it will proue to be if it set vs vpon any sinfull or vnwarranted meanes indeed no good intention but a bad For granted it must be that the Intention of any end doth virtually include the meanes as in a Syllogisme the Premises doe the Conclusion No more then can the choice of ill meanes proceed from a good intention than can a false Conclusion be inferred from true Premises and that is impossible From which ground it is that the a Greg. lib. 28. Moral cap. 13. Euseb. Emiss hom 26. and others Fathers and other Diuines doe oftentimes argue from the intention to the action and from the goodnesse of the one to the goodnesse of both to that purpose applying those speeches of our Sauiour in the twelfth and in the sixth of Matthew b Math. 12.33 Either make the tree good and his fruit good or else make the tree corrupt and his fruit corrupt And c Math. 6.22.23 if thine eye be single thy whole body shall be full of light but if thine eye be euill thy whole body shall be full of darknesse The light of the body is the eye of the worke the intention No maruell when the eye is euill if the whole body bee darke and when the intention is euill if the whole worke be naught That which deceiueth most men in iudging of good or bad intentions is that they take the end and the intention for one and the same thing betwixt which two there is a spacious difference For the end is the thing propter quid for which we work that whereat we aime in working and so hath rationem causae finalis but the intention is the cause à qua from which we worke that which setteth vs on working and so hath rationem causae efficientis Now betweene these two kindes of causes the finall and the efficient there is not only a great difference but euen a repugnancie in such sort as that it is impossible they should at any time cöincidere which some other kindes of causes may doe It is therefore an error to thinke that if the end bee good the intention of that end must needs be good for there may as well be d Sed videte ne fortè non sit verè oculus simplex qui falletur Bernard de praecept dispensat a bad intention of a good end as a bad desire of a good obiect Whatsoeuer the end be we intend it is certaine that intention cannot be good which putteth vs vpon the choice of euill meanes §. 24. The first Inference against the Church of Rome Me thinkes the Church of Rome should blush if her forehead dyed red with the blood of Gods Saints were capable of any tincture of shame at the discouery of her manifold impostures in counterfeiting of Reliques in coyning of Miracles in compiling of Legends in gelding of good Authors by expurgatory Indexes in iuggling with Magistrates by lewd Equiuocations c. Practices warrantable by no pretence Yet in their account but a Sancta Hypocrisis was Dominicus his word piae fraudes for so they terme them no lesse ridiculously than falsly for the one word contradicteth the other But what doe I speake of these but petty things in comparison of those her lowder impieties breaking couenants of truce and peace dissoluing of lawfull and dispensing for vnlawfull marriages assoyling Subiects from their Oaths and Allegiance plotting Treasons and practising Rebellions excommunicating and dethroning Kings arbitrary disposing of Kingdomes stabbing and murthering of Princes warranting vniust inuasions and blowing vp Parliament houses For all which and diuers other foule attempts their Catholique defence is the aduancement forsooth of the Catholique Cause Like his in the Poet b Horat. lib. 1. Epist. 1. Quocunque modo rem is their Resolution by right or wrong c Gaudeo siue per veritatem siue per occasionem Romanae Ecclesiae dignitatem extolli Ioseph Stephanus de Osc. ped in Epist. ad lect the State of the Papacie must be vpheld That is their vnum necessarium and if heauen fauour not rather than faile helpe must be had from hell to keepe Antichrist in his throne But let them passe and touch neerer home §. 25. The second Inference against a vulgar error There are God knoweth many Ignorants abroad in the world some of them so vnreasonable as to thinke they haue sufficiently non-plus't any reprouer if being admonished of something ill done they haue but returned this poore reply Is it not better to do so than to do worse But alasse what necessitie of doing either so or worse when Gods law bindeth thee from both a Iam. 2.10.11 He that said Doe not commit adultery said also Do not kill and he that said Doe not steale said also Doe not lie If then thou lie or kill or doe any other sinne though thou thinkest thereby to auoide stealth or adultery or some other sinne yet thou art become a transgressour of the Law and by offending in one point of it