Chapter X: Appendix

After the conspiracy, known as the Rye House Plot, to kill Charles II. and his brother, the Duke of York, the University of Oxford ordered the public burning of books which ran counter to the doctrine of the Divine right of kings. As the decree is a literary and political curiosity of the highest order, and not easily accessible, I here transcribe it from Lord Somers' _Tracts_. The authors whose books were condemned are sometimes referred to quite generally, so that some are difficult to identify, but the following appear to be the principal ones that incurred the fiery indignation of the University:--1. Rutherford's _Lex Rex_; 2. G. Buchanan's _De Jure Regni apud Scotos_; 3. Bellarmine's _De Potestate Papae_, and his _De Conciliis et Ecclesia Militante_; 4. Milton's _Eikonoklastes_, and his _Defensio Populi Anglicani_; 5. Goodwin's _Obstructours of Justice_; 6. Baxter's _Holy Commonwealth_; 7. Dolman's _Succession_; 8. Hobbes' _De Cive_ and _Leviathan_.

_The Judgment and Decree of the University of Oxford,
passed in their Convocation, July 21, 1683, against
certain pernicious books, and damnable doctrines,
destructive to the sacred persons of princes, their
State and Government, and of all Human Society._

"Although the barbarous assassination lately
enterprised against the person of his sacred majesty
and his royal brother, engages all our thoughts to
reflect with utmost detestation and abhorrence on that
execrable villainy, hateful to God and man, and pay our
due acknowledgments to the Divine Providence, which, by
extraordinary methods, brought it to pass, that the
breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord, is
not taken in the pit which was prepared for him, and
that under his shadow we continue to live and to enjoy
the blessings of his government; yet, notwithstanding,
we find it to be a necessary duty at this time to
search into and lay open those impious doctrines, which
having been of late studiously disseminated, gave rise
and growth to those nefarious attempts, and pass upon
them our solemn public censure and decree of
condemnation.

"Therefore, to the honour of the holy and undivided
Trinity, the preservation of Catholic truth in the
Church, and that the king's majesty may be secured both
from the attempts of open bloody enemies and
machinations of treacherous heretics and schismatics,
we, the vice-chancellor, doctors, proctors, and masters
regent, met in convocation, in the accustomed manner,
the one and twentieth day of July, in the year 1683,
concerning certain propositions contained in divers
books and writings, published in the English and also
in the Latin tongue, repugnant to the Holy Scriptures,
decrees of councils, writings of the fathers, the faith
and profession of the primitive Church, and also
destruction of the kingly government, the safety of his
Majesty's person, the public peace, the laws of nature,
and bonds of human society, by our unanimous assent and
consent, have decreed and determined in manner and form
following:--

"The 1st Proposition.--All civil authority is derived
originally from the people.

"2. There is a mutual compact, tacit or express,
between a prince and his subjects, that if he perform
not his duty, they are discharged from theirs.

"3. That if lawful governors become tyrants, or govern
otherwise than by the laws of God and man they ought to
do, they forfeit the right they had unto their
government.--_Lex Rex_; _Buchanan, de Jure Regni_;
_Vindiciae contra tyrannos_; _Bellarmine, de Conciliis,
de Pontifice_; _Milton_; _Goodwin_; _Baxter_; _H. C._

"4. The sovereignty of England is in the three estates,
viz., Kings, Lords, and Commons. The king has but a
co-ordinate power, and may be overruled by the other
two.--_Lex Rex_; _Hunter_, of a united and mixed
monarchy. _Baxter, H. C. Polit. Catechis._

"5. Birthright and proximity of blood give no title to
rule or government, and it is lawful to preclude the
next heir from his right and succession to the
crown.--_Lex Rex_; _Hunt's Postscript_; _Doleman's
History of Succession_; _Julian the Apostate_; _Mene
Tekel_.

