to succeed him, which no law can disannul[1]; nay, although he should kill his father upon the throne, he is immediately king to all intents and purposes; the possession of the crown wiping off all stains. But whosoever sits on the throne without this title, though ever so peaceably, and by consent of former kings and parliaments, is a usurper, while there is any where in the world another person, who has a nearer hereditary right; and the whole kingdom lies under mortal sin, till that heir be restored, because he has a divine title, which no human law can defeat.
This and a great deal more has, in a thousand papers and pamphlets, been laid to that doctrine of passive obedience, which the whigs are pleased to charge upon us. This is what they are perpetually instilling into the people, as the undoubted principle by which the present ministry, and a great majority in parliament, do at this time proceed. This is what they accuse the clergy of delivering from the pulpits, and of preaching up as a doctrine absolutely necessary to salvation. And whoever affirms in general, that passive obedience is due to the supreme power, he is presently loaded by our candid adversaries, with such consequences as these. Let us therefore see what this doctrine is, when stripped of such misrepresentations, by describing it as really taught and practised by the tories; and then it will appear what grounds our adversaries have to accuse us upon this article.