guilty of all It is but a poore choyce when a man is desperately resolued to cast himselfe away whether hee should rather hang or drowne or stab or pine himselfe to death there may be more horror more paine more lingring in one than another but they all come to one period and determine in the same point death is the issue of them all And it can be but a slender comfort for a man that will needes thrust himselfe into the mouth of hell by sinning wilfully that he is damned rather for lying than for stealing or whoring or killing or some greater crime Damnation is the wages of them all Murther can but hang a man and without fauour Petty-Larceny will hang a man too The greatest sinnes can but damne a man and without Gods mercie the smallest will damne a man too But what wil some reply In case two sinnes be propounded may I not doe the lesser to auoide the greater Otherwise must I not of necessitie doe the greater The answer is short and easie If two sinnes bee propounded doe neither Emalis minimum holdeth as you heard and yet not alwayes neither in euils of Paine But that is no Rule for euils of sinne Here the safer Rule is è malis nollum And the reason is sound from the Principle wee haue in hand If wee may not doe any euill to procure a positiue good certainely b Eâdem doctrinâ quâ horremus facere mala vt eueniant bona horrere debemus facere mala vt euitemus peiora Euitare enim peiora multò minus bonum est quà m euenire bonum Cajetan hic much lesse may wee doe one euill to auoide or preuent another But what if both cannot bee auoyded §. 26. The obiection from the seeming case of perplexitie remoued but that one must needes be done In such a straite may I not chuse the lesser To thee I say againe as before Chuse neither To the Case I
the mischiefe of it the Sinne in the Doer the Iniurie to the Sufferer the Mischiefe to the Common-wealth Euerie false report raised in iudgement besides that it is a lye and euerie lye is a sinne against the truth a Wisd. 1.11 slaying the soule of him that maketh it and b Apoc 22.15 excluding him from heauen and binding him ouer vnto c Apoc. 21.8 the second death it is also a pernicious lye and that is the worst sort of lyes and so a sinne both against Charitie and Iustice. Which who so committeth let him neuer looke to d Psal. 15.1.3 dwell in the Tabernacle of God or to rest vpon his holy Mountaine God hauing threatned Psal. 50. to take speciall knowledge of this sinne and though hee seeme for a time to dissemble it yet at last to reproue the bold offender to his face e Psal. 50.19 21. Thou fatest and spakest against thy brother yea and hast slandered thine owne mothers sonne These things hast thou done and I held my tongue and thou thoughtest wickedly that I was euen such a one as thy selfe but I will reproue thee and set before thee the things that thou hast done §. 14. 2. from the Wrong And as for the Iniurie done hereby to the grieued partie it is incomparable If a man haue his house broken or his purse taken from him by the high way or sustaine anie wrong or losse in his person goods or state otherwise by fraud or violence or casualtie he may possibly eyther by good fortune heare of his owne againe and recouer it or he may haue restitution and satisfaction made him by those that wronged him or by his good industry and prouidence he may liue to see that losse repaired and be in as good state as before But hee that hath his Name and Credite and Reputation causlesly called into question sustaineth a losse by so much greater than anie theft by how much a Pro. 21.1 a good name is better than great riches A man may out-weare other iniuries or out-liue them but a defamed person no acquittall from the Iudge no satisfaction from the Accuser no following endeuours in himselfe can so restore in integrum but that when the wound is healed hee shall yet carrie the markes and the scarres of it to his dying day §. 15. 3. from the mischiefes Great also are the mischiefes that hence redound to the Common-wealth When no innocencie can protect an honest quiet man but euerie busie base fellow that oweth him a spite shall be able to fetch him into the Courts draw him from the necessary charge of his family and duties of his calling to an vnnecessarie expence of money and time torture him with endlesse delayes and expose him to the pillage of euerie hungrie officer It is one of the grieuances God had against Ierusalem and as hee calleth them abhominations for which hee threatneth to iudge her Ezek. 22. Viri detractores inte a Ezek. 22.9 In thee are men that carrie tales to shedde bloud Beware then all you whose businesse or lot it is at this Assises or hereafter may be to be Plaintiffs §. 