Selected quad for the lemma: ground_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
ground_n	divine_a	faith_n	reason_n	1,608	5	5.7687	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
B00232	Christian policie: or The christian common-wealth. Published for the good of Kings, and Princes, and such as are in authoritie vnder them, and trusted with state affaires. / Written in Spanish, and translated into English..; República y policía christiana. English. 1632	Juan de Santa María, fray, d. 1622.; Blount, Edward, fl. 1588-1632.; Mabbe, James, 1572-1642?	1632 (1632)	STC 14830.7; ESTC S1255	347,168	505

is the naturall miserie of great and powerfull persons that Enuie and Greatnesse go alwayes hand in hand the one still accompanying the other And there is not any poyson like vnto it which moues and stirres vp such violent pangs and passions in the stomacke and more especially if it worke vpon the priuacie and inwardnesse of Fauourites with their Kings as if that it selfe were not a true and sufficient strong poyson Seeing that it is held for certaine that one word of a King nay which is more one angry looke or bended brow hath sent many a Fauourite to his graue For as Salomon saith the life of the Subiect depends on the countenance of the King And if we will not beleeue him let vs see and obserue how many Fauourites escape which doe not dye of that wound or the feare thereof and more particularly with those Kings which are of that condition as one said that there is not two fingers breadth betweene their smile and their sword to the end that this their priuacie might bee had in the lesse esteeme For your best Fauourites are but like your better sort of fruits which are soonest subiect to be worme-eaten For Enuie is a very worme and hath the same qualities as a worme hath and spreads it selfe so farre that it extends it selfe euen to those that haue beene benefited by the Fauourite the couetousnesse and risentment of that which they doe not receiue working more vpon them then the Law of thankfulnesse or of a gratefull acknowledgement for that which they haue receiued So that wee may say That few are they who loue those from whose hand they haue receiued some good because it was no greater And those that haue receiued none that they are therein iniured and wronged So that to qualifie and temper this inconuenience it shall be wisedome in Fauourites and it will concerne them to vse all the meanes they can deuise to effect it to procure to bee wellbeloued And no lesse in Kings to seeke out such as are modest louing affable vertuous honest well beloued and of a gratefull and thankfull disposition CHAP. XXXV How Kings ought to carry themselues towards their Fauourites FOr to resolue this Question and to giue satisfaction to that which is here proposed in this Chapter it being a matter of so tender and dangerous a touch I will first lay for my foundation a true point of doctrine in naturall Philosophie celebrated with that sentence of the glorious Saint Austen Amor meus pondus meum illo feror quocunque feror The plummet which peaseth man and the wings wherewith the heart makes it's flight is loue which doth leade the dance to all the other passions of the soule And as those that saile in a deepe sea with full sailes runne on their course without any danger but when they draw neare the shore they take them downe and ruffle them that they may not runne their ship vpon some shelfe or split it selfe against some rocke so likewise when the heart is lifted vp vnto the loue of God which is infinite goodnesse it may without perill plough the seas of this world and with full sayles cut the Maine without danger of shelues quick-sands or rockes For according to that saying of the glorious Saint Bernard as the cause of our louing God is God himselfe so the measure of louing him is to loue him without measure Causa diligendi Deum Deus est modus dilectionis fine modo diligere As the cause of our loue is infinite so must it be without taxe or limitation wherein there can be no excesse But when the heart drawes but little water and touches too close vpon these things of the earth which haue their goodnesse much limited it will be high time and very fit and conuenient to strike the sayles of our loue and to go on with a great deale of caution and consideration lest this our vessell should sticke in the sands neuer to bee gotten out againe or fall vpon some rocke or other of vnaduisednesse and indiscretion And this is so certaine a truth that albeit the loue to our parents be so naturall and obligatory and so giuen vs in charge by God with the promises of so many blessings on those children which shall cumply with this loue and with so many threatnings on those that shall faile therein yet notwithstanding God himselfe will that therein there should be a limitation and moderation Mat. 10.37 Qui amat patrem aut matrem plus quam me non est me diguus He that loueth father or mother more then me is not worthy of me And the common old Adage saith That friendship must go no further then vsque ad aras and stop there And howbeit some would haue the limit which is here put to loue to be Death I say that it's limit is Reason and obedience to Gods Commandements For when our Loue shall come to encounter with them it is to make a stand and go no further Our second ground or foundation whereon we shall build is this That