Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
mercy_n	good_a	grace_n	work_n	6,662	5	5.6625	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A09102	The iudgment of a Catholicke English-man, living in banishment for his religion VVritten to his priuate friend in England. Concerninge a late booke set forth, and entituled; Triplici nodo, triplex cuneus, or, An apologie for the oath of allegiance. Against two breves of Pope Paulus V. to the Catholickes of England; & a letter of Cardinall Bellarmine to M. George Blackwell, Arch-priest. VVherein, the said oath is shewed to be vnlawfull vnto a Catholicke conscience; for so much, as it conteyneth sundry clauses repugnant to his religion.; Judgment of a Catholicke English-man, living in banishment for his religion	Parsons, Robert, 1546-1610.	1608 (1608)	STC 19408; ESTC S104538	91,131	136

Contradictions by this tast here giuen as is pretended but will rather be infinitly iustifyed that in so many great Volumes this Author hath not bene able to picke out any better contradictions then these Wherof againe I must say and auouch that no one seemeth to me any contradiction at all if they be well examined XXXVI And though I meane not to discusse them all in this place nor the greater part of them they being eleuen in number as hath bene said both for breuityes sake and not to peruent the Cardinalls owne Answere and satisfaction therin which I doubt not but will be very sufficient and learned yet three or foure I shall touch only for examples sake thereby to giue the Reader matter to make coniecture of the rest This then he beginneth his list of eleuen contradictions against the said Cardinall XXXVII First in his bookes of Iustification saith he Bellarmyne affirmeth that for the vncertainty of our owne proper righteousnes and for auoyding of vayne glory it is most sure and safe to repose our whole confidence in the alone mercy and goodnes of God which proposition of his is directly contrary to the discourse current of all his fiue bookes De Iustificatione wherin the same is conteyned c. Of this 〈◊〉 contradiction we haue said somewhat before to wit That it is strange that fiue whole bookes should be brought in as contradictory to one proposition For how shall the Reader try the truth of this obiection Shall he be bound to read all Bellarmynes fiue bookes to see whether it be true or no Had it not bene more plaine dealing to haue alleadged some one sentence or conclusion contradictory to the other But now shall we shew that there can be no such contradiction betwixt the sentence of one part of his said Booke of Iustification the whole discourse or current of the rest for that Bellarmyne doth make all the matter cleere by soyling three seuerall Questions in one Chapter which is the seauenth of the fifth Booke here cyted XXXVIII The three Questions are these about Fiducia quae in meritis collocari possit what hope and confidence may be placed by a Christian man in his good workes and merites The first Question is whether good workes in a Christian man doe increase hope and confidence by their own nature and the promise of reward made vnto them And Bellarmyne answereth that they doe and proueth it by many places of Scriptures as that of Toby the 4. where it is saied That almes-deeds shall giue great confidence and hope to the doers therof in the sight of God And Iob sayeth That he which liueth iustly shall haue great confidence and hope and shall sleep securely And S. Paul to Timothy saith That whosoeuer shall minister well shall haue great confidence c. And I omit diuers other plaine places of Scriptures and Fathers there alleadged by him which the Reader may there peruse to his comfort shewing euidently that the conscience of a vertuous life and good workes doth giue great confidence to a Christian man both while he liueth and especially when he commeth to dye XXXIX The second Question is whether this being so a man may place any confidence wittingly in his owne merits or vertuous life And it is answered That he may so it be with due circumstances of humility for auoyding pride and presumption For that a man feeling the effect of Gods grace in himself wherby he hath bene directed to liue well may also hope that God will crowne his gifts in him as S. Augustines wordes are And many examples of Scriptures are alleadged there by Card. ll Bellarmyne of sundry holy Saints Prophets and Apostles that vpon iust occasion mentioned their owne merits as g●●ts from God that gaue them hope and confidence of his mercifull reward and namely that saying of S. Paul I haue fought a good fight I haue consummated my course I haue kept my faith c. and then addeth that in regard hereof Reposita est mihi Corona Iustitiae A crowne