Selected quad for the lemma: soul_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
soul_n	ordinance_n	power_n	resist_v	4,907	5	10.4011	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A29209	The serpent salve, or, A remedie for the biting of an aspe wherein the observators grounds are discussed and plainly discovered to be unsound, seditious, not warranted by the laws of God, of nature, or of nations, and most repugnant to the known laws and customs of this realm : for the reducing of such of His Majesties well-meaning subjects into the right way who have been mis-led by that ignis fatuus.	Bramhall, John, 1594-1663.	1643 (1643)	Wing B4236; ESTC R12620	148,697	268

as a thing that is not onely lawfull but necessary to which they are bound by a higher duty unlesse they will be fellonious to themselves and rebellious to Nature That it is not just nor possible for any Nation so far to enslave themselves that there are tacite trusts reservations in all publicke Commands To give him an answer once for all in this point of Resistence First I affirme though it be nothing to us who are free Subjects and might well have been omitted by him as making nought to his purpose that even by the Laws of Nature of Nations and of God one Man or a Society of Men might enslave themselves to another for sustenance or protection All Histories both sacred and profaine are full of Examples and the Law of God is plaine Exod. 21. 6. Levit 25. 47. c. And it seems strange that the Observer should so farr over-reach or beat the aire to no end at all this confessed truth quite overthrowes his whole structure of tacite trusts and conditions and rebellions against Nature Secondly to come nearer our own case I answer that though the Law of Nature cannot be destroyed or contradicted yet it may be limited by the positive Laws of the Land And so it is the Observer will not deny it in his own case though he mete with another measure to his Soveraigne The Charter of Nature intitles man-kind indefinitely to ●…e whole Earth will the Observer therefore give ●…is Neighbour leave to enter as a Coparcener into his Freehold I beleive not but would tell him readily ●…here is a new Charter made by which he holds it that is the Law of the Land It is usuall with these Men to divest Men of all due relations as if it were ●…he same to be a Subject and a Man A Man qua ●…alis might doe many things which in a Subject is ●…lat Treason notwithstanding the Charter of Nature Thirdly beyond and above both these there is the Law of God there is the last Will and Testament of our Saviour by which we hold our hopes of happinesse which to Christians must be as the Pillar of Fire to the Israelites a direction when to go where to stay Here we read of Tyrants and of the sufferings of the Saints but not a word of any tacite trusts and reservations or of any such rebellion against Nature or dispensation with Oaths nor of any resistence by Arms. Certainly there is no one duty more pressed upon Christians by Christ and his Apostles then Obedience to Superiours Give unto Caesar that which is Caesars saith our Saviour Submit your selves to every Ordinance of Man for the Lords sake saith Saint Peter Put them in mind to be subject to Principallities and Powers saith Saint Paul and in that well known place to the Romans Let every Soul be subject to the Higher Powers whosoever resisteth the Powers resisteth the Ordinance of God and they that resist shall receive to themselves Damnation To this evidence of Holy Scripture for want of one good answer the Observer hath devised three bad ones ut quae non vale●…nt singu●… multa juvent the clearing of which will helpe to 〈◊〉 an end to the Controversy First they say The Apostle tells us not which Po●… is highest but that that Power which is the highest 〈◊〉 to be obeyed A strange Evasion the Apostle els●… where names these two together Principallities 〈◊〉 Powers yea in this very Text he expresseth himselfe that by the higher Powers he understands th●… Magistrate vers 3. him that beareth the Sword verse 4. him to whom tribute is payed verse 7. none of all these will agree either to the People or to the Senat●… but to the supreme Magistrate onely which Saint Peter tells us is the King whether it be to the King 〈◊〉 Supreme A second Evasion is this Saint Paul speakes to 〈◊〉 few particular dispersed Men and those in a primitive condition who had no meanes to provide for their own preservation It skills not whether he borrowed this from the Jesuits defuerunt vires they wanted strength or of Buchanan Finge aliquem e nostris Doctoribus Imagine one of our Doctors did write to the Christians which live under the Tunke