Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	place_n	see_v	time_n	2,364	5	3.2293	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A81910	Considerations concerning the present Engagement, whether it may lawfully be entered into; yea or no? / Written at the desire of a friend, by J.D. November 27. 1649. Imprimatur, Joseph Caryl.	Dury, John, 1596-1680.	1649 (1649)	Wing D2842; Thomason E584_12; ESTC R205387	21,796	26

that they are not without a judicature over them in those places for the subordinate Officers belonging to a state are bound to judge of the rights of those that are over them both by which they stand in their places of supremacy and by which they proceed in their actings toward subjects least they be made the instruments of Arbitrary power and Tyranny and then also the law-making power which in all Nations resides by the law of Nature in the convention of the Representatives of the whole body of the people whether it be made up of the heads of familes or of chosen Deputies who are intrusted with a delegated power from all the rest doth make or unmake rights in all places and persons within it self as it from time to time doth see cause As for the Law of necessity which begetteth war whereby God is immediately appealed unto by those that pretend to have no Superiors on earth that he may judge of their rights whatsoever his hand doth determine in the event is to be counted the right of those in favour of whom the determination is made by his judgement By these rules then quiet your mind according to your place concerning the right which the present powers have to Rule do not take upon you to define matters whereof you are no competent judge you are made a competent judge only of your own actions which belong to a subject as you are under a visible and uncontroulable power which God hath set over you and your duty is to submit thereunto in all things agreeable to the will of God judging your self that you put no stumbling block or an occasion of offence in any mans way Rom. 14 13 yet I will not say but in the judgement of discretion as you are a member of this Common-wealth and concerned in the publick welfare thereof you may look upon your superiours to see how they pretend to stand that is by what apparent right and with what visible power they possess their places but this you ought not to do so peremptorily as to oblige your conscience as to be suspended upon the observations which you shall happen to make of them and their proceedings as if your private iudgement in such cases should be the Rule by which you ought to walk in point of obedience I say you ought not to set up this judgement of yours so high within your self and over others as to drown the thoughts of all other rules but you ought to limit it as I have said before within the bounds of Christianity and discreet rationallity wherein that I may help you yet a little further Consider soberly with your self what can be answered to this plea which they will alleadge for themselves 1. Whether yea or no the Nationall tye and association by which we were a Common-wealth while we were yet called a Kingdome hath ever been dissolved 2. If it hath not been dissolved what hath kept it entire in the middest of all these shakings was is not a Parliament and the subordination of all Officers throughout the nation under it 3. And if a Parliament is still remaining and all subordinate Officers in places of judicature and execution stand under it throughout the whole nation so that all men may have a legal protection from injuries what is there wanting to a lawfull power and government 4. If nothing be wanting to a legall protection for those that acknowledge the jurisdiction then such as acknowledge it not do put themselves out of that protection and if they resist the power which God hath set over them for the publick good and which is actually fully possest with al the places of publick administration they resist the Ordinance of God and they that resist this Ordinance saith the Apostle shall receive to themselves damnation Rom. 12.2 As for the point of enquiry how these particular men in whose hands the power and government is are come to their present places whether in a legall way or that which you call usurpation it doth not belong to the Conscience of any man who is in a private station to determine peremptorily far lesse upon his determination to suspend his actings towards the publique good Yet if in this also you desire to reflect upon the passages of Right without oblieging your Conscience to stand engaged either way by that which you shall observe I shall further suggest these heads of matters appliable unto the case of those whom you suspect to be usurpers unto your impartiall meditation as a Plea which they do alledge for themselves First Whether yea or no it be any way unjust by the law of Nature among men that are equals to resist force with force Secondly If it be just among equals to resist force with force the second point will be to consider Whether he that invades another mans naturall right or he that defends his own is to be accounted the Usurger Thirdly If he that invades and seeks to deprive another man of his right be the Usurper then he that by resistance is deprived of that whereof he attempted to deprive his neighbour is not wronged by way of usurpation but justly defeated of the power which he did abuse Now they will say that the case was thus first between the King and Parliament if you count them Equals which is the least can be given say they to a Parliament by the Law of Nature and Nations and then afterward between the one party and the other in the Parliament the same case was acted again as between Equals whereupon the City Militia on the one hand and the Army on the other was depending and see on work for action And how far these powers having dashed those that prevailed did think themselves necessitated to settle the safety of the Common-wealth in their own way and what settlement that hath by Gods permission brought forth and upon what ground it now stands I shall not need to represent unto you only the sober consideration of the grounds which the party accused of usurpation doth alleadge for its proceedings are to be thought upon indifferently without prajudicat affectus if you will free your Conscience from a snare And this shall suffice also concerning the first branch of your second doubt but let us now come to the second branch thereof which supposing the power to be usurped doth question how far by taking the Engagement you become accessary to the guilt thereof To this question I shall answer briefly thus That the Engagement being a duty just to be required by the present Powers from their subjects without the performance of which there is no protection due unto them and necessary to be performed by all that will not professe themselves desirous to overthrow the present safety and publique wellfare of the nation it cannot make those that take it accessary to the guilt of those that tender it if any be in them because the performance of a thing good in it self