Selected quad for the lemma: duty_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
duty_n	call_v	child_n	parent_n	2,421	5	8.5646	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A59752	A discourse of the rise & power of parliaments, of law's, of courts of judicature, of liberty, property, and religion, of the interest of England in reference to the desines of France, of taxes and of trade in a letter from a gentleman in the country to a member in Parliament.	Sheridan, Thomas, 1646-ca. 1688.	1677 (1677)	Wing S3225; ESTC R16270	94,234	304

yet pick out of both this Truth That tho the Rise of Parliaments like the Head of Nilus be unknown yet they have bin of long standing and of great Power And we shall find it reasonable they shou'd be so if we look back into the grounds and Origin of Goverment which we may suppose to have bin introduc'd by the general consent and agreement of as many Families as upon the encrease of Mankind joyned in one common Society divided the Earth into particular proportions and distinguished between Meum and Tuum To this they were induced by Love not Fear which is but the consequent of that Reason convincing that the enjoyments of life were thus best serv'd and promoted And because that Being and well-Being cou'd not be continued or enjoyed but by the Society of Women and the Products of Labor and that if some wou'd be idle and many covet the same Woman the great Desine of Nature Happiness founded on Living well and in Peace might be perverted into the state of Misery War To prevent the two necessary Consequences Poverty and Death they entred into mutual Compacts Articles or Laws agreeable to that great and fundamental Law of Nature rivited into their Beings To do as they wou'd be done unto That is They resolv'd agreed and promis'd one another to be guided by the Rules of Reason or which is one and the same To continu Men. But because it was probable som yielding too much to their Passions might swerve from this great Rule and so wrong Others as well as Themselves Therefore that no man might be Iudge and Party they unanimously confirmed to the Elder person the continuance of that Right which Nature had given him over the Fruit of his Loynes during its Minority To determin what ever Differences shou'd happen Believing Him as the common Father of the Family to be most impartial and as the longer Experienced the Wisest Man This Power tho Great exceeded not the Limits of their then-enacted Laws in their tru and natural Meaning which they took care to make very few and plain That all Disputes and Intricacies not only the Disturbers but Destroyers of Iustice might be avoided And finding they were not only lyable to Danger at Home but from Abroad from such other Societies as had already or might afterwards set up for themselves and that it was not possible for all to watch against these Dangers they therefore resolv'd to put that Care into the Hands of one Man for which great Undertaking the Coward as the Fool if those two really differ were equally unfit Inconsideration in the One being what Fear is in the Other a Betraying of the succors which Reason offers Nature then by giving their Iudge most Authority Wisdom and Conduct which with tru Courage the Effect also in a great measure of Experience are the great Qualifications of a General desin'd him for that Honor which the People readily confirm'd promising Obedience and investing him with the Power of making War and Peace But at his Instance reserving to themselves the Liberty of Examining and approving the Reasons Which the Great and Wise Captain judg'd convenient knowing without the Consent of All he cou'd not but want the Assistance of Som which might dis-able him to defend himself or them whereupon the Ruin of the Whole must inevitably follow And because the Prince his whole time must be employed in this great Work part of which was the preparing his Son for the Succession by instilling into him the necessary Seeds the Principles of Vertu Religion Wisdom Courage Munificence and Iustice The People willingly agree'd to entail upon Him and his Successors a certain Excisum or Proportion of every Man's Labor answerable to the Occasions of the Public and to the particular State and Grandeur necessary for the Support and Maintenance of his Authority and Reputation But because a greater proportion was needful for extraordinary accidents as of War c. They set apart annually another Quota to remain for such Uses in a kind of public Bank so to be order'd as might greatly increase their common Treasure and do good to the poorer sort of Laborers and Trades-men and maintain in Hospitals such Impotents or aged Persons as shoud be disabled to make Provisions for themselves The Revenu they made Great enoff as wel as Certain that the Prince might not ly under any necessity of contriving from time to time new Artifices and Wayes of raising Money that great Rock of Offence on which they foresaw no Prince could stumble without Vexation Animosities and Hatred not only discomposing the Happiness but occasioning the Overthrow of any State And so the People being sure of the