Selected quad for the lemma: duty_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
duty_n	child_n	parent_n	precept_n	1,086	5	9.3339	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A76312	The grounds and foundation of natural religion, discover'd, in the principal branches of it in opposition to the prevailing notions of the modern scepticks and latitudinarians. With an introduction concerning the necessity of revealed religion. By Tho. Beconsall, B.D. and fellow of Brasenose Colledge, in Oxford.	Becconsall, Thomas, d. 1709.	1698 (1698)	Wing B1657aA; ESTC R223530	119,538	326

sufficient to secure the Ends of Government and consequently a Coercive Power to Punish any from within or without that invade the Peace of it But 3dly To support his own Hypothesis and avoid the Political Authority of the Paternal Power he affirms That tho' the Duties of Honour and Respect are Eternal yet the commanding Power is Temporary and ceases with Nonage or Minority See § 64 67 69 c. That when this Power expires Children are in as absolute a State of Freedom as the Father and that too not only in respect to the Father's Authority but of the Civil Government This is the Substance of several Sections and it 's very visible that his chiefest Arguments are raised upon Paternal Power as 't is exercis'd under the established Governments of the World which is a Fallacy already detected But to make some Returns according to Method and Order The Duty of Children I 'm persuaded in the full Extent of it is of eternal Obligation where 't is not superseeded by a higher Law that of Society upon which account alone as is already observed part of it by the Reason and Necessity of Things devolves upon the Supreme Power Indeed if what has been asserted carries Evidence and Truth in it the Duty of Children must be Eternal It has been abundantly proved That the Ground or Foundation of Filial Duty and Obedience is Eternal viz. That of Generation and an unchangeable Affection resulting from it And if the Ground of Obligation is eternal the Duty must be so too But to proceed the Word of God seems express in this Matter for we are not only enjoyned to Honour but Obey our Parents Now it 's well known Obedience supposes a decretory Power or commanding Authority and the Precept not being given under any Limitations that make it Temporary I cannot discern by what Authority this Gentleman pronounces it Temporary Indeed I cannot imagine how any one that receives the Holy Scriptures for the Word of God can safely pronounce the Duty of Filial Obedience Temporary for we there find it established and enforced upon such ample Provisions that we must believe God designed to perpetuate the Obligations of it The time would fail me to collect all the Passages that manifestly favour this Notion I shall therefore touch on a few that are very remarkable And first the Power of Blessing and Cursing exercised by the Patriarchs is a considerable Evidence of the Perpetuity of the Duty It 's well known the Patriarchs constantly exercised this Power and their Descendents as conscienciously acknowledged it It was a Sense of this Power that made Jacob Expostulate before he embraced his Mother's Expedient My Father peradvanture will feel me and I shall be to him as a Deceiver and I shall bring a Curse upon me and not a Blessing Gen. 27. v. 12. It 's certain the Patriarchs challenged an indisputable Right to exercise this Power for tho' Jacob had obtained the Blessing by an ungenerous Artifice or Stratagem yet Isaac thought himself obliged to confirm it I have blessed him yea and he shall be blessed v. 33. A most convincing Argument truly that this Right of Blessing and Cursing was founded in a Divine Original and certainly there needs nothing more to demonstrate the Divine Will and Pleasure than the inseparable Effects and Consequences of his Power since we find that the Blessings or Curses of Parents as infallibly pursued their Children as they were dispensed Thus the Blessing of Isaac attended Jacob and the Curses of Noah pursued his Son Canaan Cursed be Canaan a Servant of Servants shall he be unto his Brethren Gen. 9. v. 25. Now certainly a Provision of such special Powers can carry no less a Design in it than the perpetuating of a Filial Reverence and Duty If God had not design'd to establish an Immortal Power and Authority in the Parent why should he confer such distinguishing Marks of Sovereignty and Dominion Can we imagin that such a tremendous Power was exerted purely to secure an Obedience during Minority and a ceremonious Reverence afterwards exclusive of a commanding Authority No certainly this is a Conjecture that runs counter to all the Accounts of Time for the Obedience of Children in the first Ages of the World was as remarkable as the Parents Commands after a State of Maturity and indeed it could proceed from nothing less than a just Sense of an indeleble Character and Authority as well as Power to enforce it But further the Duty and Obedience of Children is so far from being any wise Temporary that God has given his own express Promises to perpetuate the Obligation St. Paul has long since observ'd that Children obey your Parents is the first Commandment with Promise Ephes 6.1 2. And certainly where the Sanction is peculiar or extraordinary the Obligation of the Command must bear a proportion to it and where God has discover'd himself so eminently solicitous to enforce the Duty by special Rewards as well as Punishments we may conclude he intended to perpetuate it Thus far the