to poor●… faint-hearted and unarmed Men what other Counsails could he give then Saint Paul did to the Romans Thus they transforme a Precept into a Counsaile I had thought they had allowed no Evangelicall or Apostolicall Counsails and what the Apostle enjoynes to be do●… for Conscience sake verse 5. under paine of Damnation verse 2. they say is to be done for discretion sake under pain of plundering Doe not these Men deserve well of Christian Religion to infuse such prejudicate conceits into the bre●… of Monarchs that Christians are like the frozen snake which if they take into their bosome so soone as ●…he is warmed and inlived they shall be sure to feele ●…er sting for their favours Let Christians be guilt●…esse and let the Mischief fall upon the heads of the ●…editious Contrivers That it was not weaknesse or want of Courage but strength of Faith that kept the Primitive Christians quiet under the persecutions of ●…he Heathen Emperours Tertullian and the Ancients ●…oe abundantly witnesse and it hath been sufficiently cleared by our Divines against the Jesuits This is ●…s Saint Iude saith to have mens persons in admira●…ion because of advantage The third answer whereupon they doe most insist 〈◊〉 that this subjection is due to the Authority of the ●…ing not to the Person of the King that this Authority resideth in his Courts and in his Laws that ●…he Power which Saint Paul treateth of is in truth the Kingly Office that to levie Force or to raise Arms against the Personall commands of a King accompanied with his presence is not levying Warr against the King but Warr against his Authority residing in his Courts is warr against the King Yet ●…et me give the Observer his due he is more favourable to Princes then many of his Fellowes in this that he would have the Person of his Prince inviolable And good reason for what can the poor Kingdome expect where the Person of the Prince is not held sacred but Combustion and confusion witnesse our owne Civill Warres witnesse the Histories of the Gothish Kings and the Romane Emperours from Iulius Caesar to Constantine the great b●… ing five and sorty whereof thirty perished by u●… timely deaths diverse of them good Princes and a●… that while the Common-wealth sympathized in th●… common Calamity No offence can be so great 〈◊〉 that it deserves to be punished by parricide B●… this is a greater Courtesy in shew then in deed if a●… arrow shot at adventure did wound the King of I●… rael mortally between the joynts of his harnesse wh●… shall secure King Charles from a bullet so all thi●… moderation ends in this to give the King wa●… ning to avoide the field or otherwise to

did not fight more n●…bly for their free Customes and Laws of which the Conquerer and his Successors had in part disinherited them by violence and perjury then they which put them to such conflicts for it seems unnaturall to me that any Nation should be bound to contribute its own inherent puissance meerely to abet Tyranny and support Slavery and to make that which is more excellent a prey to that which is of lesse worth And questionlesse a native Prince if meere force be right may disfranchise His Subject as well as a Stranger if he can frame a sufficient party and yet we see that this was the foolish Sinne of Rehoboam who having deserted and rejected out of an intollerable Insolence the Strength of ten Tribes ridiculously sough●… to reduce them againe with the Strength of two Answer This Author intends not to halt on one side onely in this Discourse qui s●…mel verecundiae limites transiverit guavit●… 〈◊〉 esse oportet First That just Conquest in a lawfull Warr acquireth good right of Dominion as well as Possession is so consonant to the universall Opinion and Practise of all Nations yea to ●…he infallible and undoubted Testimony of holy Scriptures that he that denyes it may as well affirme Nil intra est ●…leam nil extra est in nu●…e durum Force is not meere Force where Justice goes hand in hand ●…ith it Omnia dat qui justa negat Neither is this to alter the course of Nature or frustrate the ●…enour of Law but it selfe is the Law of Nature and of Nations Secondly Tha●… Subjects who have not the power of the Sword committed to them after a long time of Obedience and lawfull Succession after Oaths of Allegiance may use force to recover their former Liberty or raise A●…ms to change the Laws established is without all ●…ontradiction bo●…h false and Rebelliou●… They t●…at are overcome saith Iosephus most truely and have long obeyed if they seek to shake off the yoke they do●… the part of desperate Men not of Lovers of Liberty Surely if any Liberty might warrant such Fo●…ce it is the