in Kings next vnto the loue of God and his Christian Religion no loue ought to be like vnto that which they ought to beare vnto their kingdomes and common-wealths for the end for which Kings were first instituted and ordained was the common good of their kingdomes And as children haue a naturall obligation to loue their parents because from them they haue receiued their naturall being so Kings owe the like to their kingdomes and Commonwealths because next vnder God they gaue them their being of Kings and that power and authoritie whereby they were to protect defend and augment them Vpon these grounds and foundations must that loue and friendship be laid which is to be held with Fauourites Louing them and giuing them power and authoritie conformable to that which for this end shall be thought most conuenient Senec. lib. 1. Epist 3. For albeit they as Seneca saith keepe the key of their Kings heart and in matters of secresie and benefits are preferred before the rest yet this must be done with a Christian kinde of prudence and discretion Hauing euermore an especiall care that the force of his loue be not so violent and so boundlesse that to giue content to one sole Fauourite hee discontent all the rest of his Subiects and to shew himselfe faithfull and true vnto him breake that faith and truth which he owes vnto God and his diuine Law And that he proceed likewise therein with that freedome and libertie that his Loue may not passe the bounds of reason nor bee like some ships that are runne on ground so surely setled that he cannot get off when hee will and to turne that loue into hatred and a full determination and resolution of punishment when the faults of a Fauourite shall deserue his iust displeasure Non habitabit in medio domus meae Psal 101.7 qui facit superbiam c. Whoso hath a proud looke and an

knew very well that in the obseruance of Religion and Catholicke faith all the happinesse that we can hope for in this or that other life dependeth thereupon and hath it 's sure ground and foundation Heb. 11.1 And therefore Saint Paul calls it Substantiam rerum sperandarum c. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the euidence of things not seene c. For it is the foundation whereupon is built in our soules all our spirituall good insomuch that the selfe same Apostle said Sine fide c. Without faith it is impossible to please God And seeing it is a Iewell of such great worth and value Kings are to make that esteeme of it that they doe not onely retaine it but maintaine and defend it especially in their owne kingdomes and in all other places where they haue any power For besides the obligation which they haue as Christian Kings it concernes them likewise in their owne proper interest For in giuing way to their Subiects that they be not faithfull vnto God it will pull that punishment vpon them that they shall not be loyall vnto them And most certaine it is that they who shall not cumply with the greater obligation shall easily faile in the letter And this is made cleare vnto vs in the sacred History of the Kings where whosoeuer shall diligently obserue the same hee shall finde That after Ieroboam King of Israel 3. King 13. had set vp those Idolls in Dan and Bethel of purpose to withdraw the people from the true worship of God were commended and continued as there wee may reade the treasons and rebellions of the Subiects against their Kings For this vnfortunate Prince thought with himselfe that for to settle and secure himselfe in the kingdome by those ten Tribes which had rebelled and made choice of him for their King that it would be a good meanes to induce them to his deuotion to draw them to forgo the adoration of the true God which they were wont to performe in the holy Citie and Temple of Ierusalem and to humble and prostrate themselues before those Idolls But the iust vengeance of God ouertooke him for instantly thereupon he lost his eldest sonne who dyed a violent death For Baasha the sonne of Ahijah of the house of Issachar conspired against him and smote him at Gibbethon and anon after all the house of Ieroboam not leauing vnto him any that breathed And not onely hee and his did miscarry but the whole kingdome was laid waste and desolate for that sinne and led away captiue And as when one man hath receiued from another some extraordinary great wrong he can hardly forget it so vpon all occasions wherein mention is made of the sinnes of the Kings which afterwards succeeded and of the punishment which they deserued for them still is the remembrance reuiued of this most grieuous sinne of Ieroboams and are attributed vnto him as being the first that opened the gappe vnto them And all those troubles which are there particularly set downe in those sacred bookes befell that kingdome for a punishment to them and a warning to all Christian Kings that by how much the greater light they haue for to know the excellencie of Faith and the truth of Christian Religion so much the lesse are they to be obeyed and the more seuerely to bee punished if they should be wanting to so great and so apparent an obligation Let Christian Kings therefore know that if they shall continue firme in the faith and cause all their subiects to continue constant therein God will protect both King and people and will establish their kingdomes and all shall obey and feare them but if they shall faile therein all