Suffrage of Scripture seems clear and indisputable But if all this will not convince I shall refer this Author to the Story of Jonadab the Son of Rechab out of the very Mouth of the Prophet The Command or Prohibition was against drinking of Wine as well as building of Houses which seems to be an Abridgment of the Natural Liberties of Mankind and consequently if the Commanding Power of Parents ceases with Nonage it may very well do so in Cases of this Nature But instead of this we find the Obligation asserted by a Complication of Arguments Jonadab advances the Command by virtue of a Parental Power and Authority Ye shall drink no Wine neither ye nor your Sons for ever that ye may live many Days where ye be Strangers Jer. 35. v. 6 7. The very Commandment with Promise And the Rechabites were possessed with as deep a Sense of its Obligation for when the Prophet by the Command of God tryed their Fidelity the only Argument of their Non-compliance was the Command of their Father Jonadab and the Prospect of Inheriting the Blessing annexed to the Command Thus have we obeyed the Voice of Jonadab our Father and done all that Jonadab our Father commanded us v. 8 9. But this is not all for the Obligation of the Command is not only recognised by Men even those that were immediately concerned in it but by God himself for he does not only annex the Promise of the Command to the Observance of it Because ye have obeyed the Commandment of Jonadab your Father and kept all his Precepts Therefore Jonadab the Son of Rechab shall not want a Man to stand before me for ever v. 18 19. But expresly represents that eternal Obedience that is due to his Commands by it for this was God's Design in obliging the Prophet to try the Rechabites Constancy and Perseverance by setting Cups and Pots full of Wine before them and commanding them to Drink and

therefore the Inference is Recorded Go and tell the Men of Judah and the Inhabitants of Jerusalem Will ye not receive Instruction to hearken to my Words The Words of Jonadab the Son of Rechab that he commanded his Sons are performed for unto this Day they drink no Wine but obey their Father's Commandment Notwithstanding I have spoken unto you rising up early and speaking but ye hearkned not unto me v. 13 14. And now how can any Man dispute the Perpetuity of a Commanding Paternal Power Has not God himself drawn the Parallel If his Commanding Power is not Temporary neither is that of the Parent The Nature of the Command might have engaged a powerful Advocate against it the Freedoms and Immunities of a reasonable Being but yet the Conscience of so just a Superior bearing so awful a Character as that of a Father commands an immediate Submission Indeed this single Instance represents it as a Doctrine universally received and in those Ages undisputed and therefore I presume it will be a Task of some difficulty for this Author to produce a Dispensation much more a Repeal under the Gospel OEconomy But I proceed to consider the Arguments already advanced to support the Notion and I find the main and principal Argument is formed from the Nature and Reason of Paternal Authority for the Author expresly resolves the commanding Power into a help to the weakness and imperfections of their Nonage a Discipline necessary to their Education but when they are once arrived to the Enfranchisement of the Years of Discretion the Father's Empire then ceases Sect. 65. But let us consider this in the Instance already given that of our first Parent I would demand of this Gentleman whether after Years of Discretion a Discipline of Civil Commands and Laws were not absolutely necessary for the Conduct of our Lives and Actions yet as necessary as a commanding Discipline to a Child's Education If therefore Civil Government from the beginning was necessary even for Adult Persons this Discipline must be so too and then let Reason determine whether this commanding Authoritative Power or this Discipline of giving Laws and Commands was not Appropriate to Adam in whom God had invested all deligated Power and Authority and that too under the higest marks of Sovereignty and Dominion I 'm perswaded an unbiassed Person would pronounce such a Title unquestionable when there is no express Law that declares the contrary Again he tells us The Power which Parents have over their Children arises from that Duty which is incumbent on them to take care of their Off-spring during the imperfect State of Childhood See Sect. 58. But I am perswaded I have with good Evidence fixed it on a distinct Foundation Parental Duty indeed is a substantial Reason that God should Establish a Right of Dominion but it is no Argument that he has Established it on this Foundation no I have proved the contrary But admit we that a Parental Right of Dominion was founded in the Duties of a Parent yet if Parental Duty be perpetual a Parental Right of Dominion must be so too Indeed to give colour to this uncouth Notion he Suggests that that part of Parental Duty which consists in Education ceases when the business of Education is over he means when Nonage ceases Sect. 69. But certainly if Instruction or Commands are at any time necessary and not superseded by a higher Power it 's the Indispensible Duty of the Father to enjoyn them and the Duty of Children to embrace them I presume Christianity will instruct every believing Father that a Child's Age or Abilities can never exempt him from giving such Counsels and Precepts if he stands in need of them as may induce him to live in the Nurture and Admonition