"6. It is lawful for subjects, without the consent, and
against the command, of the supreme magistrate, to
enter into leagues, covenants, and associations, for
defence of themselves and their religion.--_Solemn
League and Covenant_; _Late Association_.

"7. Self-preservation is the fundamental law of nature,
and supersedes the obligation of all others, whensoever
they stand in competition with it.--_Hobbes' de Cive_;
_Leviathan_.

"8. The doctrine of the gospel concerning patient
suffering of injuries is not inconsistent with violent
resisting of the higher powers in case of persecution
for religion.--_Lex Rex_; _Julian Apostate_; _Apolog.
Relat._

"9. There lies no obligation upon Christians to passive
obedience, when the prince commands anything against
the laws of our country; and the primitive Christians
chose rather to die than resist, because Christianity
was not settled by the laws of the Empire.--_Julian
Apostate._

"10. Possession and strength give a right to govern,
and success in a cause, or enterprise, proclaims it to
be lawful and just; to pursue it is to comply with the
will of God, because it is to follow the conduct of His
providence.--_Hobbes_; _Owen's Sermon before the
Regicides, Jan. 31, 1648_; _Baxter_; _Jenkin's
Petition, Oct. 1651_.

"11. In the state of nature there is no difference
between good and evil, right and wrong; the state of
nature is the state of war, in which every man hath a
right to all things.

"12. The foundation of civil authority is this natural
right, which is not given, but left to the supreme
magistrate upon men's entering into societies; and not
only a foreign invader, but a domestic rebel, puts
himself again into a state of nature to be proceeded
against, not as a subject, but an enemy, and
consequently acquires by his rebellion the same right
over the life of his prince, as the prince for the most
heinous crimes has over the life of his own subjects.

"13. Every man, after his entering into a society,
retains a right of defending himself against force, and
cannot transfer that right to the commonwealth when he
consents to that union whereby a commonwealth is made;
and in case a great many men together have already
resisted the commonwealth, for which every one of them
expecteth death, they have liberty then to join
together to assist and defend one another. This bearing
of arms subsequent to the first breach of their duty,
though it be to maintain what they have done, is no new
unjust act, and if it be only to defend their persons,
is not unjust at all.

"14. An oath superadds no obligation to fact, and a
fact obliges no further than it is credited; and
consequently if a prince gives any indication that he
does not believe the promises of fealty and allegiance
made by any of his subjects, they are thereby freed
from their subjection; and, notwithstanding their pacts
and oaths, may lawfully rebel against, and destroy
their sovereign.--_Hobbes' de Cive_; _Leviathan_.

"15. If a people, that by oath and duty are obliged to
a sovereign, shall sinfully dispossess him, and,
contrary to their covenants, choose and covenant with
another, they may be obliged by their later covenants,
notwithstanding their former.--_Baxter_; _H. C._

"16. All oaths are unlawful and contrary to the Word of
God.--_Quakers._

"17. An oath obligeth not in the sense of the imposer,
but the taker's.--_Sheriff's Case._

"18. Dominion is founded in grace.

"19. The powers of this world are usurpations upon the
prerogative of Jesus Christ; and it is the duty of
God's people to destroy them, in order to the setting
Christ upon His throne.--_Fifth Monarchy Men._

"20. The presbyterian government is the sceptre of
Christ's kingdom, to which kings, as well as others,
are bound to submit; and the king's supremacy in
ecclesiastical affairs, asserted by the Church of
England, is injurious to Christ, the sole King and Head
of His Church.--_Altare Damascenum_; _Apolog. Relat.
Hist. Indulg._; _Cartwright_; _Travers_.

"21. It is not lawful for superiors to impose anything
in the worship of God that is not antecedently
necessary.

