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<DATE>2011-11-02</DATE>
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<NAME>Judith Siefring</NAME>
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<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>Government De&s;cribed: <HI>Viz.</HI> What
<LIST>
<ITEM><HI>Monarchie,</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Ari&s;tocracie,</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Oligarchie,</HI> And</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Democracie,</HI></ITEM>
</LIST> is. TOGETHER With a Brief <HI>MODEL</HI> OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE Common-Wealth, OR, Free-State of <HI>RAGOUSE. Fit for View at this pre&s;ent Juncture of Settlement.</HI></P>
<P>By <HI>J. S.</HI></P>
<P><HI>London,</HI> Printed MDCLIX.</P>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="part">
<PB N="2" REF="2">
<HEAD>THE GOVERNMENT OF <HI>Monarchie, Ari&s;tocracie, Oligar|chie,</HI> and <HI>Democracie,</HI> De&s;cribed.</HEAD>
<P>_GOvernment hath in it this Order, Commanding and Obeying: The fir&s;t Government was paternal, when the Fathers or the Elde&s;t of the Family did command the re&s;t, which la&s;ted all the time that men lived to a great Age. While&s;t this Government continued, Law was not invented, becau&s;e that the Father of the Fa|mily, by the In&s;titutions of Nature, could do nothing but what was good for the whole Family; therefore they were not nece&s;|&s;itated to &s;eek for Laws to &s;ecure them. The fir&s;t, that brake this Order of Government was <HI>Nimrod,</HI> who u&s;urpt ab&s;olute Power, and held people to &s;ervitude by Force and Policy. Be&s;ides, Families did &s;o much increa&s;e, they were nece&s;&s;itated to joyn &s;everal &s;mall ones together to oppo&s;e more powerful and mighty Families who &s;ought for Soveraignty and Dominion. In the&s;e Confederacies they united them&s;elves; &s;ome Families under one, as their Captain, or Prince, or Monarch: Others, into a Democracy, or Number of Magi&s;trates, that were to con&s;ult the good of that Confederacy or Society.</P>
<P>It would take up a Volume , to give the &s;everal In&s;tances that are in H &s;tory, of this Nature , the which &s;hall be waved; onely remember, that <HI>Abraham</HI> did of his own Hou&s;hold arm &s;uch a number of men, that He gave Battel to the Kings of the Plain, and recovered <HI>Lot</HI> from his Captivi|ty.
<PB N="3" REF="2">Paternal Government cea&s;ing, people ca&s;t them&s;elves into &s;everall Forms of Government, and they received their Denomination from tho&s;e that were Chief, and their variety of Forms; either from their Opinion of &s;uch a Form to be be&s;t; or, becau&s;e that, at the In&s;titutio, none per&s;on, or the Nobility, or the eminente&s;t among&s;t the people, or the people them&s;elves, had m<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;t power. Even &s;o upon a Change of Government it falleth out, that the Government receiveth its Form from them in whom Power is. The chief of the Forms of Government are, fir&s;t, Monarchy, that is, by a &s;ingle per&s;on, who is bound by vertue of his Office, to rule according to the Laws of the People for the profit of all: But it often falleth out, that that &s;ort of Government degenerateth, and cannot be kept within its Limits and Bounds: But, on the contrary , con&s;piring in behalf of its own Intere&s;t, again&s;t the Intere&s;t of the people, it thereby converteth it &s;elf into Tyran|ny, the wor&s;t of Governments. The Tyrant ruleth by his Will, and layeth a&s;ide the Laws, and con&s;ulteth not the Intere&s;t of a people. A Monarchy is a dangerous Government in regard it can &s;o readily make or it &s;elf a Tyranny. It is the de&s;ire of Mankind to be ab&s;olute, and a Monarch &s;hall never want Flatterers to prompt and ha&s;ten him to a Tyranny; becau&s;e, under a Tyranny, they can the better oppre&s;s the People, and arrive to Greatne&s;s and Wealth by the Peoples Ruine. They hold the people by their own Arms and Trea&s;ure, in Obedience to the Tyrant, onely for his Profit and Commodity, becau&s;e he onely communicates the benefit of his power to &s;uch as con&s;pire and are Confederates with him, in holding the people to their Servitude.</P>