Remainder they proportion'd their Expence to their Gettings The former they moderated not only by prudent Sumptuary Laws but by the hazard of their Reputations esteeming it infamous not to lay up yearly somthing of their Labors by which Course the Public Taxes became easie Which they made perpetual that their Children shoud be under a necessity of following their Examples of Thrist and so might likewise be insensible of the Burden Fore-seeing that Taxes impos'd upon People who are so far from saving ought that they account themselves good Husbands if they do but yearly make both Ends meet beget il Blood murmuring and discontent crying that the Bread is taken out of their Mouths or the Cloths from their Backs which are often followed by the evil Consequences of Rebellions and the Subversion of the Common wealth For such never consider That their own Extravance made those imaginary Needs which when they happen are no otherwise to be removed but by moderating former Expences Thus they wisely contriv'd and interwove the perpetuating the Subjects Safety and the Princes Dominion never secure but when founded on mutual Love and Confidence I do not find the practice of this Policy any where so wel continued as in the States of Venice and Holland which has preserved the first about 12 Centuries and made the later increase so prodigiously in less than one Now because they foresaw the products of their Labor wou'd exceed their Expences and that the remainder wou'd be useful for commutations with their Neighbor for som of their Commodities but that in driving this Trade they wou'd be exposed on Sea to Pyracies c. To make their Navigation safe they agreed that the public for securing them shoud receive by way of praemium or insurance a certain Excisum out of all things Exported or imported which we now cal Customes And lest the too great desire of Wealth shou'd make them forgetful of their Duty to God their Parents and their Country that is to one another They ordain'd that a sufficient number of the Elders of the People grave sober discreet persons shou'd at certain times set apart for that purpose remind them of their Duty in every of those particulars and also instruct their Children in the Laws of God and of their Country And

few honest be as much secured as possible When the Parliament have setled the Laws I wish they woud think of som more fitting restraint of Offences than what the penal Statutes direct almost for every crime The Loss of Life If we examin the severity of this practice we shall find it contrary to the Law of nature the positive Law of God Thou shalt not Kil and ineffective of the intent of Laws Amendment Self preservation is the chief design of Nature To better which and not to destroy it was the ground and end of Goverment and Laws which makes it contrary to Reason That any Means shoud be made or declared such which were destructive of the end for which they were made If then the loss of life as it most certainly do's puts an end to al earthly happiness 't is evident that it never was nor ever coud be judg'd an Instrument productive of that end perhaps it may be said that this may be true of every single man as such and yet may be false when consider'd with respect to the whole as a Member of the Society I answer It can't be true in the later if false in the former Because we must believe that at first every man consider'd what was absolutely best for himself without any respect to another on whom he cannot be suppos'd otherwise to look then as he was or might be subservient to his own particular and immediate happiness And since the whole is made up but of several individuals it must be granted that every of them had the same considerations and since it was not in the power of any to transfer that right to another which nature had deny'd to himself we may then safely conclude it is against the Law of nature i. e. against reason to believe that the power of Life or Death ' by consent of al without which there was no law coud at first be vested in any supreme power and that the useing of it does naturally put us into a state of war the Evil because directly destructive of Happiness design'd to be avoided This is a truth imply'd in the Law of England not only by binding the Criminals to restrain their Warring but also by the punishment inflicted on Felo's de se which supposes no man to have power over his own life as certainly he must have had if he coud have given it to another Nor wil the difficulty be remov'd whether we derive goverment either of the other two ways Paternal right or the immediat gift of God for Parents had no such Power by nature in the state whereof we are al equal We are little more oblig'd to them for our being than to the influence of the Sun both as to us are involuntary causes that which binds children to an indispensable duty of gratitude is the parents care in providing for their wel-being when they are unable to shift for themselves and their giving them virtuous education that which is of al the truest obligation than which nothing is among us more neglected which has made som at the gallows