Selected quad for the lemma: kingdom_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
kingdom_n	parliament_n	power_n	sovereign_a	2,128	5	9.5338	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A97161	A discourse concerning the Engagement: or, The northern subscribers plea opposed to their dissenting neighbors importune animosities against engaging to be true and faithful, &c. Tending to beget a calm compliance in all the consciencious lovers of truth and peace. / Laid together by N.W. a friend to the Common-wealth.	N. W.	1650 (1650)	Wing W85; Thomason E590_8; ESTC R204160	21,163	24

a Circa quodcunque est Dei permissio circa idem etiam est actualis volitio Th. de Bradward volition then surely those futuritions or positive events determined by him and welpleasing to him come not to pass without his special efficiency this Doctrine some of us have taken in from the Schools and in whatever Series of events God manifests this his special concurrence or appearing that cause he owns hence it may be said of our change the thing is of God and those Powers in being over us ordained of him yea by his special appointment speciall procurement and we hope out of special grace and favor Object But the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 say some signifie lawful powers a power of right contradistinguished to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a power of might Answ To this we Answer VVhat men mean by a power of Right or how far they will extend it we do not very well know we conceive our present Powers may fall within that compass but as for the word it signifies any power the devil hath no lawful power to give and yet this word is used for that power over the Kingdoms of the world which he offered unto Christ Luke 4.6 what shall we think of Pilates power to crucifie the Lord of Life Joh. 19.10 Here the word is used again was that a lawful power Secondly we cannot easily understand how any powers should take the denomination of lawful or unlawful from their Form Constitution or Mould for then onely some one frame of Government would be lawful as it is in Gospel Discipline and all other unlawful but rather from the efflux of peoples wils into the Being of such Powers over them or from their agency in commanding things lawful or unlawful under God Those that command unlawful things in such exorbitances swerving from the Rule of their Office they retain no stamp of * Malus princeps non est princeps quemadmodum spiritus impurus qui invasit corpus hominis non est animus Eras Authority or Power on them at all For upon this account we are disobliged from consciencious obedience in such cases because there men act as disrob'd of Magistracy God never giving any man Commission to do evil He is the Minister of God to thee for good saith the Apostle Rom. 13.4 1 Pet. 2.14 Object Kingly power is by this Plea proved a lawful power and a power ordained of God why then was the King resisted rejected and that Government laid aside Answ To this we say 1. That Kingly power with its just limits and boundaries was a lawful power amongst us and ordained of God and is so where ever it is lawfully exercised Kings are lawful powers but not exclusively The Kings of England were so the States of Holland are so so are the Emperors Princes and Cantons of Germany the Senate and Capi of Venice the great Dukes of Muscovy the Vaivods of Transilvania and the Parliaments of England 2. Why that Government is laid aside the Parliament hath given most unbyassed men very good satisfaction both for the equity and necessity of it in their Declaration of March 17. 1648. published in several Languages unto which we refer the Objectors 3. The King was rejected upon the matter of his Charge See the Kings Case resisted because of his illegal commands and usurpations upon Liberties and * If a Villain work on Sunday by his Lords command he shall be free Sir H. Spillman Concil Consciences Neither was the King though a lawful power the sole power amongst us no nor the Soveraign power neither if Mr. Prynne be not mistaken who intitles several Volumns of his The Soveraign Power of Parliaments and Kingdoms and that learned Scotchman in his Lex Rex opposed to all Prerogative and Royal Advocates overthrowing and exauctorating the Pleas of Maxwel Barclay Grotius Spalatensis the Doctors of Aberdeen Dr. Fern E. Simmons c. tending to assert the Royal Prerogative of Christian Kings We conceive all powers as to their form are lawful yet all changeable The Royal Scepter was lawful though not everlasting the laying it aside speaks not its absolute illegality but its temporal inexpediency And we wish that Parliaments in their present Constitution may not be so long liv'd as the Norman Scepter if they be less expedient we judg them both lawful powers but neither irresistible nor unchangeable 4. The Lord by his Providence hath largely commented upon those Texts which confirm the lawfulness of our powers in Being yea their very constitution as from him Grotius of the truth of Christian Religion l. 1. sect 11. Where it pleaseth God to change the form of Government those men whom he useth as instruments for the effecting of that matter as being determined for him Suppose they be like to Cyrus Alexander or Caesar the Dictator to them all things even those which are above the reach of mans prudence do succeed more beyond their desires and wishes then the diversity of humane casualties ordinarily doth permit c. They are the words of H. Grotius a man not very Orthodox touching Magistracy neither and remarkable under this head by all those who have taken notice of the gracious conduct of Providence towards and the Lords presence with those who have been instruments in his hands for effecting this change of Government amongst us And truly he that considers the works done in our days pondering them well and yet confesseth not Digitum Dei hîc hîc the Arm of the Almighty made bare for us we cannot but think he is more deeply baptized into the spirit of Atheism then the Egyptian sorcerers which withstood Moses were Exod. 8.19 If the falling of a Sparrow to the ground though worth but half a farthing hath something of providence in it much more those wonderful appearings of God antecedent concomitant and subsequent to our change of Government Psal 97.5 Have not the hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord at the presence of the Lord of the whole Earth See the Lord Generals Letter from Ireland Decemb. 1649. Isai 26.11 God will surely curse that man and his house who saith it was an arm of flesh that did what was done in England as making way for this change or what hath been done in Ireland since Those who will not see when the Lords hand is lifted up they shall see and be ashamed c. The Almighties smoothing that roughness and becalming those tumultuous ragings of peoples spirits by the greatness of his arm Exod. 15 16. making them as still as a stone just upon this change His breaking their powerful conspiracies and dissipating those numerous bodies spirited with influence from the Royal Head before this change and his preventing those hideous confusions and garments rolling in blood which by the Catholike out cry of the vulgar and the ominous presages of some graver heads threatned to attend this change All these ioyntly pondered together