runs to wracke and vtter ruine So that as a naile if you will haue it to hold must be fastened in some other thing that is firme and strong lest it and all that hangs thereon come tumbling downe to the ground So in like manner if a King will vphold himselfe firme and sure in his power Maiestie and greatnesse hee must be firmely fixed to the faith strongly vnited with God and close wedged to his diuine will but if he begin once to sinke or shrinke in this all his kingdomes or whatsoeuer depend thereon come tumbling downe to the ground with a sudden and fearefull fall For nothing doth more vphold a sociable life a Monarchie and kingdome then Religion linked with Iustice Noah for his Religion and Iustice was after the Flood obeyed by all The Romans for the vpholding and inlarging of their Empire held not any meanes comparable to that of Religion and Iustice wherein they surpassed all of those times The Emperour Seuerus being at the point of death which is a time for men to speake truth ended his life with these words Firmum imperium filijs meis relinquo si boni erunt Imbecille si mali A strong Empire leaue I to my Sonnes if they proue good a weake if bad For the greatest force and strength of a kingdome both for the present and the future is the vertue of it's king So that with no lime and sand are the walls and foundations of States more firme and surely setled for lasting and continuance then with a Kings vertue and goodnesse Which is that recompence and reward which God promised to his most faithfull seruant Dauid for his vertue Firmaboregnum ei●s st●●ili●● ebronum regni eius in sempitern●● I will establish his kingdome and I will stablish the throne of his kingdome for euer That is the title and dignitie of a King should bee continued and confirmed vnto him tanquam in vsum proprietatem for euer and euer This firmnesse in the faith and this obseruance of Religion and Iustice are those 〈◊〉 pillars and columnes which being truly cumplyed withall do not onely vphold for the present but doe likewise increase and perpetuate kingdomes 3. Reg. 22. If good King Iehosaphat had not entred into league and amitie with King Ahab the Idolater it had not fallen out with him so ill as it did nor his ●i●e beene put to that danger as it was 1. Mac. 8.9 Iudas Machab●●s heard ●●ll of the great and famous deeds that the Romanes had c●●e in feares of Armes being a stranger Nation to Gods people Whereupon he sent his Ambassadours vnto them to make a perpetuall league and confederation with them Wherewith God was much displeased and so hurtfull vnto them was this ●●●●tie and alliance that many haue obserued that after this Peace was concluded betweene them Iudas neuer after obtained any victory ouer his enemies but was slaine in the first battell that he fought And some say the like succeeded to both his brothers Ionathan and Simeon Let vs draw then from this discourse and sound aduice of this Catholike Emperour how much it importeth Kings to maintaine their faith and Religion and to conserue and vphold the same in all their kingdomes and dominions Now for to

the more licence of offending and open mercie proclaimed Crueltie Let the end of this discourse be that the Councells and Counsellers being seated and setled in the forme aforesaid the King likewise apply himselfe to treat truth with them and to deale plainely with them in whatsoeuer businesses shall offer themselues to be debated of And let him not perswade himselfe that there are too few of euery Councell for if they be chosen and selected men few will suffice and many serue to no other end but to trouble each other and to delay businesses For howbeit it be true that it is euermore good to heare the opinions of all for to ventilate and sifte out a cause throughly yet the determination ought to passe through the hands of a few but withall good and experienced persons that they may not erre in their sentence Of the Emperour Alexander Seuerus who was a man of singular wisdome it is reported that for the resolution of those businesses which he vndertooke he called onely vnto him such Counsellours to whom such businesse did more properly appertaine and had most knowledge and experience in that Aelius Lampr. in vita Alexan. Se ueri which was to be treated Vndè si de Iure tractaretur solos doctos in consilum adhibebat Si verò de re militari milites veteres senes ac bene meritos locorum peritos c. So that if it were a Law-businesse he onely called the Learned in the Lawes to Councell if of warfare olde beaten Soldiers aged and well-deseruing Captaines and of approued experience in their place And so in the rest Arist lib. 8. Polit. cap. 6. For as the Philosopher saith Impossibile est vel certè admodum difficile vt qui ipsa opera non tractat peritè valeat iudicare It is impossible or at least certainly very hard for to iudge iudiciously of those things wherein a man was neuer yet imployd But that which hath beene a mans Office and continuall Exercise in this he must needs be wise and cannot choose but speake well to the point Quilibet ad ea idoneus est Plato lib 21. de fortitud in quibus sapit saith Plato Some there are that are wise but like the Troians too late They know what is to be done but are too long in doing it and therefore it is necessary to adde hands to Counsell and force to wisedome yet still allowing the Councell so much time as things may come