16. An exhortation to auoid the fault Accusers Informers or anie way Parties in anie Court of Iustice this or other Ciuill or Ecclesiasticall that you suffer not the guilt of this prohibition to cleaue vnto your consciences If you shall hereafter be raisers of false reports the words you haue heard this day shall make you inexcusable another You are by what hath beene presently spoken disabled euerlastingly from pleading anie Ignorance eyther Facti or Iuris as hauing been instructed both what it is and how great a fault it is to raise a false report Resolue therefore if you be free neuer to enter into anie action or suite wherein you cannot proceede with comfort nor come off without iniustice or if alreadie engaged to make as good speedie an end as you can of a bad matter and to desist from farther prosecution Let that golden rule commended by the wisest a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 apud Stob. serm 2. Idque per praeconem cum aliquem emendavet dici iubebat Quod tibi fieri non vis alteri ne feceris Quam sententiam vsqueadeo dilexit vt in Palatio in publicis operibus praescribi iuberet de Alex. severo Lamprid. in Alex. Heathens as a fundamentall Principle of morall and ciuill Iustice yea and proposed by our blessed Sauiour himselfe as a full abridgement of the b Matt. 7.12 Law and Prophets be euer in your eye and euer before your thoughts to measure out all your actions and accusations and proceedings thereby euen to doe so to other men and no otherwise than as you could be content or in right reason should be content they should doe to you and yours if their case were yours Could anie of you take it well at your neighbours hand should he seeke your life or liuelyhood by suggesting against you things which you neuer had so much as the thought to do or bring you into a pecke of troubles by wresting your wordes and actions wherein you meant nothing but well to a dangerous construction or follow the Law vpon you as if hee would not leaue you worth a groate for euerie pettie trespasse scarce worth halfe the money or fetch you ouer the hip vpon a branch of some blinde vncouth and pretermitted Statute He that should deale thus with you and yours I know what would be said and thought Griper Knaue Villaine Diuell incarnate all this much more would be too little for him Well I say no more but this Quod tibi fieri non vis c. Doe as you would be done too There is your generall Rule §. 17. and the Causes thereof But for more particular direction if any man desire it since in euery euill one good step to soundnesse is to haue discouered the right cause thereof I know not what better course to prescribe for the preuenting of this sinne of sycophancy and false accusation than for euery man carefully to avoyd the inducing causes thereof and the occasions of those causes There are God knoweth in this present wicked world to euery kinde of euill inducements but too too many To this of false accusation therefore it is not vnlikely but there may be more yet we may obserue that there are foure things which are the most ordinary and frequent causes thereof viz. Malice Obsequiousnesse Couerture and Couetousnesse The first is Malice §. 18. which are 1. Malice Which in some men if I may bee allowed to call them men being indeede rather Monsters is vniuersall They loue no body glad when they can doe any man any mischiefe in any matter neuer at so good quiet as when they are most vnquiet It seemeth Dauid met with some such men that were a Psal. 120.6.7 enemies to peace when hee spake to them of peace they
Conscience in the Iudge Right so if in many things Gods proceedings hold not proportion with those characters of Iustice and Equitie which our weake and carnall reason would expresse wee must thence inferre our owne ignorance not his iniustice And that so much the rather because those matters of Law are such as fall within the comprehension of ordinary reason whereas the wayes of God are farre remoued out of our sight and aduanced aboue our reach and besides an earthly Iudge is subiect to misprision mis-information partiality corruption and sundrie infirmities that may vitiate his proceedings whereas no such thing can possibly fall vpon the diuine Nature Dauid hath taught vs in the Psalme that c Psal. 36.6 the righteousnesse of God is as the great mountaines and his iudgements as the great deepe A great mountaine is eath to bee seene a man that will but open his eyes cannot ouerlooke it but who can see into the bottome of the Sea or finde out what is done in the depths thereof Whatsoeuer wee doe then let vs beware wee measure not d Esay 55.8.9 his wayes by our wayes nor his workes by our workes howsoeuer they seeme to swerue from the rules of our wayes and workes yet still e Psal. 145.17 the Lord is righteous in all his wayes and holy in all his workes Though we cannot fathom the deepes of his iudgements for f Ioh. 4.11 the Well is deepe and wee haue not wherewithall to draw yet let the assurance of the righteousnesse of all his proceedings stand firme and manifest as the mountaines which can neither be remoued nor hid but stand fast rooted for euermore This wee must rest vpon as a certaine Truth howsoeuer whomsoeuer whensoeuer God punisheth he is neuer vniust The second Certainty §. 