Selected quad for the lemma: nature_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
nature_n	humane_a	law_n	positive_a	2,470	5	10.9031	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A11511	The free schoole of vvarre, or, A treatise, vvhether it be lawfull to beare armes for the seruice of a prince that is of a diuers religion; Quaestio quodlibetica. English	Sarpi, Paolo, 1552-1623.; Bedell, William, 1571-1642.; Brent, Nathaniel, Sir, 1573?-1652.	1625 (1625)	STC 21758; ESTC S116734	27,201	78

Prouinces doe straine a point beyond their vsuall manner To this ought the Confessor to haue had some regard and by considering that hee was thus strictly appointed Not to administer absolution to those that fought for the defence of the Hollanders he should thence haue inferred That the Catholick Religion was the pretext onely but the end is the interest of factions the which haue nothing to doe with Religion neither haue the Antients euer taught that it should by such meanes bee ampliated Further hee ought to haue taken into consideration that hee is not depending on the authoritie of the Nuntio or of any deputed from him that is not his Ordinarie neither doth hee receiue authoritie from him to heare Confessions and that these secret iuglings are odious before God and that it is an adulterated Zeale which vnder the mantle of Religion couereth humane passions and ends And it would bee too great an inconuenience that when Embassadours and their Families as good Authours doe maintaine are not assubiected to Princes where they reside but by the Law of Nations are exempt and free and onely owe submission vnto their naturall Lords yet hee which attendeth them for the administration of the Sacraments should take law from one that is an Alien to that Countrey yea and serueth such a Prince as maketh warre against it Who can doubt but that such a one will trie to doe all the mischiefe hee is able especially by disbanding the souldiers that serue the other side as is apparant in this very Case yet it cannot without horror be conceiued how great an iniurie is done to the Maiestie of God and to Religion to make it like vnto Medusas Head a Bug-beare to scare and intimidate mens Consciences for ends meerely mundane and peraduenture for designes that tast of tyranny and iniustice as to seise vpon and take away Countries from those persons vnto whom God hath giuen them For conclusion then of this Head it was not Iustice and it is contrarie to Religion that the Confessor did follow the directions of a professed enemie to those States by vertue of a blind obedience and hee ought not to haue done so notorious a wrong and iniurie to those Gentlemen without examining first Whether it were iust or vniust to denie such a Penitent absolution For I would see great and euident reason before I would exclude any man from the participation of the Sacraments which is a bond of grieuous preiudice And as Saint Ierome writes Priests ought not to put on a Pharisaicall superciliousnesse as if it lay in their power to binde and loose but they are to consider the Conscience of the Penitent and the merite af the Cause So that you see all is reduced to the two last Heads which remaine to bee examined because in them lyeth the pyth and point of the cause Of which The third is Whether the Confessor had iust cause to denie these Gentlemen absolution for this respect That they could not liue in the Low Countries without sinne as beeing to conuerse with those who acknowledge not the Pope of Rome for Head of the Church and refuse to yeeld vnto him obedience and For that there is not in those parts the publike exercise of the Catholick Romane Religion This reason in times past would haue receiued no shew or colour but now some shadow of doubt may bee put since that Clement the eight tooke on him to bee the first that euer made any step and pretention in this matter For in the yeare 1595 hee published a Constitution That no Italian should or ought to goe for any cause whatsoeuer no not for trafficking and marchandise to any place where there was not a Parochiall Priest and a publike Church wherein the Romane seruice was celebrated except he first should obtaine leaue from the holy Office of the Inquisition or from the Ordinaries binding also those that should trauell with such licences to send yearely to the Inquisitors letters of authenticall credence that they had confessed and communicated Peraduenture this might bee the cause why the Confessor and he who mannaged him did deale so roughly with their Penitents But withall you must know that this Papall Constitution was neuer entertained or put in execution by any Prince but contrariwise totally excluded as if it had neuer bin ordained And to confirme this it is the receiued Position of Canonists and Ciuilians and of the Popes themselues and it is a Doctrine also consonant both to Diuinitie Nature That all humane positiue Lawes vnder which kind no Catholick Doctor doth denie that such like Constitutions are comprehended neither can he vnlesse he will make a man a God nay aboue God are iust so much in force as they are in vse and by not beeing receiued or by an application of them vnto a contrarie vse they loose all their vertue obligatorie and are as if they had neuer beene ordained And if it should bee otherwise there would bee nothing but confusion in Gouernement and destruction of good Policie and Popes should not onely bee Patrons of all States and Dominions and Lords of all matters of Iudicature and of all Tribunals but the very facultie and meanes to thinke of any question would bee idle and out of vse for what matter is there that the Popes in some past ages till now haue not themselues decreed or else commanded their determinations But Iurisdiction is not acquired by commaundements but by commanding iustly and by being obeyed So that no foundation must bee layd on this Constitution which was abortiue in the birth reiected in the first beginning opposed by all receiued by none and by the Declaration of some Princes against the very Pope that made it it is apparant that it ought not to be receiued so that it hath had no obseruation at all but hath remained as if it had not beene made and that with the knowledge of the Ecclesiasticks and of the Popes themselues yea and of the very person that made it And so it ought to bee in reason because the Pope extended his power to the restriction and confinement of that libertie which God and Nature all Lawes diuine and humane and the practise in the generall course of all times from the beginning of the World vntill the yeare 1595 haue giuen and granted vnto the Faithfull Whosoeuer hath any insight into the Sacred Stories knowes that after the Creation of the world there was a diuision of Religion in the very sonnes of Adam and that some worshipped the true God with pure and lawfull Adoration as was requisite others became Idolaters and yet he will not finde that the Faithfull I speak not of the separation of Nations but of particular diuisions for that was a Case reserued to God alone euer receiued prohibition to inhabit those places where men of impure or false Religion did dwell but the true worshippers of God did alwaies enioy the freedom of going staying dwelling there where their best commoditie