<P><HI>Ari&s;tocratical Government,</HI> is when the Noble-men bear &s;way, or &s;uch a number of men, as at the fir&s;t founding, or con&s;tituting of that Government, were Chief, and had Pre&s;idency of the re&s;t. Such is the State of <HI>Venice</HI> at this day, which &s;uiteth well with its Situation, and the di&s;tance of the re&s;t of its Seigniory; but it would &s;carce &s;erve any ether Common-wealth; in regard that the re&s;t of the Seigniory are Forreigners either under their Protection or Obedience, they being Subjects to the Government, not Members of it; and there is but few in the City, but what have &s;hare in the Government. This &s;ort of Government would not be durable in a large Commonwealth, becau&s;e that the Policy of this Government natu|rally mu&s;t prevent and &s;uppre&s;s the increa&s;e of other Noble Familie, in or|der to its own pre&s;ervation. Tho&s;eh<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">at are excluded , when once grown rich, and thereby attained to Education, do de&s;ire to have &s;hare in the Govern|ment, and &s;hake off Servitude, which cau&s;eth Changes: Be&s;ides, the great men in this Government do create a di&s;tinct Intere&s;t from that of the pub|like, by fortifying the Security of their own Families; and if once they &s;hould fall into Factions, immediatly the mo&s;t powerful Faction &s;etteth up one of their own Faction to be Prince, or at lea&s;t the Leader thereof hath opportunity, thereby to make him&s;elf Prince; as it fell out by the Hou&s;e of the <HI>Medici</HI> at <HI>Florence;</HI> and al&s;o at <HI>Rome,</HI> by <HI>Sylla,</HI> who was head of the Faction of the Nobility, again&s;t that of <HI>Marius,</HI> the Head of the popular Faction.</P>
<PB N="4" REF="3">
<P>There are <HI>Ari&s;tocracies</HI> mixt with <HI>Democracies;</HI> as that of the United Provinces. The Great men Con&s;ult of the Affairs of the Common-wealth with the Peoples Deputies, who are Annually Cho&s;en.</P>
<P><HI>Oligarchy,</HI> is the Government of a Common-wealth by a &s;mall Number, who either hold by Policy or Force, the Supremacy; or who have ab&s;olute Authority given to them. Such were the <HI>Triumvirate</HI> and the <HI>Dec<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">mviri</HI> among&s;t the <HI>Romans;</HI> Such al&s;o were the Thirty Tyrants at <HI>Athens:</HI> this kind of Government was upon &s;peciall occa&s;ions Erected among&s;t the An|tients, to carry on &s;ome Notable Undertaking, or to Determine and Ar|bitrate &s;ome difference as was blown big by Factions in the Common-wealth: the which power proveth Immediately dangerous, if not called in, and Nulled, &s;o &s;oon as the occa&s;ion is over, for which it was ordained; No Government can be more dangerous then this is, where the People are di|vided either in Civill or Religious Re&s;pects: in &s;uch a Ca&s;e there &s;hall be nothing but Changes, Murder, Mi&s;eries of all kinds, and de&s;truction pro|duced, in the Common-wealth; it onely Re&s;pecteth me good of tho&s;e that Have the Government, and tho&s;e that adhe<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">e to them: For the re&s;t of the people, they mu&s;t bereave them of their Wit, Money, and Arms. That was an Excellent <HI>Oligarchy</HI> Erected by <HI>John</HI> of <HI>Leydon</HI> at <HI>Mun&s;ter;</HI> and was like to have been here in <HI>England,</HI> by a ce<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">tain People&punc; that are uncon|&s;tant, unlimited, &s;piritually proud, and notoriou&s;ly Ignorant; who think none to have Right in Government, but them&s;elves.</P>
