snaky hired Furies whose residence is in an evil conscience Hear what a Heathen can say in this caseâ— Juvenal Sat. 13. cur taâ—â—en hos tu Evasisse putes quos diri conscia facti Mens habet attonilos caecâ— verbere pulsat Occultum quátientâ— animum tâ—rtore flagellum Paena autem vehemens ac multo saevior illis Quas Ceditius gravis invenit aut Rhadamanthus Nocte dieque suum gestare in pectore testem To the same purpose Persius Pers. Sat. 3. Anne magis Siculi gemuerunt aera juvenci Aut magis auratis pendens laquearibus ensis Purpureas subter cervices teruit imus Imus praecipites quam si sibi dicat intus Palleat infaelix quod proxima nesciat uxor He then that can act against his conscience without sin or remorse is one of those the Apostle speakes of whose conscience is seared with a hot iron and he must needs be miserable that despiseth the testimony of this witness saith Seneca The Apostle who was no teacher of sedition assures us that they shall not escape the judgment of God who do the same things they condemn in others Rom. 2. 3. that is who act against their conscience and saith plainly that to him who esteemeth any thing unclean to him it is unclean Rom. 14. 14. Therefore that which is no sin in it self may be sin to him whose conscience saith it is sin Hence the Schooles teach us that he who acts against an erroneous conscience sinneth for by this he is convinced that he hath a will to sin and that he can sin deliberately Besides he that acteth against his conscience acteth against the law of God to which he thinks his conscience conformable St. Paul pleadeth before the Councel Acts 23. 1. That he had lived in all good conscience and in this testimony of his conscience was his rejoycing 2 Cor. 1. 12. and wisheth Timothy to hold saith and a good conscience which some putting away that is acting against it concerning faith have made shipwrack 1 Tim. 1. 19. and in the same chapter sheweth that the end of the commandment is love out of a pure heart a good conscience and faith unfained for these three are inseparable companions now whereas Mr. Hobbs saith That this doctrine dependeth on the presumption of him who makes himself judge of good and evil I say it is no presumption but a duty imposed on every man to judge of good and evil seeing he hath both the light of nature and of Scripture to direct him and the Apostle sheweth that the Gentiles which have not the law do by nature the things contained in the law these having not the law are a law to themselves which shew the work of the law written in their hearts their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts excusing or else accusing each other Rom. 2. 14 15. Chapter 29. He will not have faith to be attained by inspiration or infusion but by study and reason and shortly after he saith That faith is no miracle but brought to pass by education discipline correction and other natural waies c. That Peters saith was not revealed to him by flesh and blood but by the Father of Christ who is in Heaven is plain by our Saviours own words Mat. 16. 16. And he thanks his heavenly Father for hiding the mysteries of faith from the prudent and and revealing them to babes Mat 11. 25. For if faith comes by study reason discipline and education doubtless the wise Philosophers and not the ignorant Fishers had beleeved in Christ but we find it other waies that not many learned as the Apostle saith not many wise but God hath chosen the fools and ignorants of this world to confound the wise and learned and so Christ faith That none can come to him except the Father draw him John 16. And St. Paul saith Rom. 12. God hath distributed to every man the measure of faith and confesseth that he obtained this mercy of God to be faithful 1 Cor. 7. And he saith that we are saved by grace through faith not of our selves it is the gift of God Eph. 2. And indeed if faith came by reason or study we may by study attain salvation justification and life eternal for the Scripture tells us That we are saved by faith and by faith we are justified and the just live by faith and that this hath been the constant doctrine of the Church from the beginning is plain to be seen in the writings of the Fathers general and provincial Councels Now whereas he saith That faith is no miracle I say it is a miracle in that it is a supernatural gift so inconsistent with natural reason that a holy and ancient Father said there were three miracles in Christs Incarnation to wit the union of the divinity and humanity 2. Of maternity and virginity 3. Of faith and the heart of man but he cannot see Why any man should render a reason of his faith or why every Christian should not be also a prophet or why any man should take the law of his Country rather then his own inspiration for the rule of his action None of these inconveniences will follow though faith come by inspiration For 1. why may not any man give a reason that is render an account as well of an inspired as of an acquired faith St. Paul was inspired and yet he gives an account of his faith to the Jewes Acts 22. and to Agrippa Acts 26. 