"22. The duty of not offending a weak brother is
inconsistent with all human authority of making laws
concerning indifferent things.--_Protest. Reconciler._

"23. Wicked kings and tyrants ought to be put to death;
and if the judges and inferior magistrates will not do
their office, the power of the sword devolves to the
people; if the major part of the people refuse to
exercise this power, then the ministers may
excommunicate such a king; after which it is lawful for
any of the subjects to kill him, as the people did
Athaliah, and Jehu Jezebel.--_Buchanan_; _Knox_;
_Goodman_; _Gibby_; _Jesuits_.

"24. After the sealing of the Scripture-canon the
people of God in all ages are to expect new revelations
for a rule of their actions (_a_); and it is lawful for
a private man, having an inward motion from God, to
kill a tyrant (_b_).--(_a_) _Quakers and other
Enthusiasts._ (_b_) _Goodman._

"25. The example of Phineas is to us instead of a
command; for what God hath commanded or approved in one
age must needs oblige in all.--_Goodman_; _Knox_;
_Napthali_.

"26. King Charles the First was lawfully put to death,
and his murderers were the blessed instruments of God's
glory in their generation.--_Milton_; _Goodwin_;
_Owen_.

"27. King Charles the First made war upon his
Parliament; and in such a case the king may not only be
resisted, but he ceaseth to be king.--_Baxter._

"We decree, judge, and declare all and every of these
propositions to be false, seditious, and impious; and
most of them to be also heretical and blasphemous,
infamous to Christian religion, and destructive of all
government in Church and State.

"We further decree, That the books which contain the
aforesaid propositions and impious doctrines are fitted
to deprave good manners, corrupt the minds of unwary
men, stir up seditions and tumults, overthrow states
and kingdoms, and lead to rebellion, murder of princes,
and atheism itself; and therefore we interdict all
members of the university from the reading of the said
books, under the penalties in the statutes expressed.
We also order the before-recited books to be publicly
burnt by the hand of our marshal, in the court of our
schools.

"Likewise we order, that, in perpetual memory hereof,
these our decrees shall be entered into the registry of
our convocation; and that copies of them being
communicated to the several colleges and halls within
this university, they be there publicly affixed in the
libraries, refectories, or other fit places, where they
may be seen and read of all.

"Lastly, we command and strictly enjoin all and
singular, the readers, tutors, catechists, and others
to whom the care and trust of institution of youth is
committed, that they diligently instruct and ground
their scholars in that most necessary doctrine, which,
in a manner, is the badge and character of the Church
of England, of submitting to every ordinance of man for
the Lord's sake, whether it be to the king as supreme,
or unto governors as unto them that are sent by him,
for the punishment of evil doers, and for the praise of
them that do well; teaching that this submission and
obedience is to be clear, absolute, and without
exception of any state or order of men. Also that they,
according to the Apostle's precept, exhort, that first
of all supplications, prayers, intercessions, and
giving of thanks be made for all men, for the king, and
all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and
peaceable life in all godliness and honesty; for this
is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
and in especial manner that they press and oblige them
humbly to offer their most ardent and daily prayers at
the throne of grace, for the preservation of our
Sovereign Lord King Charles from the attempts of open
violence and secret machinations of perfidious
traitors; that the defender of the faith, being safe
under the defence of the Most High, may continue his
reign on earth till he exchange it for that of a late
and happy immortality."

INDEX.

Abelard, all his books burnt, 5.

Allen (Cardinal), 37.

Archer (John), of All Hallows, Lombard Street, 106.

Asgill (John), his book burnt by two Parliaments, 144-47.

Attwood (William), the English Whig, 184.

Aubigne (D'), his _Histoire Universelle_, 19.

Bale (Bishop), 29.

Barnes, 29.

Bastwick (the physician), 81-92.

Beaumarchais, his _Memoirs_ condemned to the flames, 22.

Becon, 29.

Bellarmine, his _Tractatus_ condemned by the Parliament of
Paris, 64.

Bernier (Abbe) _pseud._, 13.

Best (Paul), prisoner at the Gatehouse, 107-109.

Bidle (a tailor's son), 110.

Bissendorf burnt, as well as his books, 9.