<P><HI>Democracy</HI> is a Government, where the Governours are Elected by the People out of them&s;elves; &s;ometimes called Free-State, or Popular State, or Common-wealth: This kind of Government by the People, is the mo&s;t Natural, and be&s;t &s;ort of all Governments; they Elect their Magi&s;trates, which are to continue in power but one year, or le&s;s; they Tru&s;t not their Arms in the hands of one Per&s;on, but they are managed by a Councel: This is the be&s;t &s;ort of Government, becau&s;e that the per&s;ons do not continue long in Tru&s;t: the which is the onely means to keep them from Corrup|tion or Oppre&s;&s;ion. When they &s;hall be reduced to a private Capacity, and be &s;ubject to give an Account of their Tru&s;t, doth not that Common-wealth &s;tand better A&s;&s;ured to be free from Corruption, then that Con&s;ti|tution that &s;hall &s;ecure the per&s;ons Governing, and protect them from Ju|&s;tice: He who doth continue alwayes in power, is enabled by virtue of his power to &s;ecure him&s;elf from being que&s;tioned; and maketh u&s;e of his Authority that &s;hould be to di&s;courage Evil doers, to defend him&s;elf in Evill doing. But when the Common-wealth is large, and they &s;end their Deputies, and Inve&s;t them with their Legi&s;lative power, who meet and Con&s;ult about making Lawes, Peace and War, and the management of other State-Affairs; it is more orderly and freer from all manner of Faction, than it would be, if the People &s;hould meet all in one Body, and
<PB N="5" REF="3">make Lawes as they did at <HI>Rome, Athens, Sparta, Corinth, Thebes,</HI> and other Grecian States. Although the People have not an Immediate hand in the Supream management of Affairs; yet they have the vertual power in them by Election, which is the Original of the being of Supream Autho|rity, and al&s;o a po&s;&s;ibility for every one that can arrive to Credit by his Parts, to be Cho&s;en and Elected for the Next Repre&s;entative: the which will animate an hundred in this Government (to one in any other &s;ort of Go|vernment) to put them&s;elves forth to acquire Parts, and to fit them&s;elves with Abilities to &s;erve the Publique, either by Councel or Arms.</P>
<P>I will here &s;ay nothing at all of the Defects of this Government, and the Remedies; nor of any other Government: it &s;hall be done &s;hortly in a Volume. But here I will give you a brief Modell of the Government of the Common-wealth or Free-State of <HI>Ragou&s;e,</HI> &s;cituated in <HI>Dalmatia,</HI> near the Bottom of the Ad<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">iatick or Gulph of <HI>Venice. Reader,</HI> here take notice, That a Common-wealth thus Con&s;tituted, though &s;mall, is able to pre&s;erve it &s;elf again&s;t the mo&s;t powerful Princes; The Councels propor|tionably of &s;uch a Common-wealth, are more &s;trong, and their Swords more &s;harp, then a Prince's. This Common-wealth or Free-State main|taineth its &s;elf by its Ju&s;t Impartial Policy, in perfect Freedom and Strength, notwith&s;tanding they border on the Tyrannicall Turk's Domi|nions.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="part">
<PB N="6" REF="4">
<HEAD>The Government of the Common-wealth of <HI>Ragou&s;e.</HI></HEAD>
<P><HI>RAgou&s;e</HI> hath nor been alwayes a Common-weal, for that it hath obeyed divers Lords ac divers times; &s;ometimes <HI>Grecians,</HI> &s;ome|times <HI>Albanians.</HI> But &s;ince it hath embraced this kind of Govern|ment, they have been in &s;ome reputation. The <HI>Ragou&s;ans,</HI> when as they &s;ought to reduce the Town to a Common-weal, followed (for the mo&s;t part) the order of the State of <HI>Venice.</HI> Being thus re&s;olved, they fir&s;t in&s;tituted a Great Councel, knowing, that it was the foundation of a Com|mon-weal, and as it were the firm Ba&s;is or Ground-work of their City. All Gentlemen of the City enter into this Councel, having attained to the age of Twenty years, and they are admitted proving their Gentry. In this Councel th y create all the Magi&s;trates of the City, which are &s;uch as I will &s;et down.</P>
