jerusalem , and the dissolution of the Jewish Polity by Titus : De Bello Jud. Lib. 7 cap. 24. In whose Triumph afterwards at Rome , Josephus mentions only the Book of the Jews Law ( amongst whatsoever other Writings they had ) to have been preserved and carried along with him in it . Out of the Books of the Old Testament , and the Writings of the Rabbies , there are also many late Christian Writers , who have made Systematical Collections of the Frame of the Jewish Polity ; such as Schickardus , the Hebrew Professor at Tubingen ; Bertram , and others . The most staple , and authentick Writers in the Christian Church , and next to the new Testament it self , are of divers sorts . De Jure Belli . lib. 1. cap. 3. §. 3. & ad idem alibi . Amongst the Canons of Counsels , the Canons commonly called the Apostles deserve first of all to be mentioned ; Nam in Canonibus antiquissimis , qui Apostolici dicuntur &c. For in those most Ancient Canons , which are called the Apostle's , saith Grotius . The after Counsels , besides the large Tomes of them , are Epitomiz'd by Carranza in his Summa Conciliorum , Justellus , and others . And whether the Councels , whose Canons I have cited , have been of one sort or another , either more Primitive , or Papal , or otherwise , I have not regarded , so long as they have complyed with Right and Reason , in the matters to which they have been applicable . The Greek and Latine Fathers , and Doctors of the Christian Church , I have made use of also , sometimes professedly , but more times only occasionally . The writings of the School-men are generally Doctrinal , and so little to my present purpose , except it be in the point of Prelacy , in their definitions , and the like . The Ecclesiastical Histories are ; in the Jewish Church , Josephus ; in the Christian , both the more ancient and modern ; both those that write more generally , and more particularly of the Affairs of Churches . Last of all , the confessions , either of the Churches , late called Reformed , or others , shew what is their consent or dissent in things : And I have sometimes also made use of them . The Profession , next to Divinity , which most of all concerns the Affairs of Humane Societies , is , that of the Laws . And the five Books of Moses , as they are the most ancient Systeme of Laws , now extant in the World ; so also they are Divine : and therefore , wheresoever I have asserted any thing to be , either necessary or lawful for Humane Societies , I have been carefull to see , first , whether it were either established , or else at least permitted by that Law in Israel : The due respects being had still to the diversities of the peculiar occasions of Societies . The ancient Lawes of the more humane and learned Heathen Nations heretofore , and what remains of them , is dispersed diversly up and down in their several remaining writers . The Greek and Roman States are those , which we have the most , and most received Monuments of . The Grecians thought so highly of themselves , that they called all the rest of the world Barbarians , sayes Herodotus , In Euterp . prop. fin . who spake not their Language . In Greece , the two Famous Common-Weals were that of Sparta or Lacedemon , and that of Athens . In Lycurgo . The Famous Law-giver of Sparta , sayes Plutarch , and others , was Lycurgus ; and of Athens , were Draco and Solon : In Solone . And their Lawes were engraven in Tables of Wood , called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 : But those Tables of Lawes are now extinct ; as also the twelve Tables amongst the Romans , for the most part deriv'd from them , as hath been mentioned . Onely there are some reputed fragments of them remaining ( like the dust of Carthage ) and ordinarily annexed to the Code , and Novels of Theodosius , and the other ensuing Emperours . And the extracts out of the Comments of all the ancient Roman Lawyers upon them , and the other parts , and sorts of Laws currant in the Empire , are those , which are collected together , and methodiz'd and digested into the Pandects , or Digests of Justinian , according to the judgment of Tribonianus , and the others imployed in that business by him . And the Comments of those ancient Lawyers themselves are now also extinguished : Some say , by the special command of Justinian , some otherwise . But however the defect of them makes roome for those complaints of the Civilians concerning it to this very day , that , if they had been preserved , they should have had the Roman Law from the fountains , and that then , Frustra scripsisset Accursius : To no purpose had Accursius written ; and the like . So then , the body of the Roman Civil Law is the largest , and most compleat body of that sort of Humane Laws , that we have at this day extant in the world . And of it we have made much use in the ensuing Book , wheresoever we have come to the quotation of Humane Laws ; and the rather , because of its universal currant authority , in these parts of the world ; It being received , and professed , generally in all the Universities of Europe ; And it being attended to , and consulted with more or less in all the ordinary Negotiations , and several Dominions of Princes . In the Empire , it is Lex Terrae , In Prax. Civil . Tit. 5. Cons. 18. N. 15. The Common Law of the Land . And it is commonly held by Gothofredus , Pacianus , and the other German Civilians , that the Roman Civil Law ought to have the force of Law in all the Territories of the Empire . Amongst the Princes of Italy almost the same is its use and authority ; and so more or less in the other Dominions of Princes . But yet notwithstanding I have in some few particulars taxed some texts of the Civil Law , and that professedly in the principle of natural freedome ; as also Grotius and others following it : And the reasons of my so doing lye open to censure . Next in Dignity , to the body of the Civil Law , follows the Code and Novels of Theodosius , and the few other Laws ordinarily annexed to them . And , besides these , also I have had occasion to make use of the more particular Civil Laws of Countries : And that , whether set forth by the Legislative Authority in those Countries , or not ; and whether professedly , as such , in a body of Laws ; or else occasionally mentioned in other writings . Such are the Capitulare Caroli Magni , the Ordines Camerae Imperialis , and the like . Under the faculty of the Laws , and in conjunction with the Law Civil , is comprehended also the Law Canon : and the authority of which , in things just and regular , ought not to be the less regarded , because it is Papal . And both those who compiled the body of it , and annexed it to come within the compass of that profession in the Universities , intended by it the consistency of Religion with Government , the matters Papal in it being only excepted . And last of all , I have had some occasion also to consult with