n again, which else had been lost; for
there are numberless Instances in History of a Downfal from a State of
_Liberty_ to a _Tyranny_, but very few of a Recovery of _Liberty_ from
_Tyranny_, if this last have had any Length of Time to fix it self and
take Root.

Let all such, who either thro Interest or Ignorance are Adorers of
_absolute Monarchs_, say what they please; an _English Whig_ can never
be so unjust to his Country, and to right Reason, as not to be of
Opinion, that in all Civil Commotions, which Side soever is the
_wrongful Aggressor_, is accountable for all the evil Consequences: And
thro the Course of his reading (tho my Lord _Clarendon's_ Books be
thrown into the Heap) he finds it very difficult to observe, that ever
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.

_Whiggism_ is not circumscrib'd and confin'd to any one or two of the