Boncerf, 21.

_Book-fires of the Sixteenth Century_, 25-47.
_under James I._, 48-68.
_under Charles I._, 69-93.
_of the Rebellion_, 94-116.
_of the Restoration_, 117-135.
_of the Revolution_, 136-169.
(_our last_), 170-190.

Boulanger, _Christianisme devoile_, 15.

Boyse, his sermon burnt by the hangman, 166.

Brecknock (Timothy), 181.

Buchanan (David), 101.

Buchanan (George), 58, 123.

Burton, the divine, 81-92.

Bury (Rev. Arthur), 141-43.

Busenbaum (the Jesuit), 17.

Calamy (Dr.), 131.

Carr (William), 171.

Cellier (Elizabeth), 134.

_Charles I.'s Book-fires_, 69-93.

Clarkson (Laurence), 114.

Claude, his _Plaintes des Protestants_, 134.

Clendon (John), 159.

Coke (Sir Edward), 57.

_Constitutional Queries_ (1750), 175.

Coppe (Ebiezer), 114.

Coverdale (Bishop), 29.

Coward (Dr.), 147, 148.

Cowell (Dr.), 28, 54-59.

_Crisis, the Present_ (1775), 182, 186.

Cumberland (Duke of), of Culloden, compared with Richard
III., 175.

Cutwode, his _Caltha Poetarum_, 41.

Davies (Sir John), 41, 44.

Declaration of James III., 174.

Defoe (Daniel), 152-4.

Delaune, his _Plea for the Nonconformists_, 130-34.

Dering (Sir Edward), 98.

Derodon, Professor at Nismes, 12.

Deslandes, 17.

Desperiers, 7.

Digby (Lord), 99.

Dolet, 8.

Doleman's _Conference_, 37.

Dominis (Marcus Antonius de), 9.

Drake (Dr. James), 155-57, 173, 183.

Dufresnoy, 17.

Dulaurent, an apostate monk, 13.

Emmius, his posthumous book, 21.

Enjedim, the Hungarian Socialist, 6.

Falkland (Lord), 101.

Fleetwood (William), Bishop of St. Asaph, 167.

Fish's _Supplication of Beggars_, 36.

Freret, 15.

Froude (J. A.), his _Nemesis of Faith_ burned, 144.

Frith, 29.

Fry (John), M.P., 103, 4.

Genebrard (Archbishop), 18.

Gerberon, 12.

Giannone, his _Historia Civile_, 21.

Gigli, his _Vocabulario_, 17.

Goodwin (John), prolific writer, 117-122.

Hall (Bishop), 41, 2, 3.

Hall (Joseph), serjeant-at-arms, 172.

Helot, his _L'Ecole des Filles_, 17.

Herries (Walter), 183.

Holbach (Baron d'), 15.

Humphrey (John), 154.

Huss (John), 6.

Hutchinson (Provost Hely), 182, 185.

_James I., Book-fires under_, 48-68.

James III., Declaration of, 174.

Joly (Claude), 20.

Joye, 29.

_Justiciarius justificatus_, 101.

Keller, the Jesuit, 19.

Kentish Petition (1642), 100.

King (George), the bookseller, 176.

Knewstub, his _Confutation_ (1579), 33.

La Mettrie (De), 14.

Langle (Marquis de), 13.

Lanjuinais, 22.

La Peyrere imprisoned, 12.

Leighton (Alexander), 75.

Le Noble (Eustache), 20.

Lilburne (John), 88, 102.

Linguet, 14.

Locke (John), 127-29.

_Love, Family of_, 32.

Luther, 7, 28.

Lyser, advocate of polygamy, 17.

Mantuanus, the Carmelite, 16.

Manwaring (Roger), 69-71.

Mariana, the Jesuit, 18.

Marivaux (Martin de), 22.

Marlowe (Christopher), 41, 42.

Martin Marprelate, 37.

Marston (John), 41, 42.