<P>There are fir&s;t the <HI>Pregadi,</HI> or Great Councel, which &s;hould be common|ly Sixty. There may be many Gentlemen of one Family; for the Families in time are reduced into a &s;mall number. The&s;e have charge of the Affairs of the Common-weal, and do judge of Civill Cau&s;es; they al&s;o judge of Criminal Cau&s;es which are of Importance in regard of the per&s;ons, as if any Gentleman be accu&s;ed, or hath committed any Crime. They con|tinue a year in this Charge, and are changed, as they are void, for that they are not all created at one in&s;tant, but one after another, as they end.</P>
<P>The Petty Councel (&s;o called in regard of the Great) is the Councel of the Rector, which con&s;i&s;ts of eleven Per&s;ons, all of divers Families; who a&s;&s;i&s;t the Rector or Head of this Common-weal. They receive and hear the Petitions and Demands of &s;trangers, and private men, Letters, Em|ba&s;&s;adours, and &s;uch like like; and are as a hand that pre&s;ents the things which come before them, to other Magi&s;trates, and go afterwards to Officers ap|pointed for &s;uch matters. And the&s;e decide &s;ome of tho&s;e things which are pre&s;ented to them, and report the re&s;t to the <HI>Pregadi</HI> or Great Councel. They continue but one year in this Charge, and go out together; and the others which are created by the Great Councel, enter into this Office with the new Rector, the fir&s;t day of January.</P>
<P>This Rector, who is head of all the Councels, is cho&s;en in the Grea<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> Councel by three Elections, as they do in all other Offices; and of the&s;e Elections, the one is made by &s;crutiny by three Councellors of the Rector&punc; and the two others are made by Lot. The Rector remaineth but on<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">
<PB N="7" REF="4">Moneth in Charge, and he is bound, during that moneth, to live in the Pa|lace. He wears the hab<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">te of a Duke, tint is, a Robe with open &s;leeves, different from others by rea&s;on of his Authority. They give &s;even Duckats a moneth for his ente<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">tainment: yet when he is one of the <HI>Pr<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">gadi,</HI> he hath a Duckat eve<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">y day to a&s;&s;i&s;t.</P>
<P>This Rector a&s;&s;embles with the Councellours upon working-dayes af<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">er d<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">nner , and on Fe&s;tival dayes on &s;ome occa&s;ions. But if the Rector be not there, the mo&s;t ancient Councellour enters into his place, yet they di&s;patch not any thing without his pre&s;ence. They give this Rector a Liev|tenant, who hath Juri&s;diction in matters which do not exceed three Duckats of Gold, and he is for Civill matters onely: The Councellours cannot be cho&s;en Rectors the years, that they are in their Magi&s;tracy.</P>
<P>Next, there are five Purveyors, who are fifty years old and upwards, and mu&s;t be of divers Families. They have authority to cau&s;e all exped<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">tions made by any Magi&s;trate what&s;oever, to be received, and they mu&s;t be pre|&s;ent when as the Councels a&s;&s;emble. The&s;e may be made Rectors during their Magi&s;tracy, and are &s;o commonly. They are of the Chief of the Town, of great authority, and in a manner alwayes of the Councel.</P>
<P>After the&s;e, are the &s;ix Con&s;uls which hear Civil Cau&s;es, at fir&s;t for any &s;um what&s;oever. They are mo&s;t commonly men of great authority, and which enter into Councel with the <HI>Pregadi,</HI> and they frame the proce&s;s of &s;uch things as they judge. The parties are not accu&s;tomed to make alle|gations; but the&s;e Con&s;uls, hearing the matter in que&s;t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">on, determine what Ju&s;tice requires, and draw from every Cau&s;e two Duckats in the hundred. They cannot be Rectors for the &s;pace of two years, left they &s;hould alter their proceedings in Civil Cau&s;es, and to the end the people might be &s;oon di&s;patched in their Suits; For they do continually attend them.</P>