Liberty of Religion but Christ never planted his Religion in blood He cooled his Disc●…ples heat with a sharpe Redargution yee know not of what spirit yee are of It is better ●…o dye innocent then live nocent as the Thebaean Legion all Christans of approved valour answered the bloody Emperour Maximian Cognosce Imperator know O Emperour that we are all Christians we submit our Bodies to thy Power but our free Soules fly to our Saviour neither our known Courage nor Desperation it selfe hath armed us against thee because we had rather dye inn●…cent then live guilty thou shalt find our Hands empty of Weapons but our Brests a●…med with the Catholick Faith So having power to resist yet they suffered themselves to be cut all in pieces The Observer is still harping upon Tyranny and slavery to little purpose he is not presently a Tyrant who hath more Power then Nature did comm●… to him nor he a Sl●…ve who hath subjected himselfe to the Dominion of another That which is done to gain Protection or Sustenance or to avoide the evills of Sedition or to performe a lawfull Ingagement is not meerely done to abet Tyranny and support Slavery Thirdly to the Observers instance of our Ancestours in the Barons Warrs I know not whether Warrs he intends the former or the latter or both This is certain no party gained by them They p●…oved fatall and destructive sometimes to the King sometimes to the Barons sometimes to both and evermore to the People And howsoever the name of free Customs and Laws was mae use of as a plausible pretence yet it is evident that Envy Re●…enge Coveteousnesse Ambition Lust Jealousie did all act their severall parts in them And if there were any as I doubt not there were many who did solely and sincerely aime at the publicke good yet it cannot be denyed there was too much stiffenesse and animosity on both side●… a little yielding and bending is better then breaking outright and more especially Conscience requires it of them who are Subjects and of them who contend for an alteration Pliny relates a Story of two Goats that met in the midst of a narrow planke over a swift current there was no room for one to p●…sse by another neither could turn backward they could not fight it ou●… for the way but with certain perill of dro●…ning them both that which onely remained was that the one couching on the planke made a Bridge for the other to goe over and so both were saved But the Subject is so direfull and tragicall and the remembrance of those times so odious to all good Men that I passe by it as ●…ot much materiall to the Question in hand Both Parties are dead and have made their accounts to God and know long since whether they did well or ill neither can their example either justifie or condemne our actions It is probable there were some Shebahs Trumpetters of Sedition in those dayes as this Author proves himselfe now yet none so apt as these Catalines to cry out against Incendiar●…es It is a good wish of Saraviah that such seditious Authors might ever be placed in the front of the battle Yet thus farre the Authors ingenuity doth lead him to distinguish the Barons then from His Majesties Opposites now The Barons then fought for their Laws not to change the Laws and alter the Government both in Church and Common-wealth which was the very case of the Lincolnshire Yorkeshire and Northren Rebells in the Dayes of Henry the eight and Queene Elizabeth I wish none of His Majesties Subjects were involved in it at this present Fourthly whereas he urgeth that a native Prince may disfranchise His Subjects by Force if He can make a Party as well as Strangers either he intends that he may doe it de facto that is true so may a Thiefe take away an honest mans purse or else that he may doe it de jure lawfully and conscionably that is most untrue There is a vast difference betwixt a just Warre and an unjust Oppression His instance of Rehoboam is quite beside the Cushion his error was threatning and indiscretion the fault they found was with Solomon thy Father hath made our yoke grievous And yet it is most certain they never had so gracious so happy a Reigne as Solomons was for Peace Plenty who made Silver as plentifull as stones and Cedars as Sicamores in Ierusalem So unthankfull we are naturally so soone troubled with triviall matters as Haman was and like flyes feed upon sores leaving the whole Body which is ●…ound This is sure that against Rehoboam was a meditated Rebellion witnesse the place chosen Shechem in the midst of the Faction witnesse their Prolocutor Ieroboam a seditious Fugitive and ungratefull Servant of Solomons by whom he had been preferred they sent for him out of AEgipt And howsoever the