4. The second Certainty concerning temporall To speake of Punishments properly no temporall euill is simply and de toto genere a punishment By temporall euills I vnderstand all the penall euils of this life that doe or may befall vs from our bodily conception to our bodily deaths inclusivè hunger cold nakednesse sicknesses infirmities discontents reproaches pouerty imprisonments losses crosses distresses death and the rest in a word all that a Eccles. 1.13 sore trauell which God hath giuen to the sonnes of man to be exercised therewith and that b Sirac 40.1 heauy yoke which is vpon the sonnes of Adam from the day that they goe out of their mothers wombe till the day that they returne to the mother of all things I say none of all these are properly and de toto genere to bee accounted punishments For to make a thing simply and properly and formally a Punishment there are required these three conditions 1. that it bee painefull and grieuous to suffer 2. that it be inflicted for some fault 3. that it bee inuoluntary and against the sufferers will That which hath but the first of these three conditions may be called after a sort and truely too Malum Poenae a kinde of Punishment But 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and properly that Euill only is a Punishment wherein the whole three conditions concurre Now these temporall Euills though they haue the two first conditions all of them being grieuous to suffer all of them being inflicted for sinne yet in the third condition they faile because they are not inuoluntary simply and perpetually and de suo genere inuoluntary to omit also a kinde of failing in the second condition not but that they are euer inflicted for some sinne deseruing them but for that there are withall other ends and reasons for which they are inflicted and wherunto they are intended besides and aboue the punishment of the offence It may not bee gainesaid indeed but these things are inuoluntary sometimes in the particular and especially to some men euen the least of them but simply and vniuersally such they are not since by other-some men the greatest of them are willingly and cheerefully not only suffered but desired Not but that they are grieuous to the best It must needes bee some griefe as to the Merchant to see his rich lading cast ouer-board and to the Patient to haue an old festered sore searched and sindged so to the Christian to haue Gods correcting hand lye heauy vpon him in some temporall affliction The Apostle telleth vs plainely c Heb. 12.11 No affliction for the present is ioyous but grieuous But inuoluntary it is no more in him than those other things are in them As therefore the Merchant though it pittie his heart to see so much wealth irrecouerably lost yet getteth the best helpe and vseth the best speede he can to empty the vessell of them for the sauing of his life and as the Patient though d est planè quasi saeuitia medicina de scalpâ—llâ— Non tamen secari ideirco malum quia dolores vtiles affert vlulans ille gemens mugiens inter manus medici postmodum easdem mercede cumulabit Tertullian in Scorp cap. 5. hee smart when the wound is dressed yet thanketh and seeth the Surgion for his paynes in hope of future ease so the Christian though these temporall euills somewhat trouble him yet he is willing to them and he is cheerefull vnder them and he acknowledgeth Gods goodnesse in them and returneth him thankes for them because hee knoweth they are sent for his future good and that they will at the last e Heb 12.11 yeeld them the peaceable fruite of righteousnesse when they shall haue beene sufficiently exercised therby See f Act. 5.41 Peter and Iohn reioycing when they suffered for the name of Iesus and S t Paul so farre from fearing that g Phil. 1.23 hee longed after his disolution and the blessed Martyrs running to a faggot as to a feast Verily Gods children see great good in these things which others account euills and therefore they take them not as bare punishments sent to afflict them but as glorious tryalls to exercise them as gracious corrections to humble them as precious receipts to purge and recouer and restore and strengthen them So that it is not any of the temporall evills of this life §. 