to their true ripenesse and maturitie For as it is in the Prouerbe Harto prestò se haze lo que bien se haze That is quickely done that is well done And very necessary is that pause and breathing wherewith Kings goe ripening great businesses And exceeding fit it is that they should goe soberly to worke take time and leasure inough and that in their consultations they should vse feete of leade but in the execution of them hands of steele Which being once well grounded and both the Conueniences and Inconueniences throughly weighed though in these great and weighty affaires there are neuer some wanting that will follow that part which hath least ground for it and yet perswade themselues that they onely are in the right and that all the reason in the world is on their side let them goe roundly to worke and after a concluded consultation let them shew themselues constant in the execution thereof For as another Philosopher said Cunctanter aggrediendum est negotium verùm in suscepto Diog. Lacre constanter perseuerandum A maine businesse must haue a slow motion but when the wheeles are once set a going they must neuer stand still till it haue finished it's intended worke And the Prophet Esay Isay 11.2 ioyned the spirit of fortitude to that of Councell For Counsaile little auaileth that is deuoid of force and strength to execute Vile est Consilium saith Pope Gregory cui robur fortitudinis deest That Counsaile is vile and base that wants true mettall Let Counsell I say be slow sauour of the lamp but let the Execution be quicke as lightening For as mortall are those wounds those diseases to which remedy is giuen too late as those to whom none is giuen at all To what end therefore I pray serue your Iuntas vpon Iuntas reference vpon reference your long and large Consultations your viewings and reuiewings if after all this great adoe all is roll'd and shut vp in paper Whereas in all reason nay and right too how much the more time there hath beene spent in consulting so much the more speede and force ought to be vsed in Executing For on good Counsaile and quicke Execution consist your good ends and all prosperous successe CHAP. XIIII It is demanded by way of Question Whether Kings ought inuiolably to obserue the foresaid Order ARt is Natures Ape and imitates her all she can And by so much the more perfect an Artificer and more cunning workeman is he accounted who shall seeme to come neerest in his worke to that great Master and Maker of Nature and whatsoeuer is naturall wherein as hath already beene sayd is conserued and kept that firme and constant Law and first commandement which he imposed vpon all things in the beginning of their creation Who likewise hath and doth still keepe a wonderfull correspondency in those very things conseruing them in their operations working and operating continually by their meanes and helpe and honouring them with the name and essence of secundary Causes though he himselfe be the primary naturall cause in that working So that the fire hath alwaies perfourmed that Office wherin God placed it to wit To burne or heate And when he hath beene pleased to worke these effects he hath made vse of them for that purpose as well vpon occasion of his wrath and chasticement as of his loue and cherishment When he was willing to destroy and consume those Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah Gen. 19.24 he did not make vse of water but of fire which he sent among them to execute his iudgement vpon that occasion And for to Regular and make much of that Mirrour of patience Iob and to exercise him in that vertue Ignis cecidit è caelo tactas oues puerosque consumpsit The fire of God is fallen from heauen Iob. 1.16 and hath burnt vp the sheepe and the seruants c. For to throw downe the house and at one blow to kill all his children that were met together to make merry he made vse of the Winde For to drowne the world he serued himselfe with the water and in the desert he drew water out of the Rocke to quench the thirst of his people and to preserue them from perishing So that Life Death and Health which God can giue solely of himselfe yet will he haue it be wrought by the helpe and meanes of those secundary naturall Causes And euen at the day of iudgement he will make vse of all these for

if he be defectiue in this For kingdomes last no longer then Iustice lasteth in them And true it is that there is no winde shut vp in the bowells of the earth which causeth therein such violent effects of Earth-quakes as in those kingdomes which thinke themselues surest and firmest doe the complaints and greiuous sighes of the wronged poore And therefore let none whatsoeuer be they Kings great Ministers or Counsellours of State slightly reckon of the cries of the poore For they referring their reuenge to God they draw him downe from Heauen to right their quarrell And the basest and most barbarous man in the world when he sees himselfe wronged and can finde none vpon earth to pleade his cause or to doe him right he presently lifts vp his eyes vnto Heauen and makes his addresse vnto God assuring himselfe that his helpe will come from thence And it was well said of a Wise man That the wronged are like vnto those that are ready to be drowned who if they fasten vpon any thing neuer let it goe so these men when they are in danger to be sunke by being forcibly kept vnder water by the oppressours