of the Lord. Upon the whole then the Commands of private Parents after Nonage are for the most part superseded by the ample provisions of the Civil Power in all Regular Governments and in like manner the power of Punishments is justly taken away upon that Interest or Property which the Government challenges in all its Members but yet if any thing is omitted in the Civil Power necessary to the Conduct of the Child's Life I am perswaded the Parent is not only to administer Counsel but lay his Commands and the Child is indispensibly obliged to yield a Consciencious Obedience upon a just Deference to the Parents's Character and Authority This is to obey as unto God and Christ and not unto Men. This Author freely confesses that the Duty of Piety expressed not only in Acts of Reverence and Respect but in supporting and defending the Persons of our Parents is perpetual and I am perswaded there can be no Just Reason assigned why a Reverential Obedience to just and reasonable Commands is not perpetual too it is indeed replyed that the former Results from the Laws of Gratitude founded in Benefit so inexpressible that the one can never be Cancelled nor the other Compensated but I hope it is proved they are founded in something besides that serves to perpetuate an Obligation and since a commanding Power has the same Authority and Foundation I cannot conceive why an Obedience to the Commands of Parents should not be perpetual where God seems to have made such Commands necessary to the Conduct of Humane Life Thus far here 's no Foundation given for the Suggestion this Author has made in extending the Gospel Precept to a commanding Power as if by virtue of it a Parent should pretend to treat an Adult Son still as a Boy Sect. 68. For the necessity of such commands is superseded by the circumstances of Age and Personal Abilities and tho it is reasonable to conclude that a Commanding Power remains yet it ought at all times to be exercised according to the necessity and reason of things In a word the principal Duties of Parents and Children appear from the nature of the things to be in their Original Institution perpetual and therefore before this Author had pronounced them Temporary he should have considered whether it was not to make the Commandments of God of none effect to support his vain and groundless Traditions such as a State of Freedom Equality and original Contract § 4. To consider the State of Freedom which is affirmed to be as absolute as that of the Father The only Reason and Argument assigned for this Freedom is in his own Language this The Freedom then of Man and liberty of Acting according to his own Will is grounded on his having Reason which is able to instruct him in that Law he is to govern himself by and make him know how far he is left to the freedom of his own Will Sect. 63. Now I am content to put the Notion on this issue with a small matter added to it If Man at a certain period is endued with a sufficiency of Reason to instruct him in that Law he is to govern himself by and make him know how far he is left to

Affection I 'm sure the primitive Impotence in which Providence has decreed Mankind to be brought forth loudly instructs us we should exert it in the most affectionate Methods of Preservation In a word A parental Care and Affection is so clearly pointed out as a Duty even by the Dictates of Natural Reason that the perpetual Reproaches which the Care and Conduct of senseless Brutes throw upon the Neglect of it are one would think Punishment or Motive sufficient to enforce the Observance of it And therefore where such natural Bowels of Compassion are wanting it 's an infallible Indication that the Mind is desperately sunk in Barbarity And now let the Latitudinarian endeavour to overturn this Branch of a Law of Nature by trumping up some unnatural Cruelties among the Greeks yet I think it rests upon an unshaken Foundation and therefore before he Rejects it upon such a slender Suggestion let him consider that there are some few Monsters among Brutes that instead of Preserving destroy their own Off-spring And as there are some among this Order so God may to make known the Power of his Name suffer some Monsters among Men without injuring a Law that is established with so much Evidence and Solemnity § 2. I proceed in the second place to consider the Foundation and Original of filial Reverence and Duty And first I think a parental Care and Tenderness in fencing us from Cold and Nakedness and giving us a liberal Education when without the first we must have perished in our own Impotence is sufficient if once applied to the Mind and attended to to dictate the highest Tokens of Reverence if not Duty A sense of such inestimable Benefits upon the first Convictions of Reason are sufficient to induce an Obligation to make suitable Returns to 'em and I think nothing less than that Honour and Reverence that expresses itself in a conscientious Submission to all just and equitable Commands I mean such as pass for the Consequences of Laws of Nature or are fairly consistent with ' em But this seems to carry us no further than the Kindness of a signal Benefactor indispensably obliges us to whereas a Parent implies something more considerable than the Notion of a Benefactor can suggest and therefore Reason seems to dictate that God hath raised a more strict and absolute Foundation of Obedience and certainly the Obedience which is paid towards a Parent is naturally acted with such a reverential Awe and Deference as argues a kind of Authority