Selected quad for the lemma: authority_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
authority_n	act_n	person_n	power_n	4,318	5	5.0707	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A01955	The trumpet of vvarre A sermon preached at Paules Crosse the seuenth of Maie 1598. By M. Steph. Gosson parson of great Wigborow in Essex.	Gosson, Stephen, 1554-1624.	1598 (1598)	STC 12099; ESTC S112458	41,167	110

request it as the menne of Gibeon did in the tenth of Iosua or at least be willing to be succourd voluntate expressa aut interpretatiua to giue aide to such is to set the helping hand to a iust and honest action The last iniurie of all is inuasion and this is the Title of the Warre in this place Iehoshaphat and his people fight for their wiues children goodes landes their owne liues their religion against the inuader 3 The persons concurring to the action of warre THe third consideration is of the persons that concurre to the action of warre which in this chapter are of foure sortes the Prince the péeres the priests and the common souldier As warre must haue a iust title to make it lawfull so it must also be vndertaken by lawfull authoritie that is the authority of the Prince who as he carries the sworde of Justice to punish domesticall disturbers of the common weale in respect whereof he is said Rom. 13. not to beare the sworde in vaine so he defendeth his people from the sorraine enimy by the sworde of warre and is bound so to do Psal 82. 4. He is charged to saue the poore and oppressed from the hand of the wicked that oppresseth them The reason of it is this that as in a common weale it is requisite there should be an authoritie to punish offences and to kéepe the same in order so in the wide worlde that all kingdomes and commonweales might be preserued it is requisit there shuld be a power authority to punish iniuries this power resting in no one Prince in the worlde as superiour to al other Princes war steps in in the place of iust vindicatiue iudgement God hath left no other meanes vnto Princes to flie vnto Howsoeuer this may séeme to bée controlde by scripture and reason in that Rom. 12. the Apostles councell is Render to no man euill for euill And if priuate reuenge be not to be admitted because the selfe and same person is both a Judge and an actor in his owne cause it may peraduenture be thought as vnfitte for a Prince to be a Judge and an actor in his owne cause Yet is not the reuenge of a Prince cutte off by this The Scripture Rom. 12. forbids priuate reuenge because Reuenge is an acte of vindicatiue Justice which is Actus iurisdictionis an acte of iurisdiction which no priuate person obtaines by reason of any wrōg done to him neuerthelesse if reuenge be taken by authority it is not only not forbiddē by the apostle but commended as a thing necessarie in that he saith Princes and Magistrates are the ministers of God to take vengeance vpon them that doe euill The argument drawn from a priuate person holdeth not in comparison with a Prince A priuate person hath a speedie waie to redresse his owne wrongs by recourse to the authoritie of his superiours a Prince hath no superior vppon earth nor any other redresse than warre if satisfaction haue beene expected and denied A priuate person in taking reuenge in his owne cause may excéede the boundes of iustice there is no such feare in the person of a Prince his authoritie is publike and administerd by publike councell whereby the affections of Princes are easily restrained A priuate person cannot reuenge himselfe because he may not be a Judge and an actor in his owne case a Prince may be a Judge and an actor in his owne case Princes are gods the authoritie of a prince is a little arme of the broad sea of authority which is in God as God reuenging the iniuries done to him and his kingdome is a Judge and an actor in his owne case so a Prince reuenging the iniuries done to him and his dominions may be a Judge and an actor in his owne case The second sort of persons are the Péers which may be diuided into two rankes either they are such as are called to councell of state they are all bounde to giue faithful councell not to deale with their master as Hushai dealt with Absalon when he taught him a trick to ouerthrow himselfe or such as be leaders commanders in the fielde and they are all bound to the acte of fortitude to fight manfully and neither for feare nor flattery nor corruption nor losse of life giue vp the townes and castles committed to their charge without the consent of the prince that committed them to their trust The third be the priests we concurre to this action not to manage armes our warfare is spiritual our weapōs spiritual they be praiers and teares and as Dauid was vnfit to build the temple because he was a warriour so are we vnfit to fight because we are of the temple Yet we cōcurre with the action of warre thus farre we conuerse with the souldier in the field we blesse him and pray for him before the fight and wee praise god for him when the fight is ended The fourth last is the common souldier whose duty S. Iohn Baptist describes Luc. 3. 14. it is to do violence to no mā but to be contented with their pay war being of the nature of iust iudgement souldiours are of the nature of executioners whē they are called forth by authoritie to fight they must remēber that in this case they are inferior instruments vnto God to punish the offences of the wicked fetting him before their eies in these actions they may not consecrate the first fruites of their fingers with robberies outrage vpon their friends as they march along the countries but ioyne with the priest and the Leuite the singers as the souldiers do in this chapter to call vpon the Lord whō they serue in war 4. The execution of the action of warre The last point to be discoursed in the action of warre is the manner how it must be executed which in diuers places of the scripture is verie differēt In this ca. Iehaziel willes them to stand still and looke on without striking stroake but this being a particular direction of Gods spirit for this warre of Iehoshaphat and liable onely to that time it cannot be a president for all other warres at all other times therefore in the execution of warres there be three differences of times to be considered the beginning the progresse and the ende of it In the beginning because reason requireth in the ordinarie affaires of this life aduice and diligence should be vsed answerable to the qualitie of the busines in hand war being the most weighty of all humane affaires there must be counsel deliberatiō to begin it Pro. 24. 6. Thou shalt enterprize thy warre with councell In the 21 verse of this chapter Iehoshaphat enters into consultation about the warre ● here be fiue things in the beginning of warre to be thought vppon the losse of the country against which we fight the losse of the countrie that goes to fight the losse of the church the probabilitie of