hand lay fast hold on complaints cryes sighes and teares as the last remedy allotted them by God who saith That he will heare the petitions and receiue the Memorialls of the afflicted which are written with teares A maxilla enim ascendunt vsque ad caelum Ecel For from the cheeke they ascend vp to heauen They trill downe the cheekes till they fall to the ground and from thence they mount vp as high as Heauen for being water they rise as much as they fall And when God sees they haue reason on their side and that they onely call vnto him for iustice it being so proper an Attribute vnto him in the end he grants and signes their request Nor is it much that he should shew them this fauour his bowells being moued to compassion in seeing his creatures in such extremities of affliction Let Kings therefore beware and take heede and their Ministers bethinke themselues that in such a case an Inundation of teares is of more force and more danger then that of the swiftest Torrent vpon a mighty flood CHAP. XVIII Of the sense of hearing And of the Audiences which Kings ought to giue PVrsuing stil the Metaphore of the head whereon hitherto we haue insisted occasion is now offered vnto vs to treat of the sense of Hearing which hath some certaine excellencies aboue the rest For thereby we come to vnderstand the hidden secrets of the heart and the most inward thoughts of the Soule which being clad and apparrelled with that out-side and exterior part the Voyce and put vpon the Hearing of that person with whom we talke and discourse it knoweth that which the vnderstanding of neither Men nor Angels once is able to comprehend And that which we haue spoken of the sence of the sight ought likewise to be said of this For as far forth as is the perceiuing of a Voyce or some other noyse or sound by the hearing so farre is it common as well to brutes beastes as to Men. But it is proper only vnto Man by hearing a significatiue voyce to discourse thereof and to vnderstand the inward conceipt of him that speaketh And from hence will we draw what ought to be heard by the Head of a Common-wealth who is not onely to content himselfe with hearing the bare externall Voyce but to heare it in such maner as the holy Scripture telleth vs God heareth the voyces of those which call vpon him in the time of their trouble which is a vsuall and plaine kinde of Language in the Diuine Writt And when it is sayd that God heareth vs it is ioyntly sayd that he graunteth our petition Whereof many Testimonies are found in the Psalmes of Dauid and in diuerse other places Càum inuocarem Psal 4.1 ibi ver 4. exaudiuit me Deus iustitiae meae Dominus exaudiet me cum clamauero ad cum c. The God of my righteousnesse heard me when I called vpon him And anone after The Lord will heare when I call vnto him In the twentie one of Genesis it is there twice repeated that God heard the voyce of Agars childe who was Abrahams bond-woman Gen. 21.17 which the mother had left all alone in the wildernesse of Bersheba vnder a certaine tree and sitting downe ouer against him a farre off about a bow-shoote that shee might not see him perish for want of water Dixit enim non videbo morientem puerum For shee said I will not see the death of the childe In the very next Verse following a double mention is made That God heard the voyce of the childe Which was in effect to say that he did releiue him and refresh his thirsty Soule and granted that which the infant and his mother desired And the Apostle Saint Paul in that Epistle which hee wrote to the Hebrewes saith of our Sauiour Christ That Offerens preces ad deum cum clamore velido Heb. 5.7 et lachrymis exauditus est pro sua reuerentia Offring vp prayers and supplications to God the father with strong crying and teares he was also heard in that which he feared Which was all one as if he should haue said That his father dispatcht him and granted what he petitioned in that his prayer So that in rigour of holy Writ Gods Hearing and Gods Granting is all one But in that common Commerce with men and in that style which Kings and their Ministers vse it is not so For they heare and hearing answer that they haue heard that which they neuer meane to grant And there is no worse Answer for a suitor then to make this answer to his petition That it hath beene heard And it is very fit that they should reply in this kinde of phrase for thereby is giuen to be vnderstood the great obligation they haue to heare as well those that haue iustice as those that pretend to haue it although they haue it not In signification whereof the two eares are placed on the two contrarie sides of the head one opposite to the other because affording one eare to the Plaintiffe we must reserue the other for the defendant And because God would haue it so that Hearing should be the ordinary meanes for the receiuing of the diuine Light and attaining to the knowledge of those supreme truthes by so superexcellent and high a gift as that of faith Rom. 10.14 Quomodo credent ei quem non crediderunt How shall they beleeue in him of whom they haue not heard As also that Kings may haue an intire light of humane Truthes it is requisite that they should lend a willing care to those that craue Audience of them For in this sense of all other saith Saint Bernard Truth hath it's seate and Mansion Bern. in Cont. Ser. 28. In auditu veritaes Truth is in Hearing And in example of