and would needs be returning to their old task-masters service again It is a true saying Multi ad perfectionem pervenirent nisi jam se pervenisse credorent Fab. Many men might have attained perfection but for their too early dreams that they were already perfect Those and they not a few who made it their ultimate end To establish the Kings Throne in Righteousness proclaiming and declaring this together with their loyalty to the world as their prime scope when they were convinced that the Lord would not have it so sit down as sullen as the Prophet when God would not verifie his Declaration concerning Nineveh Jon. 4. But because we cannot do this thing shall we therefore do nothing We fear this Plea will not be accepted before God That which we conceive good is not done therefore we have laid ourselves aside and refused to do any thing for his service in order to the Publike Good We never heard of any such perswasion coming from the Lord that called you Gal. 5.8 To this we hear men say They lay not themselves aside but the Parliament doth it by urging upon them an Engagement as the condition of their service and activity for the Publike Good which they cannot salva conscientiâ submit to and that chiefly upon this ground because it presumes their consent to the change of Government and an approbation of those things which have been done in order to it But under favor we conceive this consequence is not of necessary Connexion with the Antecedent and therefore we may be so bold with it as to deny it 1. We presume that the Parliament and Army might do some things in order to this change which themselves hold onely justifiable upon the Plea of necessity and not absolutely to be approved Some of the Parliaments Declarations and of the Armies Papers witness this 3. Can those who submitted to the Norman yoke be interpreted to approve all that the Conqueror did in order to the vassalizing them and bringing them to his own terms Hist liber Lusitaniae li 3. c. 4. Can we think that the Dukes of Bragance who sware Allegiance to the Spaniard usurping Lordship over him against all the peoples consent did by that act approve what the King of Spain did in order to his subversion Surely no. Thus we think mutatis mutandis that our subscribing to the present Authority concludes neither our approbation of what hath been done in order to the change of Government no nor the change it self it tyes our hands indeed from subverting the establishment in esse and to be subject and powers in our thoughts irregularly and disorderly changed may be lawfully and conscientiously subscribed unto and owned as powers ordained of God Master Dury in his consid of the present engag It is the perswasion of a good Christian and one of no mean name That it doth not belong to us to judg definitively of the Rights which the supream powers over us in the world pretend to have unto their places And it is our perswasion that neither Gods commands touching subjection nor the Parliaments Acts for subscription puts the submitting conscience either upon the approbation or non-approbation of the equity or iniquity of this change of Government wrought amongst but onely upon the conscientious acknowledging the powers over us in their present constitution as the onely visible Authority by the Ordinance of God But 3. Supposing the consequence good that subscription drew with it a consent to the change of Government and an approbation of what was done in order to it we conceive that both of these without any injury offered to conscience may be approved The Parliaments forementioned declaration renders the former approvable to us March 17 1648. and as to the main things done in order to this change we shall speak our thoughts in particular They appear to be these 1. The Parliaments declaring the Original of all lawful power to be in the people in which as we understand it little else is declared then this that forms of Government are humane ordinances or creatures according to that of the Apostle 1 Pet. 2.13 to exclude the claim to a sacred and unalterable prerogative in any persons or powers whatsoever This we finde no great reason to boggle at Secondly their laying aside the House of Lords which in effect they had done seven yeers before viz. in declaring to their Lordships that if they refused to joyn with them in settling the Militia the Commons would proceed to do it without them that was then judged a safe and wholsome Resolve and why might it not take place now after all the experiences had of delays and Negatives in matters of highest moment from the Lords yea of their direct thwarting the common sense of the Kingdome in Parliament For it is unreasonable to conceive 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sect. 39. that it should be a matter of sin or unlawfull for a Kingdome to make provision for it self and its own good unless such or such a small party amongst them who prefer their own undue personal interests before the publike interests and welfare of the Nation should consent and joyn with them therein This put the Parliament upon a necessity of abolishng the House of Lords as may appear in their declaration March 17. 1648. And this we conceive need stick as little upon us 3. Their bringing the King to a tryal sentencing him and taking him away from the midst of us If the King was a Delinquent and an implacable one fiat justitia ruat calum That the people have no right to judg him though he was so as it is our dissenting neighbors Plea so it was the Plea of that prerogative Secretary Lethington against Knox a man Orthodox and conscientious God saith Knox is the universal judg as well unto the King as to the people History of the reformation of Scotland lib 4. so that what his word commands to be punished in the one is not to be absolved in the other We agree in that said Lethington but the people may not execute Gods judgments but must leave it unto himself who will either punish it by death by war by imprisonment or by some other kinde of his plagues I know saith Knox the last part of the reason to be true but for the first that the people yea or a part of the people may not execute Gods judgments against their King being an offendor I am assured ye have no other warrant except your own imaginations and the opinion of such as more fear to offend their Princes then God This we know that God is no accepter of persons and that blood upon whomsoever it lyes cryeth so loud in the ears of the Almighty that he has strictly commanded men to take no satisfaction for the life of any murtherer Now Numb 35 30 31 33. what if we had no Law rule or president to go by for the punishing of