of Iustice is laid vp for me which God the iust Iudge shall restore vnto me XL. The third Question is supposing the sore said determinations what counsaile were to be giuen Whether it be good to put confidence in a mans owne merits or no whereunto Card. ll Bellarmyne answereth in the words set downe by the Apologer That for the vncertainty of our owne proper Iustice and for auoyding the perill of vaine glory the surest way is to repose all our confidence in the only mercy and benignity of God from whome and from whose grace our merits proceed So as albeit Card. ll Bellarmyne doth confesse that good life and vertuous acts doe giue hope and confidence of themselues and that it is lawfull also by the example of auncient Saints for good men to comfort themselues with that hope and confidence yet the surest way is to repose all in the benignity and mercy of almighty God who giueth all and is the Authour as well of the grace as of the merits and fruites of good workes that eusue therof And thus hath Cardinall Bellarmyne fully explicated his mynd in this one Chapter about Confidence in good workes by soluing the foresaid three different Questions wherof the one is not contrary to the other but may all three stand togeather And how then is it likely that the foresaid proposition of reposing our Confidence in the mercy of God should be contradictory as this man saith to the whole discourse and current of all his fiue Bookes of Iustification Let one only sentence be brought forth out of all these fiue Bookes that is truly contradictory and I shall say he hath reason in all the rest of his ouerlashing XLI His second obiected contradiction is as good as this which he setteth downe in these wordes God saieth Bellarmine doth not incline a man to euill eyther naturally or morally and presently after he affirmeth the contrary saying That God doth not incline to euill naturally but morally But this is a plaine fallacy of the Apologer for that the word morally is taken heere in two different senses which himself could not but see For first Card. ll Bellarmyne hauing set downe the former proposition That God doth not incline a man to euill eyther Physicè vel Moraliter naturally or morally he expoundeth what is vnderstood by ech of these termes to witt That Naturall or Phisicall concurrence is when God concurreth to the substance of the action as mouing or impelling a mans will but Morall concurrence is when he doth commaund or ordayne any synne to be done As for example If a great man should concurre to the murther of another he may doe it in two manners eyther Naturally or Phisically concurring to the action it self of poysoning strangling or the like or Morally by counselling or commaunding the same to be done which is properly called Morall concurrence And by

and honoured receyued so gladly and with vniuersall ioy meant to serue faithfully trusted that as he had vnited the two Kingdomes in one Obedience by his Succession so would he by his liberality vnite and conioyne the harts of all his Subiects in bearing a sweete and equall hand towards them all From such a King I sa● or vs to expect liberty of Consciēce and equality with other Subiects in this poynt at least of freedome of soule what height of pryde may it be called May it not rather seeme height of pryde in this Minister his ●ellowes that hauing byn● o●d enemyes and alwayes borne a hard hate u●●hand and tongue against his Ma. tie both in their Sermons Bookes Speaches all the tyme of the late Queenes raigne now vpon the suddayne sine vllis meri is praecede●●ious will needs be so priuiledged assume vnto themselues such a confident presumption of his Ma. ties speciall fauour as to suffer no man to stand by them but to hold it for height of pryde in vs to hope ●or any freedome and liberty o● our Conscience at al● What is height of pryde and so●l● i● this be not XXIV But his Ma. tie is wise will as we hope according to his prudence in tyme looke into this sort o●men and manner of proceeding And to returne to the Apologer he reckoneth vp therby to exaggerate the more our ingratitude the particuler fauours his Ma. tie did vnto vs at his first entrance as That he did honour diuers Catholicks with Knighthood being open Recusants That he gaue audiece indifferently to both sydes bestowed equally fauours and honours vpon both professions gaue free con●inuall accesse to all rankes and degrees of Papists in his Court and company freeing Recusantes from their ordinarie payments gaue order to his Iudges with his owne mouth to spare execution of all Priests though they were conuicted gaue libertie by his gracious Proclamation to all Priests not taken to go out of the Countrey by such a day and all Priestes that were taken