Selected quad for the lemma: power_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
power_n	government_n	king_n	monarchy_n	2,757	5	9.5091	5	false

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

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

eyes of their Imagination the Great encompassed by vast Troopes of Admirers who look on them as Personages infinitely Superiour to the rest Such is the Idea which Concupiscence createth in us of this Condition But a very little Light will serve to detect the Delusion For All these Opinions which lift the Great above others being only vain fancies and such as arise from the corruption of Man's heart it is evident that the Greatness founded thereon is meerly a Phantome and without solidity VII Thus far Philosophy is able to conduct us But if we have no other Light but what is borrowed thence we shall no sooner be delivered from one errour than cast into another by being made believe that the Great are not indeed worthy of any Honour or Respect And in effect such a Conclusion would necessarily deduce it self should it once be granted that Greatness hath no other foundation but this heap of false Opinions and Deceitful Goods ●t being certain that I am not bound to honour a Man because he is more miserable then my self And that Delusion which should make the Great to think their Condition happy only because it seemeth so to a Multitude of silly and abused People would deserve Pity instead of Esteem and Veneration VIII But the Holy Scriptures assure us that Honour is due unto the Great and the payment thereof an Obligation wherewith Christian Piety ought to comply Now Piety being inseparable from Verity cannot honour that which is not truly worthy of Honour It must then be said that there is Something of God in Greatness since the Scriptures on the one side commanding us to honour the Great and on the other teaching that Honour is due to God alone Soli Deo Honor Gloria It followeth that we honour God by honouring the Great and consequently that something of God is in them whereunto the Respect which is paid them doth relate But for the knowing what this is we must look back to the first Establishment and Origine of Greatness IX Concupiscence Reason and Religion unite themselves though diversly towards the composure of this Condition which is called Greatness Concupiscence desireth it through Pride Reason approveth it for its necessariness among Men And Religion confirmeth it by the Authority of God himself But for the understanding after what manner this cometh to pass we must consider That if Men had continued in the state of Innocence there had not been any Great amongst them but being born alike they would have remained alwayes in the same equality of Nature Man was not made properly to command Men as S. Gregory sayeth because one Mans will is not the Rule of anothers but all have for their only Rule the Law of God which before their Transgression they understood with such perspicuity as not to stand in need of being taught it by others X. Wherefore though Greatness cannot be said to be an Irregularity in it self yet it is at least an effect of the Irregularity and Disorder of Nature and a necessary Consequent of the first Sin Because as the state of Innocence could not admit Difference and Distinction so That of Sin could not suffer Equality Every Man would be a Master and Tyrant over the rest but being impossible that every one should succeed in this Design it was necessary either that Reason should induce Men to Order or Force compel them And so the Strong obtain the Mastery and the Weaker remain in subjection XI Reason knoweth that this Subjection among Men to one another is not only inevitable but also most requisite and useful It perceiveth that the Light of Man's understanding since his Sin is too feeble to direct him even in Matters regarding only the Civil life and that the Corruption of his Will is such as rendreth him incapable of behaving himself quietly in a regular Condition It seeth it therefore to be necessary that there should be some more gross and exterior Law which might oblige him to the performance of his Duty and such is That of Empire and Dominion It judgeth convenient that Laws and Policies should be established and that some Persons should have Authority to make them observed It approveth that Humane Affaires should be regulated and for the avoiding of Contests that Preference should be given to some above others In fine It doth not only consent to the constitution of Greatness but looketh on this Order as the Master-piece of Humane Wit and the most useful thing in the World XII But although Concupiscence desireth Greatness and Reason approveth the establishment thereof yet neither the one nor the other are sufficient to render it Lawful Men are not in their own Power and therefore cannot dispose of themselves much less of others God alone is their Soveraign Master neither can They unless by his Command set up or acknowledge any other without committing Treason against Him Should a Company of Slaves assembled in a Prison confer on some amongst them the Power of Life and Death over the rest it is not to be doubted but their Master would not only laugh at so bold and rash an Establishment but also punish him that should make use thereof as an Usurper and Tyrant since such Authority appertained to Him alone and therefore it was only He that could communicate and transfer the same to another This is our Case in respect of God We are all his Slaves and cannot dispose of our selves but by his Order It would therefore be in vain that Men gave to some amongst them the Right and Power of governing others did not God joyn his Authority to their Choice And for this Reason according to the Doctrine of St. Augustine all Capital Punishments Executions of Justice would be so many Homicides and Murthers if God who is the sole Master of the Life Death of Men had not given them the Power of inflicting Death on Those who should violate the Laws of Nature and trouble their Society We learn from the Scriptures that God hath done it That He hath ratifyed by his Authority these Humane Establishments That He approveth the binding and uniting Men together by Laws and Constitutions That He authoriseth them to make Choice of some for the procuring their Observance And lastly communicateth his Power to the Persons chosen for the Government of those that are under them XIII These are not vain Speculations but Truthes defined by the Holy Scriptures It is the Apostle S. Paul who teacheth us that all Power cometh from God Non est Potestas nisi a Deo That Authorities are established by God Quae autem sunt a Deo ordinatae sunt That whosoever resisteth them doth resist the Order and Appointment of God Qui resistit Potestati Dei ordinationi resistit That those who govern the People are the Ministers of God for the rewarding the Good and punishing the Evil. Dei Minister est tibi in Bonum Dei Minister est vindex in Iram And he giveth to Princes the