2. What necessity is there that every Christian should be a prophet who hath an inspired faith Is faith and prophesie one and the same gift Balaam could prophesie and yet was no beleever and many in the Primitive Church beleeved and yet could not prophesie Nor 3ly is there any reason why he who is inspired should refuse to be ruled by the law of his Country except that law be repugnant to the true faith with which he is inspired for Christ and his Apostles rejected not the civil law of the Romans but were in outward things ruled by it though they were inspired Hence then it appears that these truths are not pernicious opinions nor do they proceed from the tongues and pens of unlearned Divines â— as Mr. Hobbs saith but they are manifest truths held by the most learned Doctors of the Church in all ages Chap. 29. He will not have the Soveraign to be subject to his own laws because then he should be subject to himself and to set the laws above the Soveraign were to set a Iudge above him c. If a man can subdue himself he must be subject to himself and as there is no conquest so honorable so there is no subjection so profitable as this Fortior est qui se quam qui fortissima vincit maenia Cicero tells Caesar that he had subdued many fierce Nations and conquered divers potent Kingdoms but in restoring of Marcellus he had overcom himself which was a conquest that made him not
Leviathan Drawn out with A HOOK OR ANIMADVERSIONS UPON Mr HOBBS HIS LEVIATHAN Together with some OBSERVATIONS UPON Sr WALTER RALEIGH'S History of the WORLD LONDON Printed by Tho. Newcomb for Richard Royston at the Angel in Ivy-Lane 1653. LEVIATHAN drawn out with a HOOK OR ANIMADVERSIONS UPON Mr HOBBS HIS LEVIATHAN By ALEX ROSSE LONDON Printed by Tho. Newcomb for Richard Royston at the Angel in Ivy-Lane 1653. To the Right Worshipful FRANCIS LUCY Esq SIR THe Giant Goliah so affrighted the whole host of Israel by the vast bulk of his body the weight and large dimensions of his spear and armor with his defying and bragging words that none of all that Army durst encounter him Only David a Shepherd by profession in stature low in years young the least of all his brethren and of meanest account among the people took the boldness to enter the lists with that uncircumcised Philistim So I a spiritual shepherd by profession the least of the Tribe of Levi little in my own eyes and of small account in the world observing how all the host of learned men in this Land look upon but adventure not to buckle with Mr. Hobbs his Leviathan Nec quisquam ex agmine tanto audet adire viurm manibusve inducere caestus I say being animated by some lovers of the truth have this Summer set aside for a while my other studies to peruse this book and to detect some of his chief Tenets which though erroneous and dangerous are swallowed down by some young Sciolists without nauseating which to me is an argument of great distemper in the mindes and affections of men who with the Israelites loathing the Manna of true Phylosophy and Divinity covet after the Quailes of new errors or rather old in a new guise which in the end will poyson them Me thinks I see Religion and learning Divinity and true Phylosophy devotion and piety for which this Islaud hath been glorious for many generations saying as the voice that the Christians heard in Jerusalem immediately before the destruction thereof Migremus hinc These are the Palladia and as it were the Tutelar gods by which this British Empire hath so long stood which if they forsake us what are we else but a prey to our enemies God grant we may not complain of their departure as Aenaeas did of his Trojan gods Excessere omnes aditis arisque relictis Dii quibus imperium hoc steterat For do we not see how Athism strives to justle out Religion how ignorance is crawling up into the chair of learning how piety is affronted by profaneness and devotion by irreverance how divinity is assaulted by heretical opinions and solid Phylosophy by dreams and fanatical whimsies I doubt not but I shall be blamed by some for encountring this Champion of Malmsbury as David was for venturing upon that Champion of Gath but I will answer them in David's words 1 Sam. 17 29. What have I now done is there not a cause Goliah defied the whole host of Israel and Mr. Hobbs defyeth the whole host of learned men esteeming his Leviathan as formidable and unconquerable as that in Job 41. 16. of whose Majesty the mighty are afraid and for fear they faint in themselves but this Leviathan is not so For a Hook may be cast into his nose and his jawes may be pierced with an angle Job 40. 