the pay of the most renowned Republicke of Venice And in all that time there came souldiers from all the Countries of Catholicks and from Italy it selfe to those warres indifferently to what side they pleased and yet the Ecclesiasticke neuer had the boldnesse to oppose Whence we may drawe the common meaning of the whole Church and of all Christendome which conuinceth this noueltie of iniustice of vsurpation and of desire to fauour one faction against another vnder the shew of Religion a matter scandalous of pernicious example and iudged to be tyrannicall And the Reason of State beeing as it is so sacred and lawfull and supreame in humane actions yea in nature diuine and beeing recommended to the Soueraigne onely who sitteth in the seate of Maiestie me thinkes the Ecclesiasticke should totally abandon that vaine and ridiculus pretension That the saftie and defence of Nations ought to be regulated by the decrees of the Cannon Law which is as much below this supreame reason as the humane is inferiour to the diuine and the Positiue to the naturall and let him consider that God hath together with the Maiestie giuen vnto the Soueraigne alone the authority to make peace warre leagues and allyances as hee shall conceiue it necessary and conuenient neither can any but hee know the circumstances of opportunities and needes as nothing can gouerne and actuate the body but that Soule which God and Nature hath giuen it And that the iniquitie of this attempt may the more manifestly appeare letting moderne matters alone we are to know that Sextus Quintus being cleerely satisfied of the ends of the Spaniards That they aspired to oppresse all Potentates vnder colour of making themselues Protectors of the Catholicke Religion against Heretickes did with great efficacie stirre vp the Crowne of France to defend the States of Holland and the same apprehensions had Clement the eight and Paul the fift although it were late ere they came vnto it And that the falsity of this new-stampt Doctrine may the more perspicuously bee discouered which by these indirect wayes striueth to introduce a prescription That it is not lawful for Catholike souldiers to fight for Protestants that so they may by oblique insinuation arriue vnto their designe to make it vnlawfull for Catholicke Princes to make leagues or send succours vnto them excluding vnder the cloake of Religion all fundamentals of good Gouernement of ones owne defence and of the necessitie of mens peculiar preseruation a deduction hereof may be drawne through all times of which any memory in sacred or profane Histories doth remaine But I will alleage some few instances of the choicest and most remarkable places The first example and it will be the more singular because it is set downe in Diuine Writ is that of the great Patriarch who by Saint Paul is stiled the Father of the Faithfull whose actions none dare bee so hardy as to blame or to esteeme them such as are not propounded for examples to bee imitated Of Abraham then the holy Scripture doth declare That when his brother Lot had beene made prisoner by certain Assirian Kings who had waged warre against him Abraham not hauing force sufficient of himselfe made a league with Ascol and Annor Jdolatrous Princes setled the articles of Confederation with them and hauing ioyned his forces with theirs he began the war recouered his brother and got the victory Behold a league made by an holy Patriarke with Princes not onely of a diuerse Religion but also Infidels and Idolaters Next followes another example of a King after Gods owne heart and a Prophet that according to the flesh was one of Christs ancestors Dauid in the persecutions which King Saul raised vp against him fled with all his Company consisting of six hundred souldiers ouer whom hee was chiefe and put himselfe into the pay of King Achis made a league with him receiued from him places to dwell in and it is certaine that hee vndertooke to serue him in the warre against the Faithfull themselues For there being warre proclaimed betweene King Achis an Idolater and Saul that was King of Gods owne people Dauid would faine haue beene at those warres but the King would not permit him because hee and his had his fidelitie in suspition and feared least when they should ioyne battell he might turne his banner and reuolt And hereupon Dauid tooke it heauily that hee was not admitted to this warre as one that held himselfe wronged in honour to be had in diffidence So that it is sure that hee was prepared to haue fought in fauour of Infidels against the worshippers of the true God and professors of true Religion And who so shall consider the person of Dauid so mightie a King so great a Prophet so holy a Saint hee will bee easily conuinced in this point that it hath bin and is lawfull for other Princes to doe that of which in the Sacred Scripture there is found so illustrous an example That a Captaine with all his Companies of Beleeuers did serue an Idolatrous King in the warre against those of his owne Faith that is those of the false against those of the true Religion It is likewise cleere that the same Dauid after he attained to the Crowne entred into league and established a Confederation with Naas King of the Ammonites and with Hiram King of Tyre neither can it bee alleaged that this was done in time of extreame necessity because those leagues with the foresayd Infidels and Idolatrous Princes were stipulated after that Dauid did peaceably enioy the kingdome of Israell And Salomon his sonne and successor in the Kingdom ioyned in league with the King of Egypt with whom also he made allyance and married his daughter And Assa King of Jerusalem of whom the Scripture beareth witnesse That he had his heart vpright towards God like Dauid called in to his succour Benadas the King of Damasco against Baasha King of Israell which was to confederate himselfe with an vnbeleeuing King against one that was of the same Religion with him In the times which were neerer to the birth of our Redeemer wee haue the example of the Maccabees who made a defensiue league with the Romanes and the very Conuentions betweene them are cleerely to bee seene in Holy writ that whensoeuer warre should be made against either of them they should interchangeably send succours one to another of victuals munition ships money and souldiers according to their power and as the condition of the times would permit them And the same Maccabees made a confederacie also with the Spartan Republicke who then swayed all Morea often renewing and from time to time reconfirming the same By which examples of holy Scripture it resteth firme That beleeuing Princes may confederate themselues giue and receiue ayde if their proper preseruation shall require it from Princes that are Infidels And the example will serue this present Case of ours as drawne from the greater vnto the lesse For albeit the States of Holland