were sent ouer and sett at liberty and many other gracious fauours benefittes VVhich saith he tyme and paper would fayle me if I would make enumeration of them all in recounting wherof euery scrape of my pen so vse his words would serue but for a blott of the Popes ingratitude and iniustice in meating his Ma. tie with so hard a measure for the same So as I thinke quoth he I haue sufficiently wiped of the teares from the Popes eyes for complayning vpon such persecution c. XXV Thus writeth this man who in naming the Popes ingratitude must much more include ours that are Catholicks for that these benefitts such as they were appertayned nothing to the Pope but only in Christian charity as a common spirituall Father and Pastour he being otherwise a stranger vnto vs in bloud and for other worldly respects And as for Catholicks they accept gratefully whatsoeuer least fauour hath byn or is done vnto them and do not doubt but that if his Ma. tie had not bene preuented by sinister information persuasion of others they had tasted of much greater as due vnto them in that they are naturall borne Subiects of the Realme most loyall in hart affection neuer meaning otherwise but to liue in most orderly and dutifull Subiection and Obedience to his Highnes as to their liege Lord and Soueraigne XXVI And wheras this man for proofe of the contrary nameth the powder-treason of a few therby to discredite the whole though this calumniation haue beene answered before yet now I ad further as one said Distingue tempora scripturam concordabis If there had bene no persecution before that treason this might haue beene assigned for some probable cause of the subsequent tribulations but all England knoweth that this is not so but that his Ma. ties sweete myld aspect towards Catholicks at his first entrance was soone by art of their enemyes auerted long before the conspiracy fell out For that not only all the most cruell Statutes and penall Lawes made by Q. Elizabeth were renewed and confirmed before this with addition of others tending to no lesse rigour acerbitie but also the exaction of the same was put in practice with great seueritie namely the paymēt of the twenty poundes a moneth or two partes of their goods and landes for Recusants once remitted by his Ma. tie as heere is confessed were not only recalled againe but the arrearages therof in like manner exacted and for leuying wherof throughout sundry shyres of the Realme especially in the North there was such ransacking of mens houses such dryuing away of their Cattell frō their groundes such strayning of their Rents such vexing of their tennants not knowne perhaps to his Ma. tie as if the whole Countrey had byn gyuen ouer to spoyle desolation XXVII Nor were mens goods and persons only afflicted but the lyues also of sundry taken away for cause of their Religion before this powder-treason fell out which desperate treason to ascribe as an effect and fruite of too much clemency in his Ma. tie as this Minister doth is a strange assertion no doubt for so much as such effects do not proceed but of exasperated myndes which clemency worketh not eyther in men or beasts Neyther did euer any learned Philosopher that wrote of the good institution of any Common wealth or of the security of any Prince in his Gouernment put such effects for fruits of clemency but rather of the contrary manner of proceeding And if all the disasterous ends of the most vnfortunate Princes that euer haue byn destroyed should be layd togeather and the causes therof exactly inquired it would be found so and consequently that this Minister is no good Counsellour to his Ma. tie in this so great weighty affayre And we hope that Almighty God by the mercy of his dearest Sonne our Sauiour and through the prayers of his Ma. ties good Mother and other holy Princes of his Royall bloud now in heauen will neuer suffer him at the egging of such exasperating people to follow so violent troublesome and dangerous a course and so contrary to theirs whiles they lyued vpon earth and so alienate from his owne sweete nature and Princely disposition XXVIII But to proceed a litle further in the narration of some poyntes of heauy persecutiō that insued soone after his Ma. ties being in England much before the powder-treason was attempted Who doth not know what afflictions were layd vpon Catholicks euen in the very first yeare of his Ma. ties raigne especially towards the end therof much more throughout all the second yeare before the said powder-treason fell out For then not only in the Shires and Prouinces abroad but euen in London it sel●e and in the eyes of the Court the violence and insolency of continuall searches grew to be such as was intollerable no night passing commonly but