and Dominion and consequently contains something more in it than a Sense of Benefits And truly our great Creator hath sufficiently discovered the thing since he seems to have raised an Obedience from the same Title upon which his Right of Obedience is established a creating as well as preserving Power For since he has decreed to make Parents the great Instruments of our Production and Existence as well as Preservation we must conclude that he intended to establish an Obedience upon it It 's abundantly concluded that as God is by the Powers of Natural Reason represented to us to be the great Fountain of our Being and Preservation a Sense of Duty and Obedience as well as a Right of Obedience as powerfully results from it as Light from the Sun And since Parents by a Divine Decree are honoured with the same Characters in as eminent a manner as is consistent with the Nature of a Creature or Substitute and are Created with strong and invincible Propensions as well as Laws and Obligations to answer the Intentions of them Reason will oblige us to conclude that God has thereby induced Obligations of a subordinate Obedience that is in all those Cases wherein he has not expresly interposed by a Law of Nature or Revelation Indeed this seems to be an Expedient to establish and confirm that supreme Right of Obedience which his creative preserving Power challenges over us and in a word his appointing our Production in a strict Imitation of his Methods of Creation is an Argument of his Intentions to establish an unquestionable Right of Dominion in both Cases Since the same Motives instruct us to acknowledge a supereminent Right of Dominion in our Common Parent and a subordinate one in our Natural § 3. But further it 's already concluded That the Offices of Parental Duty are enforced upon the strongest Propensions as well as Obligations even an invincible Concern for our own Flesh and Blood and where the Concern is reciprocal we cannot imagine but it serves to establish a Right of Duty and Obedience as well as enforce it But now as the great Creator of the World thought it necessary to represent and enforce the Duty of Parents by certain indeleble Propensions so Reason will instruct us that he has constituted Propensions as powerful in Children upon which he intended to establish a Sense of Duty as well as enforce an Obedience Indeed where the Duties are equally binding of the same moment and importance and an equal Intention to maintain and enforce 'em we cannot imagine but our wise Law-giver would make the same Provisions to see his Designs and Intentions answered And truly the Duties of both turn upon the same Foundation a passionate Affection to our own Flesh and Blood For the Concern we entertain for it in ourselves will naturally convey itself to those that are but one remove from us This is so apparent that it 's justly to be esteemed a main Foundation of the common Bowels of Humanity and those Social Offices we exercise as Men towards one another But to return It 's visible the Alliance is equal on both hands and consequently we may justly presume that the Propensions of Duty and Reverence are as strong on the Child's part that receives a Being and Subsistence as the Propensions of Care and Compassion on the Parents that ministers both The Maxim holds this way no one as yet ever hated his own Flesh From all this it 's evident since God has implanted such deep and powerful Propensions we must conclude that the bare Proposal of a Parent to the Mind so as to apprehend the true force and purport of the Term will naturally command these Propensions into the highest Instances of Duty and Obedience as well as Awe and Reverence This is a Duty so legible in the Frame and Constitution of our Beings that Nature by the help of a single Conclusion at the same time dictates and enforces it And I 'm perswaded were not the Frame of the Soul in this as well as other Cases miserably perverted by vitious Habits or Dispositions contracted thro' Education or Example it 's impossible but she must rest under a perpetual Sense and Apprehension of it And now let some Men Harangue upon the Act of Generation as liberally and contemptibly as they please we have all the Reason in the World to believe that God has made it one Ground of an eternal and indispensable Duty I 'm sure he that subscribes to the

the Freedom of his own Will and had Ingenuity and Integrity enough to prosecute it then I will grant that he may challenge a Freedom or Liberty of acting according to his own Will without being accountable to any one till his own voluntary Compact had made him so But then such a sufficiency as this must supersede the necessity of all Civil Government or positive Laws Certainly then if Man after the utmost pretences to Reason has not a sufficiency of Reason at all times to instruct himself in the Line of Duty no more than Integrity to adjudge his own Actions conformable to the Line of Duty we may with very good Reason conclude that Maturity of Reason does not cancel the Bonds of Filial Obedience or to have respect to the instance before us admit the Children of Adam to an equal State of Liberty with himself that is in his own Language To challenge an Executive Power in the Exercise of Laws of Nature as much as their Father as well as Prescribe to their own Will and regulate their Actions These are positions that can no way be reconciled with the necessity of civil Government under the most improv'd State of Reason and that Dominion which by the Laws of the Creation God had