21. Sir this piece which makes its addresses to you as to one truly judicious pious and a lover of solid learning is but small so was David who notwithstanding foiled Goliah the Ichneumon is but a small rat yet it can kill the great Crocodile in est sua gratia parvis small things have their magnitude though not of bulk yet of vertue there is more nourishment in a small lark then in a great kite or raven and so there is more lustre in a small Diamond then a whole quarry of other stones as in a little Bee so in this little Book there may be much spirit ingentes animos angusto in corpore gestat But how small soever it be it hath drawn out Leviathan with an Hook which it presents to you and so do I by it my thankful acknowledgments for all your favours praying for an increase of all happiness on your self your religious Lady and your hopeful son my scholler with the rest of your Family which is the hearty desire of Your most humble Servant ALEX ROSSE To the Reader GOod Reader David encountred with a Lion and a Bear Daniel conversed among Lions Paul fought with Beasts at Ephesus Hercules skirmished with an Erymanthian Bear a Nemaean Lion a Lernaean Hydra Aenaeas drew his sword against the shaddows of Centaures Harpies Gorgons and Chimeras but I have to do with a strange monster called Leviathan which some out of David Psa. 104. think to be a Whale the Prophet Isaiah calls him a piercing and crooked Serpent Iob saith He is a beast with fearful teeth with scales strong as shields with a heart as strong as the neither milstone out of his mouth leap sparkes of fire and smoke out of his nostrils Lastly some there are that take him for the devil and indeed it may be soâ— for he is said in Iob to be a King over all the children of pride I hope Mr. Hobbs is none of his subjects and yet his book is much inflated with pride against learningâ— and learned men But in my opinion this paper Leviathan is like that beast in the Revelation which opened his mouth into blasphemy against God and his Tabernacle and against them that dwell in heaven Rev. â—3 6. Against God in saying he made the world by nature and by consequence of necessity whereas he made it indeed voluntarily and freely 2. In making the three Persons of the Trinity rather names then substances 3. In making Christ onely to personate God the Son 4. In making God the author of sin 5. In making him coporeal and part of the the universe Against his Tabernacle that is against his Church in labouring to overthrow her faith knowledg miracles and ordinances Against them that dwell in heaven that is the Angels and separated souls in making the one but fancies and dreams and the others mortal and not capable hereafter of any other happiness then earthly He tells us besides that faith is not by inspiration or infusion but by study and industry that to beleeve in God is not to trust in his Person but to confess the doctrine That our belief is in the Church that they were not devils but madmen which confessed Christ that covetousness and ambition and injustice with power are honorable that tyrants and good Princes are all one that a man may sin against his conscience that men should not render a reason or account of their faith that Princes are not subject to their own laws that private men have no property in their goods that our natural reason is the word of God that divine dreams cannot win belief
like the most excellent men but rather like to God himself Latius regnes avidum dâ—â—ando spiritum quam si Lybiam remotis Gadibus jungas c. What availed it Alexander to conquer the world and not to conquer himself to be a slave to his vices and not subject to his laws And I pray why should not a Prince be as well subject to his own laws as to his oaths covenants and promises there is nothing so honorable for a King as to keep his word and to observe the laws which he not onely made but by oath and promise tied himself to obey And surely this is the very law of nature which as Mr. Hobbs saith is divine and cannot by any man or common-wealth be abrogated Neither is there any inconvenience to set the law as a Judge above the Prince for as Aristotle tells us Polit. l. 3. c. 11. The law where it is plain and perspicuous ought to beat rule because without it no King norâ— Common-wealth can govern And secondly Because the law is just not subject to partiality passion and affection as Princes and other men are and indeed Princes should be so far from disobeying their own laws that they should be the life and soul of the law which of it self is but a dead letter therefore the common saying of that good Emperor Aurelius was Rex viva Lex No Common-wealth can be happy or continue long but where the Prince is as well subject to the law as the People his example will move them to obedience Nec sic inflectere sensus humanosâ— edicta valent ac vita regentis therefore the counsel of Pittaâ—us was good Let not them break the law who make