_Mercurius Elenchicus_, 101.

_Mercurius Pragmaticus_, 101.

Meslier (Jean), 14.

Milton, 20, 90, 118-22.

Mocket (Richard), 61.

Molinos, founder of Quietism, 11.

Molyneux (William), his _Case for Ireland_, 136-40.

Mondonville (Madame de), 21.

Montagu (Richard), anti-Puritan, 71-3.

Morin (Simon), 10.

Morisot, 10.

Muggleton (Ludovic), 115, 116.

Niclas (Hendrick), of Leyden, 32.

_North Briton_ (No. 45), 177.

Okeford (James), 102.

Orleans (Louis d'), 18.

Osma (Peter d'), 7.

Oxford (University of) Decree against certain pernicious
books, 192.

Paraeus (David), 60.

_Parliament's Ten Commandments_, 101.

_Parliament's Pater Noster_, 101.

Parsons (Robert), the Jesuit, 37, 39.

Pascal, 12.

Peignot, the historian of Condemned Books, 2.

Pidanzet, 21.

Pocklington (Dr. John), 95-8.

Pomponacius, 7.

Porphyry, 5.

Primatt (Joseph), 102.

Prynne (William), 30, 77-93.

_Racovian Catechism_, 111-13.

Raleigh (Sir Walter), 59.

Raynal (Abbe), 23.

Reboulet, 21.

Reeves' _Thoughts on English Government_, 186.

Rousseau, 13.

Rowlands (Samuel), 45.

Rutherford (Samuel), 122.

Rye House Plot, Decree against pernicious books, 191.

Sacheverell (Henry), 157-61.

Sainte Foi, 12.

Salmasius, 119.

Sanctarel, the Jesuit, 20.

Schlicttingius, 11.

Scioppius, 18.

Scot (Reginald), one of the heroes of the world, 49-53.

Servetus, his burning, 8.

Squitinio, 19.

Stubbs (John), 35.

Suarez, 64.

Talbert (Abbe), 17.

Theophile, 16.

Thomas (William), 30.

Thornborough (Bishop), 57.

Tindal (Matthew), 159, 161-63.

Toland, 149.

Toussaint, 17.

Tracy, 29.

Turner, 29.

Tyndale (William), 9, 28, 75.

Voet, professor of theology, 51.

Voltaire, contributed more books to the flames than any
other author of the eighteenth century, 15.

Vorst (Conrad), 66.

Wentworth (Peter), 39.

Wicliff, 29.

Wilkes (John), and the _North Briton_, 177.

Williams (John), 46, 47.

Wither (George), 101.

Wolkelius, friend of Socinus, 11.

Woolston, his Discourse on Miracles, 15.

_Elliot Stock, 62, Paternoster Row, London, E.C._

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES

The original book has a rooster bookplate illustration at the beginning and an owl bookplate at the end. Each chapter begins and ends with a decorative woodcut.

The following words use an oe ligature in the original:

Moeurs
oeuvre
Poetarum

The following corrections have been made to the text:

Page 3: could not himself either affirm[original has
ffiarm] or deny

Page 35: same penalty as its author.[period missing in
original]

Page 136: William Molyneux's[apostrophe and final "s"
missing in original] Case for Ireland

Page 176: [original has extraneous quotation mark]both
Houses of Parliament on Thursday

Page 176: December 2nd, 1756'[original has double
quote]

Page 194: Hobbes'[apostrophe missing in original] de
Cive

Page 196: Hobbes'[apostrophe missing in original] de
Cive

Page 196: _Apolog. Relat. Hist. Indulg._[period missing
in original]

Page 201: Abelard[original has Abela d], all his books
burnt, 5.

Page 203: Genebrard[original has Genebrazd]
(Archbishop), 18.

Page 203: Helot, his L'Ecole[original has L'Escole] des
Filles, 17.

End of Project Gutenberg's Books Condemned to be Burnt, by James Anson Farrer