5. and Eternall punishments but much rather the euerlasting paines of hell wherein the just reward and punishment of sinne properly and especially consisteth a Rom. 6.23 The wages of sinne is Death the proper wages of sinne eternall death For so the Antithesis in that place giueth it to be vnderstood viz. of such a death as is opposed to Eternall life and that is Eternall Death The wages of sinne is death but the gift of God is Eternall life Rom. 6. By the distribution of those Eternall punishments then wee are rather to judge of Gods righteousnesse in recompencing sinners than by the dispensation of these temporall euills It was a stumbling blocke to the b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Marmoreo tumulo Licinus jacet at Cato paruo Pompeius nullo
Credimus esse Deos Vario See Plat. de leg Cic. 3. de Nat. deor Senec. de prouid Aug. 3. de lib. arb 2. Menand apud Stob. Serm. 104. heathen to see good men oppressed and vice prosper it made them doubt some whether there were a God or no others nothing better whether a prouidence or no. But what maruell if they stumbled who had no right knowledge either of God or of his prouidence when Iob and Dauid and other the deare children of God haue beene much puzzled with it Dauid confesseth in Psal. 73. that c Psal. 73.23 his feete had welnigh slipped when hee saw the prosperity of the wicked and certainty downe he had beene had hee not happily stepped d Ibid. 17. into the Sanctuary of God and there vnderstood the end of these men Temporall euills though they be sometimes punishments of sinne yet they are not euer sent as punishments because sometimes they haue other ends and vses and are ordinabilia in melius and secondly they are neuer the onely punishments of sinne because there are greater and more lasting punishments reserued for sinners after this life of which there is no other vse or end but to punish since they are not ordinabilie in melius If we will make these temporall euills the measure whereby to judge of the Iustice of God wee cannot secure our selues from erring dangerously Gods purposes in the dispensation of these vnto particular men being vnsearchable But those euerlasting punishments are they wherein Gods Iustice shall be manifested to euery eye in due time at that last day which is therefore called by S t Paul Rom. 2. e Rom 2.5 the day of wrath and of the reuelation of the righteous iudgment of God Implying that howsoeuer God is just in all his iudgements and acts of prouidence euen vpon earth yet the Counsells and Purposes of God in these things are often secret and past our finding out but at the last great day when f Ibid. 6. he shall render to euery man according to his workes his euerlasting recompence then his vengeance shall manifest his wrath and the righteousnesse of his iudgement shall be reuealed to euery eye in the condigne punishment of vnreconciled sinners That is the second Certainety Temporall euills are not alwayes nor simply nor properly the punishments for sinne If any man shall be yet vnsatisfied §. 6. the third certainety that all Euills of Paine and desire to haue Gods Iustice somewhat farther cleared euen in the disposing of these temporall things although it be neither safe nor possible for vs to search farre into particulars yet some generall satisfaction we may haue from a third Certainety and that is this Euery euill of Paine whatsoeuer it be or howsoeuer considered which is brought vpon any man is brought vpon him euermore for sinne yea and that also for his owne personall sinne Euery branch of this assertion would be well marked I say first Euery Euill of Paine whatsoeuer it be whether naturall defects and infirmities in soule or body or outward afflictions in goods friends or good name whether inward distresses of an afflicted or terrours of an affrighted conscience whether temporall or eternall Death whether euills of this life or after it or whatsoeuer other euill it be that is any way greiuous to any man euery such euill is for sinne §. 7. â—owsoeuer considered I Say secondly euery euill of paine howsoeuer considered whether formally and sub ratione poenae as the proper effect of Gods vengeance and wrath against sinne or as a fatherly correction and chasticement to nurture vs for some past sinne or as a medicinall preseruatiue to strengthen vs against some future sinne or as a clogging chaine to keepe vnder and disable vs from some outward worke of sinne or as a fit matter and obiect whereon to exercise our Christian graces of faith charity patience humility and the rest or as an occasion giuen and taken by Almighty God for the greater manifestation of the glory of his Wisedome and Power and Goodnesse in the remoueal of it or as an act of Exemplary iustice for the admonition and terrour of others or for whatsoeuer other end purpose or respect it be inflicted §. 