Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A Word B Word C Word D Occurrence Frequency Band MI MI Band Prominent
cause_n king_n people_n power_n 4,914 5 5.4287 4 true
View all documents for the selected quad

Text snippets containing the quad

ID Title Author Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) STC Words Pages
A85756 The grounds of soveraignty and greatness· 1675 (1675) Wing G2141A; ESTC R228404 14,133 28

There is 1 snippet containing the selected quad. | View lemmatised text

same Title which he taketh himself as an Apostle Sic nos existimet Homo ut Ministros Christi By this it appeareth that Greatness is a Participation of the Power of God to Men which he communicateth to Some for the good of Others That it is a Ministry or Office wherewith he entrusteth them In so much as there being nothing more real or more just then the Authority and Power of God so there can be nothing more real or more just then Greatness in those to whom he truly imparteth the same and who are not Usurpers XIV It may easily be comprehended by this Doctrine that although Monarchy and the other Formes of Government may proceed originally from the Choice and Consent of the People yet the Authority of Monarchs is not derived from the People but from God alone He indeed hath given the People Power to Chuse their Government But as the Election of those who Chuse the Bishop is not that which rendreth him a Bishop but only the Pastoral Authority of Jesus Christ imparted to him in his Consecration so likewise the sole Consent of the People maketh not Kings but the communication of God's Royalty and Power by which they become Lawful and receive a real and solid Right over their Subjects And it is for this reason that the Apostle calleth not Princes the Ministers of the People but the Ministers of God because they hold their Power from none but God XV. From what hath been said may be drawn a Consequence most advantagious for successive Monarchies which is that although this Forme of Government might originally depend on the People through the Choice they made of a certain Family and the Order they appointed for the succession Nevertheless this Order being once settled it is not in the People's Power to change the same Because the Authority of making such Constitutions doth not reside any longer in the People who have deprived themselves thereof and had good reason so to do there being nothing more profitable for them But it resideth now in the King to whom God communicateth his Power for the Government of the People Wherefore as in successive Monarchies the Kings can never die nor the People ever be without a King so for this cause can they never be in a Condition of Making any n●w Law towards the Changing the Order of the Succession nor have any just Authority for the same In regard that this Authority resideth always in the King being imparted to him by God according to that Constitution and Order whereunto the People did voluntarily subject themselves XVI And hence it is likewise clear that it can be never lawful for any One to rise or take Armes against his Soveraign and engage in a Civil War Since War cannot be made without Authority and that Soveraign too viz. such as hath a Power of Life and Death and may justify the several Slaughters of the War Now in a Monarchical State this Right over the Lives of Men appertaineth not to any but to the King alone and those who exercise the same by his Authority So that Rebels being destitute of this Right commit as many Homicides as they slay Men in a Civil War because they take away their Lives without a competent Authority and against the Order and Appointment of God It is in vain also that they alledge for their justification the Disorders of the State whereunto they pretend to bring a remedy in regard that no disorder can give Subjects a liberty to draw the Sword neither can they have any Authority to make use thereof but by his alone who hath received it from God XVII This Regal Power and Right of Governing People which belongeth essentially to God but is communicated by him to Men for the benefit and good of Men as we have already said doth indeed eminently reside in Kings but passeth also and extendeth it self to their Ministers and all those who are employed under them for the exercise of their Government preservation of Order in such manner as it compriseth all that Authority which actuateth and regulateth the whole State and is variously distributed according to the several Charges Ministries of the Realm and whosoever possesseth any Portion thereof is a Minister of God by reason of the part he holdeth of His Authority XVIII It may be said that there are in States certain Greatnesses which consist more in the rank of those who possess them then in any Authority Such is the quality of Princes of the Bloud which giveth them a Preheminence but includeth no Jurisdiction unless joyned to some Office or Charge But this Rank it self is a kind of Authority and proceedeth likewise from the Order of God Because Humane Affaires not being able to subsist without due Order and Regulation it was necessary that such Preheminences should be constituted and that Some should have Right of being Preferred before Others And this Preference hath been most justly accorded to the Princes of the Bloud and necessarily floweth from the nature and genius of successive Monarchies Because this Forme of Government consisting essentially in the Election of a certain Family the People chusing such as shall be of it for their Soveraigns according to the order of their Birth it is manifest that all those of that Family have right to the Regal Power and may hereafter happen to arrive thereat and therefore it is requisite that the People should be accustomed before hand to look on them with greater Respect then the rest for as much as otherwise when they should in effect obtain the Scepter Men would hardly be able to have those sentiments of Submission for them which ought to be had towards Kings XIX By these Principles may be resolved the Question touching That which rendreth Great Men worthy of Respect It is neither their Riches nor their Pleasure nor their Pomp but it is the part they have of the Soveraignty of God which ought to be Honoured in their Persons according to the measure which they possess thereof It is the Order wherein God hath placed them by the Disposition of his Providence In so much as this Submission having for its Object That which is truly worthy of Respect it ought not only to be exteriour and a bare Ceremony but must be likewise interiour that is must include the acknowledgment of a real Superiority and Greatness in Those who are honoured after this manner And it is for this Cause that the Apostle commandeth Christians to be subject to Powers not only for fear of punishment but also through a motive of Conscience Non solum propter Iram sed etiam propter Conscientiam XX. The Pomp and Splendour accompanying the State of Great Men is not that which causeth them to deserve Honour but it is nevertheless that which doth make them actually to be honoured by the greatest part of the world And because it is just that they should be honoured it is also fit that in order