the Christian Doctors upon both these sorts of Laws . Upon the Civil Law appear , first of all , the glosses of Accursius , after him Bartolus , and his Auditor and Scholler Baldus , both of very principal esteem , and next to Accursius amongst the Civilians . After them follow Angelus Perusinus , Paulus Castrensis , Jason , and others : And after them Decianus the Italian , Antonius Augustinus the Spaniard ; Cujacius , Hottomannus , and other French men ; and the like out of other Nations . The like have commented also on the Canon Law ; Bartholomeus Brixiensis , Abbas Panormitanus , Didacus , Covarruvias , and others , some of which I have made use of . The third and last sort of profession here to be mentioned , is , Phylosophy ; ( viz. ) the Phylosophical Prudences , ordinarily so called ; and the more principal of them , is , Politicks . And of Politicians , he that bears the name amongst the ancients , is Aristotle : But , semper excipio Platonem , and excepting only , that none of the works of Divine Plato ought to be detracted from ; and whose Books of Laws , and his other works contain in them many things , both of the Laws of Moses and Christ , and of the ancient Laws of Greece . Amongst the Moderns , Jesuites , or others , the learned Bodine deserves an Asterisk , as being so excellently well skilled both in the Civil Law , and also in the particular Laws and Policies of Countries . Besides those , who have written just Tracts of Politicks , are others also who have debated particular Questions in it ; such are Junius Brutus , Buchanan , the late English-man Milton , and others in the question of Rising in Armes . Next to Politicks , and the prudences concerning the ordering the matters of Church or State , follow the exemplary prudences of History and Poesie : And last of all , the subservient discipline , and divers from all these mentioned , of Oratory . The Greeks and Roman Histories contain in them many of the notable examples of prudence in Governours , in the ordering the affairs of those Mighty States . The Histories of the Christian Church that follow Eusebius , contain the like in Church affairs . Of either the present or late condition , both of Churches and States abroad in the world , there are many who give an Historical account ; Such as Chytraeus , the Messenger of Maximilian ; Georgeviz , the Turkish Captive ; Damianus a Goes , the Knight of Portugal ; the Venetian Cardinal Contrarene ; Leunclavius , in his Annales Turcici , his Pandects Historiae Turcicae , and the like . And those Books which principally concern the state of the Church of England in particular , either as to matters Historical or Controversal , I have given an account of in their places hereafter . And of the principal of those which concern the more general and principal controversals only in the margent , for the reasons in those places mentioned . And , in the last place , who will deny , but that the many admirable writings of the Greek and Roman , both Poets and Orators , are of singular use many times , both for the professed , and occasional , both illustration and confirmation of things ? Nonne Sexcenti Scriptores , tam Graeci , quam Latini , passim Homeri , Hesiodi , & aliorum Poetarum exemplis , & testimoniis utuntur , ut rei veritatem confirment , horumque spoliis sua scripta ditent , atque magnificè decorent ? Do not many hundreds of writers , as well Greek as Latine , make use of the examples , and testimonies of Homer , Hesiod , and of other Poets , up and down in their writings , that they may confirm the truth of things ; and with the spoils of these , enrich , and magnificently adorn their writings ? sayes Emilius Portus . And , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , &c. Hesiod and Theognis , In Epistola Dedicatoria praefixa Euripidi . and Phocylides ; these all men do confess to have left behind them the best precepts of life , sayes Isocrates . And as to the language that either these or others have written in , I have in the citation of them , Oratione ad Nicoclem Primo . taken this course , ( viz. ) for the English Readers sake , generally I have rendred them all into English , the Language in which I have written ; but yet for the satisfaction of others , who might perhaps desire the present view of either the original Authorities , or the Latine Translation of them , I have , where I thought there was occasion , and it would not make too great an Hiatus , and gap in the Text , set them down also ordinarily before the English of them : But otherwise , I have generally , either set them down only in English , or else directed to them with an Et caetera , after the recital of somewhat of them . And last of all , as to the stile in which I have written , I have attended to the two things requisite , and which ought principally to be heeded in it , ( viz. ) its conciseness , and plainness ; its conciseness , that I might rather say much in little , then be tedious ; and its plainness , that I might be understood . And in this manner then I have commended this whole ensuing work to the Reader . And if any man think much of those Principles , of which it consists ; behold the whole current of times , the Authority of all Laws , and the experiences and practises of all Ages ( at least generally , and in the main ) attesting to them .

In the interim , that I write not this Book to the vulgar amongst men , it is sufficiently evident , both from the matter and form of it . They may , where occasion requires , and for satisfaction of conscience sake , be more familiarly instructed in the Rights , and Liberties belonging to them in the matters of an Ecclesiastical Uniformity ; but otherwise , it hath always been their unhappiness , and ever will be , not to be capable , neither in those matters , nor others , of being rationally dealt with . The very nature then of this discourse directeth it to the other sort of men , and particularly to those who have the guidance of others , and the ordinary sway of affairs in Common-weals in their several Sphears of activity and stations belonging to them , either in the Church or State ; that they may see the reasons of those things which are necessary for the supporting the welfare of Societies , and make the several uses of the matters contain'd within the compass of this Discourse , in order to the Publick Peace .

Last of all then , this being the more general drift , and intent of this whole work ; in that posture ( such , such as it is ) in which it comes forth into the world ; if there be any thing said in it , that is prejudicial , either to Religion or Government , or the consistency of each with either , I wish it were unsaid again . In the mean while , I have for some time retir'd my self to write it ; and have only here further to say ; May it serve the King of Kings in his Universal Monarchy over men , and Kings and Princes in their Governing of them .