8. are for the siâ—ne I say thirdly Euery such euill of paine is brought vpon vs for sinne There may be other ends there may be other occasions there may be other vses of such Euills but still the originall Cause of them all is sinne a Psal. 39.11 When thou with rebukes dost chasten man for sinne It was not for any b Ioh. 9.2.3 extraordinary notorious sinnes either of the blinde man himselfe or of his parents aboue other men that he was borne blinde Our Sauiour Christ acquitteth them of that Ioh. 9. in answer to his Disciples who were but too forward as God knoweth most men are to iudge the worst Our Sauiours answer there neuer intended other but that still the true cause deseruing that blindenesse was his and his parents sinne but his purpose was to instruct his Disciples that that infirmitie was not laid vpon him rather than vpon another man meerely for that reason because he or his parents had deserued it more than other men but for some farther ends which God had in it in his secret and euerlasting purpose and namely this among the rest that the workes of God might be manifest in him and the Godhead of the sonne made glorious in his miraculous cure As in Nature the intention of the c see Arist. 2. Phys. End doth not ouerthrow but rather suppose the necessity of the Matter so is it in the workes of God and the dispensations of his wonderfull prouidence It is from Gods Mercy ordering them to those Ends he hath purposed that his punishments are good but it is withall from our sinnes deseruing them as the Cause that they are iust euen as the raine that falleth vpon the earth whether it moisten it kindly and make it fruitfull or whether it choake and slocken and drowne it yet still had its beginning from the vapours which the earth it selfe sent vp All those Euills which fall so daily and thicke vpon vs from heauen whether to warne vs or to plague vs are but arrowes which our selues first shot vp against heauen and now drop downe againe with doubled force vpon our heads Omnis poena propter culpam all Euills of paine are for the euills of sinne §. 9. of the sufferer I say fourthly All such Euils are for our owne sins The Scriptures are plaine a 1 Pet. 1.17 God iudgeth euery man according to his own workes b Gal. 6.5 Euery man shall beare his owne burden c. God hath enioyned it as a Law for Magistrates wherein they haue also his example to lead them that c Deut. 24.16 not the fathers for the children nor the children for the fathers but euery man should be put to death for his own
sin Deut. 24 If Israel take vp a Prouerbe of their owne heads d Ezek 18.2 c. Ier. 31.29 The fathers haue eaten sowre grapes and the childrens teeth are set on edge they doe it without cause and they are checked for it The soule that sinneth it shall dye and if any man eate sowre grapes his owne teeth and not anothers for him shall bee set on edge thereby For indeed how can it bee otherwise or who can reasonably thinke that our most gracious God who is so ready to take from vs the guilt of our owne should yet lay vpon vs the guilt of other mens sinnes The only exception to be made in this kinde is that alone satisfactory punishment of our blessed Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ not at all for his owne sinnes farre be the impietie from vs so to imagine for e 1. Pet. 2.22 hee did no sinne neither was there any guile found in his mouth but for ours He f Psal. 69.4 Non rapui exsolvebam non peccaui poenas dabam Aug. ibi paied that which he neuer tooke it was g Esay 53.5 for our transgressions that he was wounded and the chasticement of our peace was laid vpon him Yet euen those meritorious sufferings of his may be said in a qualified sense to haue been for his own sinnes although in my iudgement it bee farre better to abstaine from such like speeches as are of ill and suspicious sound though they may bee in some sort defended But how for his owne sins His owne by Commission By no meanes God forbid any man should teach any man should conceiue so the least thought of this were blasphemy but his owne by Imputation Not that hee had sinned and so deserued punishment but that he had h delictorum susceptor non commissor Aug. in Psal. â—8 taken vpon him our sinnes which deserued that punishment As he that vndertaketh for another mans debt maketh it his owne and standeth chargeable with it as if it were his