<P>There are al&s;o five Criminal Judges, and Expeditions go from them, at|cording to the Judgments which they make Gentl<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">men are excepted; for that in Criminal Cau&s;es they go before the Great Councel, and they that have Fees of the Commonweal an&s;wer before the petty Councel. Th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;e Judges are made Rectors, as the Purveyors be.</P>
<P>There are moreover three Offices upon the Art of Wool; the&s;e do com|monly hear the differences that grow betwixt men which exerci&s;e that Trade. They enter into the Great Councel, and may be made Rectors.</P>
<P>This Common-weal hath al&s;o a College of 30: into which there may enter many per&s;ons of one Family. They take knowledge of Appellati|ons unto the &s;um of three hundred Duckats, and every o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">e of them hath three Duckats yearly for their Wages; which is done, for that all O ficers are finable, if they attend not their Charges; for other wife they would not accept them, for they are of &s;mall profit. When any Office is void, it is &s;up|plied by one that is in &s;ome other Office. If one of the <HI>Pregadi</HI> dies, they &s;upply his place by one of the Purveyors, or of his Colledge.</P>
<P>There are &s;ix Captains of the Night, who, one after another, have the Guard of the City in the Night, with the <HI>Ho<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">garians,</HI> who are about one
<PB N="8" REF="5">hundred, with their Captains, and they obey the&s;e, who open and &s;hut the Gates of the City. They remain two moneths in this Charge, and they ob|&s;erve this order, that They which &s;hut the City Gates at Night, do not, open them in the Morning, for they change them at Midnight.</P>
<P>The Captains and Earles, which go into Governments abroad through|out the E&s;tate of this Commonwealth, are all created by the Great Coun|cel, and &s;ome of them remain in charge &s;even moneths, and others twelve</P>
<P>By this often changing of Officers, they pre&s;erve them&s;elves: This is the true Embleme of a Free-State. The continuation of any Per&s;ons, or Coun|cels, or Senates, are but Defects; unle&s;s that the Senate were al&s;o to be ele|cted, as well as the Great Councel, or Parliament; it is hard if the people cannot be tru&s;ted with Election. It's true, the people of <HI>England</HI> would, if intru&s;ted now at this Juncture of time, elect &s;uch as would deprive than of the ble&s;&s;ed Government of a Free-State; but that mu&s;t not be an Argu|ment to deprive them of their Right: they mu&s;t be intru&s;ted with Election with &s;uch Qualifications, as may pre&s;erve the Intere&s;t of the Common-wealth. Tho&s;e that alleadge, that a Free people ought not to be limited in that Ca&s;e, may al&s;o alleadge, That a Phy&s;itian mu&s;t not hinder his Patient of &s;uch meat or drink as will ruine him, nor force him to take &s;uch medi|cines, as will cure him. Liberty con&s;i&s;teth not in every ones doing what he li&s;teth; but true Liberty is &s;uch a thing, as a convenient and nece&s;&s;ary Bondage; that is, I ought to be limited in &s;uch a thing: If not, it will be to the detriment of another; this Liberty would not con&s;i&s;t with Society. He that would a&s;&s;a&s;&s;inate him&s;elf, mu&s;t be deprived of his Liberty to do &s;o horrid an act. <HI>England</HI> yet was never a Free-State; but it will be, if the L<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">g<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;lators can hit upon the Mark of denying them&s;elves, in perpetua|ting their Power. No doubt but the People may be tru&s;ted with their Li|berty in that point, and that with &s;afety, if they bad ta&s;ted once of the ble&s;&s;ed Fruits of the Government intended, and much pretended to.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
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