the Law parâ—to legi quisquis legem sanxerit Cap. 29. He is angry with those who say That every private man hath a property in his goods Among the Turks indeed no private man hath any property at all under Christian Princes private men live more happily who enjoy a property yet not simply absolute if we consider that the Prince hath a right to our goods in cases of necessity as in his own and Countries defence and such like cases in this regard no man is born for himself nor hath any man an absolute property in his own life which he ought when occasion urgeth lay down for his Country Dulce decorum pro patria mori therefore Plato saith well That our Country requires a share in our birth the property then of the subject excludeth not the Princes right in cases of necessity but onely his arbitrary power Hence are these sayings Omnia rex imperio possidet singuli dominio Again Ad reges potestas omnium pertinet ad singulos proprietas The power here spoke of is meant of his just lawful not of his arbitrary tyrannical power In his thirty one chapter he makes a needless distinction between the objects of love hope and fear shewing That love hath reference to goodness hope and fear to power the subject of praise is goodness the subject of magnifying and blessing is power David knoweth no such distinction who in the 18. Psalm he loves God for his strength or power and in another Psalm he fears him for his mercy or goodness There is saith he mercy with thee therefore shalt thou be feared So he makes Gods goodness and not his power the object of his hope or belief Psal. 27. I hoped to see the goodness of God in the land of the living so likewise he praiseth God for his strength or power as well as for his goodness Praise him saith he for his mighty acts praise him for his excellent greatness Psal. 150. and in divers Psalms he magnifyeth God for his salvation as well as for his power Now when he saith that this name God is his own name of relation to us he is deceived for this is no name of relation at all his names of relation to us are Creator Redeemer Father Lord King Master c. In his third Part and Chap. 1. He saith That our natural reason is the undoubted word of God But I doubt Leviathan himself for all his great strength and power cannot make this good for Gods word is infallible so is not our natural reason which faileth in many things Gods word saith That a Virgin did conceive and bear a Son That God became man That our bodies shall rise again out of the dust but our natural reason saith this is impossible therefore when St. Paul preached the resurrection to the Athenians who wanted not natural reason enough they thought he had been mad How comes it that the Apostle saith The natural man understandeth not the things of Gods spirit And Christ tells Peter That flesh and blood that is natural reason had not revealed the mystery of his Divinity to him but his Father in Heaven and St. Paul saith That he received not the Gospel of man nor was he taught it but by the revelation of Jesus Christ Gal. 1. 12. And that he was not taught by mans wisdom but by the Holyâ— Ghost 1 Cor. 2. 13. How comes it I say that the Scripture speaks thus in villifying natural reason if it be the infallible word of God yea what need was there of any written word at all if our natural reason be that infallible word doubtless Adam by his fall lost much of his knowledge and natural reason Peter made use of his natural reason when he undertook to disswade Christ from going up to Ierusalem and there to suffer and die but Christ tells him that he favoured the things that be of men but not of God Mat. 16. 23. Our natural reason saith he cap. 32. Is a talent not to be folded up in the napkin of an implicit faith This I grant but I hope he will permit that our natural reason be subject to an explicit faith without which it is impossible to please God and not onely must our reason be subdued to faith but every imagination in us must be cast down and every high thing that exalteth it self against the knowledge of God and every thought must be brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ 2. Cor 10. 5. And whereas he saith cap 32. That our reason must be imployed in the purchase of justice peace and true religion If reason could procure or purchase these blessings the Gentiles of old the Jews and Mahumeâ—ans of latter years might have had them as well as we for in natural reason they are not inferior to us every one of these following the dictates of reason think they have the true Religion as for justice and peace they can never be purchased by reason but by â—aith therefore saith the Apostle being justified by faith we have peace with God through Jesus Christ our Lord but his reason by which he would prove that our natural reason is the undoubted word of God is very feeble for saith he There is nothing contrary to it in