owne personall debt so Christ becomming surety for our sinnes made them i delicta nostra sua delicta secit vt iustitiam suam nostram iustitiam faceret Aug. exp 2. in Psal. 21. his owne and so was punishable for them as if they had beene his owne personall sins k 1. Pet. 2.24 who his owne selfe bare our sinnes in his owne body vpon the tree 1. Pet. 2. That hee was punished for vs who himselfe deserued no punishment it was because l 2. Cor. 5.21 he was made sinne for vs who himself knew no sinne So that I say in some sense the assertion may bee defended vniuersally and without exception but yet I desire rather it might bee thus Christs onely excepted all the Paines and Euills of men are brought vpon them for their owne sinnes These three points then are certaine and it is needfull they should bee well vnderstood and remembred §. 10. The fathers sinnes punished in their children because nothing can be obiected against Gods Iustice in the punishing of sinne which may not bee easily remoued if wee haue recourse to some one or other of these three Certainties and rightly apply them All the three doubts proposed in the beginning haue one and the same resolution answer one and answer all Ahab here sinneth by Oppression and yet the euill must light though not all of it for some part of it fell and was performed vpon Ahab himselfe yet the main of it vpon his sonne Iehoram I will not bring the Euill in his daies but in his sonnes daies will I bring the Euill vpon his house It is not Iehorams case alone it is a thing that often hath and daily doth befall many others In Gen. 9. when Noahs vngracious sonne Ham had discouered his Fathers nakednesse the old man no doubt by Gods speciall inspiration laieth the curse not vpon Ham himselfe but vpon his sonne Canaan a Gen. 9.25 Cursed bee Canaan c. And God ratified the curse by rooting out the posteritie of Canaan first out of the pleasant Land wherein they were seated and then afterwards from the face of the whole earth Ieroboams b 3. King 15.19.30 Idolatrie cut off his posterity from the Kingdome and the c 1. Sam. 2.33 35. wickednesse of Ely his sonnes theirs from the Priesthood of Israel Gehasi with the bribe he took purchased a d 4. King 5.27 leprosie in fee-simple to him and his heires for euer The Iewes for stoning the Prophets of God but most of all for crucifying the Sonne of God brought bloud-guiltinesse not onely vpon themselues but vpon their children also e Mat. 27.25 His bloud be vpon vs and vpon our children The wrath of God therefore comming vpon them f 1. Thes. 2.16 to the vtmost and the curse of God abiding vpon their posterity euen vnto this day wherin they still remaine and God knoweth how long they shall a base and despised people scattered almost euery where and euery where hated Instances might bee endlesse both in priuate persons and families and in whole Kingdomes and Countries But it is a needlesse labour to multiply instances in so confessed a point especially God Almighty hauing thus farre declared himselfe and his pleasure herein in the second commandement of the Law that hee will not spare in his g Exod. 20.5 iealousie sometimes to visit the sinnes of fathers vpon the children vnto the third and fourth generation There is no question then de facto but so it is § 11. and how this may stand with the Iustice of God the sinnes of the fathers are visited vpon the children but de jure with what right and equity it is so it is as S. Chrysostome speaketh a Chrysost. in Gen hom 28. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a question famous and much debated The considerations which I finde giuen-in for the resolution of this question b Augustin qu. 42. in Deuter Theophylact in Ioh. 9. Peter 14. in Gen disp 4. Aquin. 1.2 qu. 87.8 Sasb quodlib 3. by those that haue purposely handled it are very many But multitude breedeth confusion and therefore I purpose no more but two only vnto which so many of the rest as are materiall may bee reduced and those two grounded vpon the certainties already declared The former concerneth the Nature of those Punishments which are inflicted vpon the children for the fathers sinnes the later the condition of those children vpon whom such punishments are inflicted As to the first The punishments which God bringeth vsually vpon the children for the fathers sinnes are only temporall and outward punishments §. 12. Consid. 1. such punishments are only temporall not spirituall Some haue beene plagued with infectious diseases as a 4 King 5.27 Gehazies posterity and b 2 Sam. 3.29 Ioabs also if that curse which Dauid pronounced against him tooke effect as it is like it did Some haue come to vntimely and vncomfortable