not without cause take up the advice of Iobs Wife against God first curse their parents and then dye Children may indeed be ungrateful which is the worst or the Al of crimes but parents cannot revenge this by death without being unjust because there ought to be a proportion between the crime and the Punishment and a warrantable Authority in him that inflicts it which in this case are al wanting for Ingratitude Theft Rapin and what ever else is practis'd by the wicked are in themselves repairable and the sufferer may in an equal measure be compensated for his loss for bona fortunae or the goods of Fortune are exterior to us and consequently accidental and when we are despoil'd of them by any we have ful satisfaction by a restitution in specie or in value this cours is the measure and square of al Civil contracts for if I detain wrongfuly the mony you lent me I am compellable but to repay you Why then shoud it be Capital to take your Horse without consent when either restitution or a punishment more commensurate to the Offence may be had As for the authority of the punisher which must be warrantable it is plain the Father has no such over the Children who in the state of Nature are equal with him for since he gave not the Being he cannot legally take it away and for the Act destroy the Agent punishment being design'd not only for the terror of others but for the amendment of the Offender To destroy then the last that such as are guiltless may continue so is to my apprehension a piece of the highest Injustice Besides no Prince claims a right over the Subjects Life what ever he does to his Crown otherwise than by the positive Laws of the Land which suppose the man himself to have given that power by his consent which is already prov'd impossible Therefore we may conclude the inflicting of Death is against the positive Law of God who has reserv'd this to himself as a peculier Prerogative and altho he has allow'd the Rulers of the Earth to share in his Titles yet least they shoud intrench on his Honor of which he is very jealous by exceeding the bounds of Reason he immediatly subjoyns but ye shal dy like men to put them in mind that they were to act as such It cannot then be suppos'd that human constitution can make that just which the Almighty declares unlawful He that does so sets himself up above al that is called God destroys moral good and evil makes Vertue and Vice but only names which if allow'd we may bid farwel to the People and Princes security for this roots up the very Foundations of Peace on Earth as wel as joy in Heaven Nor will it serve to say This was practised in the Iewish Common-wealth That was God's own peculiar Province and He that was sole Author of Life might dispose on 't at his pleasure and tho every part of that Oeconomy be not accountable yet 't is not without good Grounds suppos'd because the Iews Happiness or Misery seems to have consisted in the enjoyment or want of Temporal Blessings that the taking away Life here was in lieu of that punishment which Sinners under the Gospel are to receive in another Life And unless Human Laws might as immediatly be call'd His and that every Magistrat were a Moses I coud not believe it lawful for them to follow that Example especially considering that they do not write after this Copy in the punishment of al Crimes I will not make Comparison in many yet I can't but take notice that Idolaters and Inciters to it were there punisht with Death while among us Atheism and Irreligion do not only go free but the Professors of those admirable good Qualities pass for Wits and Virtuoso's Drunkenness and Gluttony are esteem'd as Marks of good Breeding computing the Abilities of

what further we shal desire for the better security of our Liberties Properties and Religion why then shoud any think He woud not esteem it his own as wel as People's Interest to consult often and upon all suddain occasions with his Parliament For my own part I shoud rather believe by continuing this so long that he woud not be against their Assembling thrice a Year as by the Grace of former Kings was accustom'd for many Years before and after the Conquest But to put all Iealousies to silence The Parliament in settling and appropriating the Revenu to particular Uses may as they have already begun to do in the Act for building thirty Ships Grant it under a kind of Condition or Proviso viz. That the respective Officers give a ful Account of the Employment thereof unto the Parliament at least once in every three Years Otherwise all farther Leavies of the same to cease c. Having said thus much in general of Taxes I com now to the partic●lar Branches I have already shew'd the Inconvenience of the Customs c. determining with the King's Life I wil further add That the Book of Rates ought to be Reviewed and in the new one a greater Consideration had of the Usefulness and Necessity of the Commodities in placing the Imposition on them viz. rating all the allow'd Commodities of France much higher than they are raising the Duty of their Wines to be at least equal with that on those of Spain I never yet coud be satisfy'd what