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Another of the managers for the House of Commons, Sir John Holland, was not less careful in guarding against a confusion of the principles of the Revolution with any loose, general doctrines of a right in the individual, or even in the people, to undertake for themselves, on any prevalent, temporary opinions of convenience or improvement, any fundamental change in the Constitution, or to fabricate a new government for themselves, and thereby to disturb the public peace, and to unsettle the ancient Constitution of this kingdom.

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Sir John Holland.

[Sidenote:  Submission to the sovereign a conscientious duty, except in cases of necessity.]

“The Commons would not be understood as if they were pleading for a licentious resistance, as if subjects were left to their good-will and pleasure when they are to obey and when to resist.  No, my Lords, they know they are obliged by all the ties of social creatures and Christians, for wrath and conscience’ sake, to submit to their sovereign.  The Commons do not abet humorsome, factious arms:  they aver them to be rebellions.  But yet they maintain that that resistance at the Revolution, which was so necessary, was lawful and just from that necessity.”

[Sidenote:  Right of resistance how to be understood.]

“These general rules of obedience may, upon a real necessity, admit a lawful exception; and such a necessary exception we assert the Revolution to be.

“’Tis with this view of necessity, only absolute necessity of preserving our laws, liberties, and religion,—­’tis with this limitation, that we desire to be understood, when any of us speak of resistance in general.  The necessity of the resistance at the Revolution was at that time obvious to every man.”

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I shall conclude these extracts with a reference to the Prince of Orange’s Declaration, in which he gives the nation the fullest assurance that in his enterprise he was far from the intention of introducing any change whatever in the fundamental law and Constitution of the state.  He considered the object of his enterprise not to be a precedent for further revolutions, but that it was the great end of his expedition to make such revolutions, so far as human power and wisdom could provide, unnecessary.

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Extracts from the Prince of Orange’s Declaration.

“All magistrates, who have been unjustly turned out, shall forthwith resume their former employments; as well as all the boroughs of England shall return again to their ancient prescriptions and charters, and, more particularly, that the ancient charter of the great and famous city of London shall again be in force; and that the writs for the members of Parliament shall be addressed to the proper officers, according to law and custom.”