invested him with for God having made Government necessary for the Support of Grown Men and actually Invested Adam with a Right of Dominion Reason must determine without the breach of Humane Freedom that the Dominion of Adam was Originally designed to extend as far as was necessary to the Regulation and Conduct of Humane Actions as well by Laws as Counsel Indeed the original Mistake is lodged in the Notion of Civil Government compared with Humane Freedom as if Humane Freedom or Natural Liberty were in the very Notion of it inconsistent with Government or as if it were a Breach of Natural Liberty to be placed under the Conduct of that without which Man with all his Reason cannot Subsist much less be Happy Now it is visible tho' Government implies a Power of imposing and enforceing Laws yet the Original Design of it was the Happiness of Mankind in the Regulation of their Lives and Actions according to the Laws of God whether Natural or Revealed It is true the Institution of such a Power may imply an absolute Trust and whether this Trust is forfeited and accountable when the Original Ends of Government are Violated is another Question But it is Indisputable these are the only true ends of Government And I think no one can affirm that the direct Methods to Happiness are Breaches of Humane Freedom yea rather they are the only Expedients to preserve it and therefore I can see no Rights in the Exercise of Humane Reason or Freedom founded on it to Exempt the Children of Adam from that Civil Jurisdiction that Results from his Paternal Power And now I presume there is enough offered to Reject the pretence of an unlimitted Freedom I have enlarged more plentifully upon it because it is the Foundation of that State of Equality upon which Compact is made the first Principle of Civil Government for this reason I shall offer a few Arguments more to represent the Absurdity of it § 5. And first if Children coming to the exercise of Reason are not only discharged from their Paternal Allegiance but acquire a State of Freedom equal to their Father as this Position directs Sect. 66. Then the Children of Adam had an unquestionable Right to erect a Government over his Head or at least upon Non-compliance to Exclude him from the Benefits of it and in a word to drive him forth from his own Territories since Civil Governments always challenge a Power to Banish those that refuse to pay Allegiance to them That the Children and Descendants of Adam could act thus is evident for as they were in a State of Freedom and Equality they could enter into a Compact at Pleasure and consequently Establish a Government upon a Majority against their Fathers It 's highly Probable the Children of our First Parent were acted by so deep a sense of Duty as would prevent them from the Executing their pretended Privilege but I am perswaded were a Set of Men under the Influence of this Author's Principles placed in a State of Nature under their Natural Father the Resentments which the Discipline of their Education might give them would easily engage them to bandy together at such a rate as to Erect a Government upon his Head and if they did not call the Old Gentleman to an account for Male-Administration yet upon Non-compliance they might think themselves obliged to withdraw those small remains of Respect which this Gentleman has assigned him However it is manifest this Position will Vindicate the Lawfulness of the Project and therefore it can be no Crime to apply it to the Father of Mankind and his immediate Descendants But now what can be more Unnatural than this is Can Man pretend the least Reverence or Respect upon such a Horrid Treason as this Men may Harangue on the Formalities of Respect as long as they please but certainly it is some Pretensions to Authority that can preserve a Filial Reverence that is truly valuable that is such a Reverence as expresses it self in a chearful Obedience to all just and reasonable Commands § 6. But to draw towards a Conclusion this Notion of Freedom carries another Absurdity in it as Injurious to the Civil Power as it is to the Patriarchal for in order to assert the Notion this Author is forced to Discard the Notion of Natural Allegiance and place every one in a State of Liberty upon their arrival at Years of Discetion till they shall Recognize the Governing Power by an express or tacit Consent An express Consent he fixes in Promises or Oaths of Allegiance and a tacit Consent in the Possession or Enjoyment of any part of the Dominions of any Government Chap. 8. Sect. 119. Part. 2. And further adds that a Tacit Consent only produces a Temporal Allegiance So that in case he quits his Possession by Donation Sale or otherwise he is at Liberty to go and Incorporate himself in any other Common-Wealth or agree with others to begin a new one in Vacuis locis in any part of the World they can find Free or Unpossessed Sect. 121. Now certainly these are Positions that cannot well be consistent with the safety of any Government for it is manifest they give a Latitude for Rebellion as well as Disertion For first The Descendants of the Liege Subjects of any Government do not yield a Tacit Consent even after they arrive at Years of Discretion by Living and Subsisting upon the Blessings of it unless they possess or enjoy some parts of its Dominions so that not only the Adult Children that Live under their Parents without a Settlement but even the Poor or Labouring part of a Nation or even all that are not the true Proprietors of Estates still remain in a State of