induc'd the Compilers of that Book to rate Spanish Wines higher than those of France since the height of Duty is a sort of Prohibition which ought to be more taken care of in the Trade with France by which we are vast Loosers than in that with Spain which is a gainful one The best Reason I could find is That they did it inconsideratly taking it as they found it left by the long Parliament who by the sense of Revenge for the War were induced so to treat the Spaniard One might have thought the last Impost on French Wines woud have lessen'd their Importation which Colbert the Financer observing it had not don I was assur'd at my Return in August by Fontainbleau that in his Measures for the next Years Charge he valued his Master 100000 on that Account not doubting but the Parliament woud take off that Duty of Wine which woud give him opportunity to put so much on That at this the French King smil'd and said For such a kindn●ss he shoud be oblig'd and woud no more cal them Petite maison But I hope notwithstanding his scornful quibble he wil find such sober resolutions in that house as wil set him a madding and that instead of taking off that duty he may perceive more put on which is indeed the only effectual way to prohibit the importation of these vast quantities of French goods by which England is greatly Impoverisht To lessen the Trafic of his People is the first step to lower him which I am perswaded is best don by imposing an excessive high duty upon all the commodities and contriving the Act so that nothing shoud pass duty free this course woud be a better restraint than absolute prohibition And 't is the method he himself has taken in the trade with us which he had long since wholly forbid but that upon examination he found it was driven to above 1600000 l. Advantage to his subjects and loss to those of England this rather yearly increasing than decreasing wil at length quite ruin us if not prevented and yet notwithstanding he imposes upon our cloaths four shillings an Ell as a sumptuary law to oblige his Subjects to the use of their own manufactures The next is the Excise which if equaly imposed were the best and easiest of all taxes To make it so after the manner of Holland it ought to be laid upon all things ready to be consum'd This puts it into the Power of every Man to pay more or less as he resolves to live loosely or thriftily by this course no Man pays but according to his Enjoyment or actual Riches of which none can be said to have more than what he spends tru Riches consisting only in the use But the present Excise is grievous because heavyer on the poor Laborers and meaner sort of People than on the Rich and Great who do not pay above a Tenth of what the others do and considering that most of the Noble and Privat Families out of London Brew their own Drink it falls yet heavier on the Poorer sort and wil at last on the State for the common Brewers do already complain that they dayly lose their Trade many of their Customers even in London Brewing for themselves to save the Imposition To speak the Truth In good Conscience this Branch ought to have been imposed on the Nobles and Estated-Men rather than on the Artificer and Laborers who were very slenderly concern'd in the Grounds of it viz. the taking away the Wardships and Purveyance which was so great an Advantage to the Public especially the Richer That that Act of Grace and Condescension in his Majesty which freed us and our Posterity from great Inconveniences and greater sines of Subjection ought never to be forgotten This Act gave us a greater Propriety and Liberty than ever we had before and must the Poor chiefly pay for the benefit of the Rich Let it not be told to the Generations to com that an Act so unequal was contriv'd by those who study only the public Interest let it then be review'd and either made general on all public and privat Brewers by which the Rich wil stil have advantage of the Poor according to the difference between strong and smal Beer For to allow Public Brewers and prohibit all privat ones as is practis'd in the low Countries woud never be endur'd in England Or rather let it be plac'd on Malt or taken quite off and laid on the Land as a perpetual Crown Rent Or let there be a general Excise the most equal Tax that possibly can be devis'd on all consum'd Commodities of our own growth or imported which ought to be managed by proper Officers the Farming of any part of the Revenu being of evil Consequence as I coud shew at large both to the State and People The Hearth Mony is a sort of Excise but a very unequal one too the smoak on 't has offended the eyes of many and it were to be wisht that it were quite taken away and somthing in lieu thereof given to the Crown less offensive to the peoples senses I have heard many say That an imposition on Licenses for selling of Ale Strong Waters Coffee Syder Mum and all other Liquors and for Victualling-Houses might be as beneficial to the Crown and so order'd as might prevent or discover High-way-Men c. I have read among the Irish Statutes one to this purpose obliging among other things the Inn-keepers c.