Franco-Gallia : $b or, an account of the ancient free state of France, and most other parts of Europe, before the loss of their libertiesHotman, François
History
Franco-Gallia : $b or, an account of the ancient free state of France, and most other parts of Europe, before the loss of their liberties
Hotman, François
Constitutional history -- France; France -- Politics and government
But as, on the one hand, a true _Whig_ thinks that all Opinions purely
spiritual and notional ought to be indulg'd; so on the other, he is for
_severely punishing_ all _Immoralities, Breach_ of _Laws, Violence_ and
_Injustice_. A Minister's Tythes are as much his Right, as any Layman's
Estate can be his; and no Pretence of Religion or Conscience can warrant
the substracting of them, whilst the Law is in Being which makes them
payable: For a _Whig_ is far from the Opinion, that they are due by any
other Title. It wou'd make a Man's Ears tingle, to hear the _Divine
Right_ insisted upon for any _human Institutions_; and to find God
_Almighty_ brought in as a Principal there, where there is no Necessity
for it. To affirm, that _Monarchy, Episcopacy, Synods, Tythes_, the
_Hereditary Succession_ to the _Crown_, &c. are _Jure Divino_; is to
cram them down a Man's Throat; and tell him in plain Terms, that he must
submit to any of them under all Inconveniencies, whether the Laws of his
Country are for it or against it. Every _Whig_ owns _Submission_ to
Government to be an _Ordinance_ of God. _Submit your selves to every
Ordinance of Man, for the Lord's Sake_, says the Apostle. Where (by the
way) pray take notice, he calls them _Ordinances of Man_; and gives you
the true Notion, how far any thing can be said to be _Jure Divino_:
which is far short of what your high-flown Assertors of the _Jus
Divinum_ wou'd carry it, and proves as strongly for a _Republican_
Government as a _Monarchical_; tho' in truth it affects neither, where
the very Ends of Government are destroyed.
A right _Whig_ looks upon _frequent Parliaments_ as such a _fundamental_
Part of the Constitution, that even no _Parliament_ can part with this
Right. _High Whiggism_ is for _Annual_ Parliaments, and _Low Whiggism_
for _Triennial_, with annual Meetings. I leave it to every Man's
Judgment, which of these wou'd be the truest Representative; wou'd
soonest ease the House of that Number of Members that have Offices and
Employments, or take Pensions from the Court; is least liable to
Corruption; wou'd prevent exorbitant Expence, and soonest destroy the
pernicious Practice of drinking and bribing for Elections, or is most
conformable to ancient Custom. The Law that lately pass'd with so much
Struggle for _Triennial_ Parliaments shall content me, till the
_Legislative_ shall think fit to make them _Annual_.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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